Mike Hedlund may be entering his first 24 Hours of Le Mans, but he has all the experience to make a strong debut in the No. 93 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR.

In the U.S., Hedlund has plenty of experience in Porsches—winning several Porsche GT3 Cup races and collecting podiums in the American Le Mans Series GTC class. Last year, the Californian completed a full season of the European Le Mans Series in a Porsche 911 RSR with Proton Competition. Most recently, he’s switched to a McLaren 650S GT3 in the Pirelli World Challenge.

Not only is Hedlund proficient in Porsches, but he’s already raced on the Le Mans circuit.

“I came last year and drove in the Road to Le Mans support race in an LMP3 car with United Autosport,” Hedlund said. “We did pretty well and I had a lot of fun. It was to learn the track for when I could come back and do the 24. It’s not a requirement to participate in the Road to Le Mans prior to the 24, I still had to do the simulator work and laps in the test day, but mentally, for a driver, it helps a lot to see the track at speed. Time on the test day and the race weekend is very limited, so any little bit helps. It’s an exponential curve.”

The Test Day is also irreplaceable for getting to grips with the speed difference between the LMP1 cars and the LMGTE Am car in which Hedlund is driving.

“I drove with P1 cars at Sebring in 2013, but now they’re so much faster,” he exclaimed. “Driving down the Mulsanne here, you get time to think and probably shouldn’t be thinking about too much other than driving, but I can’t help but think about who’s in the P1 cars going by me and how awesome it is to even be in their way. I don’t want to be in their way, but it’s kind of cool!”

Hedlund has been eyeing a drive at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since before he was old enough drive.

“I think it was seeing the movie Le Mans,” he said. “I must have been seven or eight years old, old enough to know I know I liked cars and then I happened across that movie. That was my first exposure to it. It wasn’t until I was 12 or 13 that I saw the actual race on TV.”

Decades later and several racing programs under his belt, Hedlund is looking forward to one particular thing at his first 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“I’m really looking forward to my first night stint here,” he said. “I’ve done a bunch of laps in the daytime in the test and last year, but at night it’s going to be totally different. It’s almost like a different track your first couple of laps at night. I’m secretly hoping it’s not wet when I do that, but being Le Mans you never know.”