Nicolas Lapierre: “It’s is very exciting for the ELMS to be racing at Spa”

Q: What do you think of the ELMS returning to Spa? 

“It’s is very exciting for the ELMS to be racing at Spa.  For prototypes it is one of the best tracks in the world and it is going to be a great race.  I am really looking forward to going back there.  It is going to be a big field again; very competitive, so it should be a very exciting race.” 

Q: You won the LMP2 class in the WEC race at Spa in May with Alpine.  Do you think Spa will be a track you could secure that first win for Dragonspeed in ELMS?

“In the WEC the Oreca was very competitive there in May, it is a track that suits the car, so our car should be fast but the competition will be very tough.

Q: How different is your approach to the race compared to the WEC event bearing in mind there are LMP3 cars (that don’t compete in WEC) but also there are no LMP1s.  How difficult is the challenge of traffic management going to be?

“It is a big challenge to overtake the LMP3 cars because in the corners they are almost as fast as the P2s, so we have to wait until we are on the straights. The entire field is big, over 40 cars I think so it will be very busy.  Even though it is a long track, it is a tricky track for traffic so we will have to manage it.  For sure it is going to be a long and eventful race.”