Q&A with Xavier Combet, Thiriet by TDS Racing

Q: How are the preparations going for the 2016 season?

The car is well prepared. This is the second year with the ORECA 05 so we know the car very well now. We’ve used the long winter period to develop some new solutions and now it is time to test on the track.It seems to be very good so we are happy with the job we’ve done in the winter.Regarding the line up of drivers, that’s new for us.

“We have Pierre [Thiriet], who is a silver, Ryo [Hirakawa] from the Toyota Driver Programme who is coming into the TDS team to learn the endurance world.He knows single seaters, Formula 3, Super Formula, and also SuperGT and now he comes to us from the TDP to learn LMP2.Of course we know Mathias very well, who won the title in 2012 and is running with Rebellion Racing in LMP1P in the WEC. We have a good line up, all the drivers are very close and it is a good feeling.”

Q: The ORECA 05 was a brand new car for the 2015 season but proved to be a race winner.  What changes can we expect to see for the 2016 season?

“Each time you are on track you can take time to learn and go in a new direction.  This helps you to understand what can happen if you push more.  We learned the car, it was the first year for us and now we have a base.  We have to develop this base in 2016.”

Q: What are your thoughts on the new three day event format for the 2016 season?

“It is not changing a lot for us in terms of logistics. Maybe for the drivers it will be better, it will be easier to manage with the administrative checks. What is interesting now is that we have some support races so the paddock will be very interesting.”

Q: What are your thoughts on going back to Spa for the first time since 2011?

“It was our first victory in LMP2 for Thiriet by TDS in the ILMC in 2011 so that is a good experience for us and we will try to do the same this year.”

Q: With 15 cars on the LMP2 grid, who do you see as your main rivals?

“We want to win the ELMS title in 2016.  Last year we had a good fight with Greaves and JOTA and we missed the championship by a few points.  It is interesting to have some new teams challenging on the ELMS programme.  All of the teams are well prepared and have good experience in endurance or other categories, so we have to keep in mind that everybody is a rival and the level in LMP2 in ELMS is very high. It is good for us because we want to compete in the best competition. It is going to be a fantastic season.

Q: What are your thoughts on the big LMP3 grid?

“It was a good idea by the ACO to introduce LMP3 as it will help the LMP2 teams to have some new customers in the future. It is difficult to say what will happen on track as there is a lot of P3 cars and this is endurance and we have to manage the traffic.”