You won the ELMS 4 Hours of Silverstone in the U.K. in the last lap a little more than a month ago. Describe that last stretch…

"I was gaining on Ryo (Hirakawa in G-Drive Racing's #22 Oreca 07-Gibson, Ed.). When I came up right behind him, I realized he was struggling with his tires. I wanted to overtake him right away and prevent him from getting into the traffic. When I overtook him, I saw in the following turns he was unable to keep up with me because his tires were really worn. That last lap was great and we won the first round!"

Since you are new to the United Autosports team, give us your impressions so far.

"That's true, though I do know some of the mechanics from Onroak Automotive. The team is new to the LMP2 class, but has a lot of experience in LMP3 (United Autosports is the defending ELMS LMP3 Teams Champion, Ed.). Meanwhile, it is still familiarizing itself with a different class. We did not expect to win so early in the season, but just to fight for a podium finish. Everyone is humble, works very well together and we performed well right away."

Tell us about your two new teammates, Hugo de Sadeleer and Will Owen?

"They are young drivers with no experience in endurance racing. They do fantastic work. They listen to me because I have the most experience of the team. They do exactly what is asked of them and I think that was one of the key factors of our win at Silverstone. We're not done yet, we are going to continue making progress."

It's almost time for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. How do you think the race will unfold in LMP2?

"At Le Mans, you can't worry and must avoid falling into certain traps. Last year, we had no chance of winning (Filipe Albuquerque competed in the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans with RGR Sport by Morand's #43 Ligier JS P2 along with Ricardo Gonzalez and Bruno Senna, 10th in LMP2, Ed.) due to an ignition problem. Yet, we knew though we weren't up to par with the winner, we could very well claim a podium finish. In other words, without running the fastest on the track but by avoiding any problems, we keep hope alive for a good final result! It's such a long race."

"This year, we'll see where we are, where the other cars end up, how Oreca, Dallara, Riley and the other Ligiers do and if they're competitive. Then we'll adjust our strategy for the race according to that info. Don't underestimate the ELMS teams because they're very strong this year. The field at the 24 Hours of Le Mans is comprised of 25 LMP2s, which is just incredible. I think some cars will go below the bar of 3'30.00 per lap. The race will be very interesting, and I am going to be battling excellent drivers, including some of my former teammates like Oliver Jarvis (Jackie Chan DC Racing's #38 Oreca 07-Gibson, Ed.) and Bruno Senna (Vaillante Rebellion's #31 Oreca 07-Gibson, Ed.)." 

All LMP2 team cars are now powered by Gibson. How do you think the engine will do over the course of 24 hours?

"This engine already did the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Some of the teams had some troubles during the two races, but Gibson solved the problems, I don't think we'll have any concerns at Le Mans. I hope so anyway because if the teams have problems, they must have made a mistake somewhere instead of it being out of their control. That would be unfair."

You have competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times. What are your best memories?

"The whole event is extraordinary! My best memory was when I drove the Audi R18 e-tron quattro in the race in 2015 (with Marco Bonanomi and René Rast, Ed.). The car was so good, so perfectly balanced that I felt like I was flying. I caught up to the various LMP1s in front of me including the Porsche 919 Hybrids. I was very fast on the track and I clocked one of the fastest laps at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in race conditions. I did two or three stints back-to-back, I had fun, that's what Le Mans is all about. Everything went well, we even held the lead, but unfortunately our hybrid system gave us some trouble (the car finished seventh overall, Ed.)."

Photo (Copyright - Laurent Cartalade/VSA): Filipe Albuquerque in the #32 Ligier JS P217 at Monza.