You are a rookie at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. How do you feel?

"It's very special and unique. All of this I have never experienced before. We got here on the Sunday ahead of the race, so it's a long week and an adventure. I still don't really realise the week is about to start, but it's starting to become more and more real. It's a very prestigious motorsport event in history and in the world of motorsport, so I am very grateful that I already have the opportunity to be a part of it now. We'll try to do the best possible job we can and have a nice week."

Is Racing Team Nederland the perfect team for your first participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

"I am certainly very happy in our environment. It's a Dutch initiative of Frits van Eerd, the atmosphere is extremely good, and I get the time to learn whatever I need to learn. We are a real team and we help each other, so yes, I'm very happy to be part of the team."

After Test Day, what do you think of the track? 

"The track is more impressive than I even expected. It's a mix between normal roads and a circuit, I've never had the chance to experience this kind of circuit before because I don't know any other tracks that have that kind of nature, a combination between both. And what is exciting is there is little downforce because obviously there are a lot of long straights, but there are also a lot of quick corners, so that trade-off and compromise is difficult and interesting because you run with little downforce so there is not that much grip. But there are a lot of high-speed places like the Porsche curves and everyone always talks about it, I can confirm I understand why now."

What would success at the 24 Hours of Le Mans look like to you?

"It's a 24-hour race, so anything can happen. We try to do the best possible job we can and hopefully we will finish the race with a good result, but we also have to be realistic. The category is very competitive. There are 20 cars with very strong line-ups. We'll do our job and let's see what we can get."

Click below for more on Racing Team Nederland:

>> 24 HOURS OF LE MANS – RACING TEAM NEDERLAND (LMP2) <<

 

PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES DU MANS, WEDNESDAY 12 JUNE 2019, FREE PRACTICE. Nyck de Vries, driver of Racing Team Nederland's #29 Dallara P217-Gibson with Frits van Eerd and Giedo van der Garde.