What the Race Winners Said....

Roman Rusinov – 1st Overall
No26 G-Drive Racing Oreca 07-Gibson
“It’s a great weekend for us.  From the beginning the car was competitive and all the team did a really great job.  Jean-Eric and Andrea were fantastic during the whole weekend also.  We really showed our pace during the race.  I did a good start but then it was impossible to follow the Dragonspeed with Hanley inside.  Then we were unlucky with the first pitstop when we lost some positions, but then I think my teammates did an amazing job and we recovered quite well from that.”

Andrea Pizzitola – 1st Overall
No26 G-Drive Racing Oreca 07-Gibson
“We are looking good for Le Mans. It was an important result, I am really happy for the whole team.  It was a good race for us, with no problems on the car or in the traffic. JEV has a really positive Karma, so it is good to have him in the car and we’ll try to do it again in Le Mans.”

Jean-Eric Vergne – 1st Overall
No26 G-Drive Racing Oreca 07-Gibson
“I feel very comfortable.  It wasn’t as easy as it may have looked from the outside.  I was sick and in hospital on Wednesday.  I was very tired and I couldn’t do the test day so I arrived here with very little mileage.  However the car was really amazing, so a big thanks to my team, they did a brilliant job.  I’m feeling confident for Le Mans but it is a race where we need to be extremely humble as anything can happen.  We need to take it cautiously, work very hard and be small. If we do a good job I am sure we will be in a good position.

“I couldn’t be happier with my team, Roman and Andrea, they are both fantastic drivers and we’ve shown today that the three of us were more or less the same speed and how good the team is.  It only makes me confident for the rest of the season.”

Giorgio Mondini – 1st LMP3
No11 Eurointernational Ligier JS P3-Nissan
“I am happy to win but it is important to be consistent. Of course first place is better than second; we have been lucky today when in the last few laps the no2 car had a problem but we take it.  Kay did a fantastic job, the team was consistent and efficient for the whole weekend. I’m very happy.  We had a great battle with Sean (Rayhall) who I passed during the race.  I had a lot of fun racing with him.”

Kay Van Berlo – 1st LMP3
No11 Eurointernational Ligier JS P3-Nissan
“I had a great battle with John (Falb).  We were very lucky that he got a puncture but this is racing and things happen.  Maybe it will happen to us next time? Who knows.  It was a great race, I was pushing hard to get closer to him after the pitstop but it wasn’t easy in the traffic. But in the end I am quite happy with the result – there is a nice view from the top step of the podium.” 

Duncan Cameron – 1st LMGTE
No55 Spirit of Race Ferrari F488 GTE
“It was crazy out there!  There were a lot of safety cars.  I was racing here three weeks ago and there was a lot more going on in this race.  The fact the Porsches were fighting amongst themselves was a good thing as they were quite close in pace to each other and that played into our hands.  I was able to keep my head down and drive to a pace.  We were lucky with the Full Course Yellow as I had pitted just before as we were out of gas, we had no choice – the fuel light was solid!”

Aaron Scott – 1st LMGTE
No55 Spirit of Race Ferrari F488 GTE
“I didn’t really have to do anything, Duncan did all the work and the team were fantastic with the strategy.  I think it is fair to say that we are a bit off of the Porsches in terms of BoP but Duncan’s stint was amazing and Matt and I just had to manage the situation.  It was a pretty straight forward race.”

Matt Griffin – 1st LMGTE
No55 Spirit of Race Ferrari F488 GTE
“Our win wasn’t based on pace today, it is clear the Porsche has the pace on the Ferrari as it did last weekend in the WEC.  Our win came from a stellar opening stint from Duncan and an amazing team strategy.  My biggest problem were the ‘space invaders’, the back markers trying to take you off the track and wont get out of the way if you are quicker than them.  It was a bit wild out there but this win was a team effort.  Our engineers made some great calls on the strategy and everything worked out. After not finishing in Le Castellet we needed to come back strong and we definitely did that today.”