Last weekend, the Corvette crew (Rockenfeller, Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen) raced the 12 Hours of Sebring – Magnussen for the 20th time – as defending champions in the GTLM class. They managed only ninth place with the #3 Corvette C7.R this year, due to a puncture in the first lap and then several pit stops to resolve electrical and steering faults.  Rockenfeller: Last year, we had a good race, especially towards the end and we were able to win it. I think again, we weren’t quick enough purely in terms of lap times. During my first stint, we had steering issues. After that, it was fine. The car was fine, but track conditions were difficult, the track was slippery. We thought we could win and we did our best and had a similar pace to the #4 Corvette. On paper, we weren’t necessarily favourites, but we kept pushing.

Rockenfeller has been teamed with Magnussen and Garcia for three years now. I really enjoy working with the whole Corvette Racing team. It’s nice working with Antonio and Jan because there’s no ego involved, we just try to improve, and everybody knows his job. I came in as the third driver and tried to make as few mistakes as possible. We produce a good standard, which isn’t always easy when you don’t have a lot of driving time in the car over the season because obviously my main programme is Europe with Audi. Endurance is a great add-on, and it’s becoming more and more important to me. I’m still as excited as I was three years ago to be able to drive the #3 Corvette.

It's official! The third driver in the #63 Corvette C7.R at the next 24 Hours of Le Mans is Rockenfeller.  It's a great opportunity for me because I’ve never done Le Mans with Corvette. We’ll have to see because some dates clash with my DTM commitments.  If the line-up is confirmed, the German driver is eager to take on the field.It’s incredible to have seventeen cars at this level. I just hope they all have similar lap times. 

The German explains his five-year absence from Le Mans: The thing is, with Audi, I had to choose between DTM and the World Endurance Championship (WEC). For a few years I could do both, but it got more and more complicated. I decided to stay in DTM instead of doing the WEC full time but I’ve always wanted to come back to Le Mans.

His best memory of Le Mans, indeed of his career, is the 2010 victory with the Audi R15+ TDI. It was amazing because we were fighting against Peugeot but we were not as quick as them. We kept pushing hard and in the end they had engine problems and we were able to do a one-two-three finish with our two sister cars. I think I’m one of the guys who really knows how hard it is to be successful at Le Mans, because I’ve had lots of unsuccessful races and so I’m pleased to have been lucky that time and to have felt that emotion on the podium - the people, the team - all great memories. I still love the place and I’m looking forward to going back to race there again one day. At the time, he formed a crew with Timo Bernhard and Frenchman Romain Dumas, with whom he remains close. Clearly we shared a very important victory in our careers, with Timo too.We had been teammates for a long time with Porsche and then Audi. We know each other, we respect each other a lot. We’re friends.

Photos (MPS Agency/Pascal Saivet)