No, it’s not a coincidence! Oliver Panis has always flown the flag for French motorsports, all too often alone, and his move to team budding drivers Nicolas Jamin, 24, and Matthieu Vaxivière, 25, with the experienced Julien Canal, 38, once more asserts his keenness to plant young French talent firmly on the map.

"With Sarah and Simon (Abadie), with whom I make the decisions about GT or P2, we’ve always given priority to French drivers, and young French drivers in particular” he explains. “We do have a Brit on the team, Will Stevens, who ran the ELMS with us, but Panis Racing has a strong French identity which we very much cultivate! We’ve always striven to bring young French people onto the team and turn them into good pros. If they leave, then it’s a shame for us but it’s also a good thing as it means that we’ve done a good job and prepared them well. It’s something we’re proud of. That’s what makes our team special."

Panis, who, until the Italian Grand Prix in Monza was the last French driver to scale the ranks in Formula One, is more determined than ever to make France a name to be reckoned with, a cause he’s campaigned tirelessly for since his 1996 win in Monaco.

“Pierre Gasly’s Formula One victory will really get the ball rolling”, says Panis in delight. “It’s shaken up a lot of things. We know that French motorsport has suffered from a slew of laws that haven’t helped it, but that’s behind us and I feel that we’re entering a promising era. With the Renault Group announcing that it wants to bring Alpine to the forefront in Formula One and the WEC, Peugeot returning to endurance racing, a French victory in F1 for the first time in I don’t know how long (laughs), we’re getting green lights across the board. The incredibly talented generation of young French people coming onto the scene are well prepared and the car manufacturers know what they’re doing. The news about Alpine is the best thing that could happen to French motorsport. Renault’s great, but Alpine is legendary! A new dynamic is being established. I hope that when they select their teams Alpine and Peugeot will manage to strike the right balance between experience and new blood, international glory and promising French prospects.”

Panis has two such rookies in his own team this year, Nicolas Jamin from Normandy and Matthieu Vaxivière from Limoges, both of whom have earned their stripes in single-seat cars. Their speed, compounded by that of Le Mans local Julien Canal, will be crucial when contending with United Autosports who have enjoyed six consecutive victories in LMP2, three each in WEC and ELMS.

“Their team is solid, but not untouchable,” says Panis. “Yes, it’s a great team, they’re very strong and have a lot of resources. They test a lot, much more than anybody else, but it doesn’t matter, we’ll be out there trying to beat them. We almost did in Le Castellet; we were in the lead for a long time. The safety car sealed our fate, but that’s how racing goes. In any case, it means we’re able to rile them. And Le Mans is very different to ELMS: it’s 24 hours instead of four. It’s really hard for everybody. In a four-hour race, the slightest mistake will trip you up. It’s a different story at Le Mans. United is definitely the team to beat, but there are others, such as G-Drive/TDS Racing and Alpine. It’s the most impressive LMP2 line up in the world. We need to have a good strategy and make no mistakes. That’s the most important thing, to make no mistakes.” Will we be hearing the French national anthem on Sunday on the LMP2 podium?