Interview with Sam Hignett, G-Drive Racing

Now the race winning Gibson 015S-Nissan is liveried in the black and orange colours of G-Drive Racing, with former F1 racer Giedo Van Der Garde joining Simon Dolan and Harry Tincknell in sharing the driving duties.

Team Principal Sam Hignett spoke ahead of the 2016 Official Test here at Le Castellet.

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

“The preparations are going very well.  We’ve done a lot of testing and we’re continuing to test.  We’ve got a lot of new members of staff with the WEC programme so we are working hard to bring all of that together.”

Q: This year the team will be racing under the G-Drive banner in both the ELMS and WEC.  Tell us more about this partnership for 2016.

“G-Drive are the overriding sponsor, the main sponsor of the programme, and we enter the team under the sponsors.  Behind the scenes it is still JOTA and all the same guys, the same team.”

Q: The team have retained the tried and tested Gibson 015S-Nissan in ELMS. What is the advantage of the older, open cockpit, Gibson over the newer closed cockpit Ligier JS P2, Oreca 05 and BR01?

“The advantage is our depth of knowledge with the chassis.  The other situation that we were very much aware of is we must watch very carefully what happens in 2017 with the other LMP2 manufacturers.  I firmly believe that ORECA will produce the best car and we’ll end up running two ORECAs next year.  By running the Gibson for another year alongside the ORECA in WEC we build the relationship with ORECA and leave the down open for other options if necessary. But I think ORECA will be the best product.”

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

“It’s good in terms of spreading the calendar out a bit more. As long as the costs don’t change, and so far they haven’t, it’s all good.”

Q: With 15 cars on the LMP2 grid, what do you think of the European Le Mans Series in 2016?

“I think is going to be good. It’s going to be similar teams at the front, which is always exciting, but you can never underestimate the new teams.  It always takes these guys a little bit of time to get up to speed but they will be there and be there quickly no doubt.”

Q: You have a new driver making his LMP debut.  How is Giedo Van Der Garde fitting in with the team?

“Giedo’s great, gelling with the team well.  A great character and a quick driver; we couldn’t ask for more really.”