After the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Pikes Peak, is your next goal the World Endurance Champion title?

"Early in the season, I said we needed to be on top of our game through Le Mans because of the level of our competitors. Yesterday (Thursday, July 7th, editor's note), I was at Porsche for a Le Mans briefing and during the analysis, we realized Audi is within our times but they experience more problems. If one studies the laps of all the hybrid cars, except the #7 Audi which was crippled with troubles, and by looking at the average over the race, six-tenths of a second separate the best time from the slower. Toyota is really good, Audi must have learned a lot at Le Mans, so we'll have to wait to see where they really are. At the Nürburgring, our goal will be to score the maximum points and then we'll focus on the second half of the championship. Nothing is in the bag, there can still be reliability problems with this type of car. We have a good lead, the team is really good, the mechanics are excellent, my teammates are in shape and Marc Lieb is full of confidence after Le Mans."

You do rally, just did Pikes Peak and have competed at Dakar the last two years. Is it your eclectic side that helps you be a better modern endurance driver?

"Yes, completely! Here's an example. In 2015, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the warm-up, I pointed out a differential problem, but the engineers couldn't detect it. Then it was found there really was a problem with the front differential. When you're lucky enough to have somewhat of an ear for mechanics, to understand cars and mechanics, to have cars in your garage and to drive a lot of different cars, you sense things better. I am not an engineer, actually all of the hybrid technology is over my head, but anything that has to do with mechanics, I make progress much faster than an engineer with a lot of education."

Are there races you'd like to do but haven't yet?

"There are always, and I have a lot of dreams. I could have done the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco, but it won't be possible, or even the Indianapolis 500 with Penske, but it didn't happen. I have no regrets. There are few things that scare me but Indianapolis is a bit like playing with fire. I will do Dakar in 2017 to try and improve, and I will do more rally. Then certainly I'll need to find new projects, so why not do the Baja 1000 (the Baja 1000 is a cross-country rally race for all-terrain vehicules in Mexico, editor's note). There are always races to do that no one thinks about."

 With everything you have going on, are you able to find time to be at home?

"It's true my wife and son often ask where I am (laughs, editor's note). This weekend, for example, I didn't have to compete in the Le Mans Classic. The goal is to have fun, to be at Le Mans, with the Manfred Freisinger team. I don't forget he was the first to offer me a seat at Le Mans in the LM GT class in 2001. He's a special and unique character but we get along well. I also don't forget I won at the 24 Hours of Spa with him (it was in 2003 with Marc Lieb and Stéphane Ortelli, editor's note)! He's someone who, relative to the technical and mechanical side, is kind of bluffing. In 2004, with Ralf Kelleners and Stéphane Ortelli at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, I only drove with Stéphane, Ralf was sick. Our flywheel sensor broke in the final hour. All of the sudden, I saw him coming with a disc cutter to cut the back of the car from the inside! These days, no one would cut a Porsche to change a sensor (laughs, editor's note). He told me to lower the visor of my helmet and there were sparks everywhere. With that trouble, we lost Le Mans though we were in the lead before that incident. We finished third, I was so disappointed, especially since thereafter I had to wait until 2013 to win in LM GTE (avec la Porsche 911RSR Team Manthey, editor's note)."

Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

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