The addition of the #16 G-Drive by Algarve Oreca 07 effort into the LMP2 class for the 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours came very late in the day, and the driving squad certainly caught the attention of race fans and fellow LMP2 competitors alike.
The effort reprises the combination of G-Drive and APR that saw success in the 2019/20 Asian Le Mans Series, but this time out there’s an entirely different driver line-up.
Joining 2015 overall Le Mans winner and current Porsche factory driver Nick Tandy and 2017 LMP2 Le Mans winner (and four-time overall podium finisher), current Mazda DPi factory driver Oliver Jarvis is 29-year-old Ryan Cullen, now in his third season of LMP2 competition after spending 2018 with the Algarve Pro Racing team then, in 2019 with United Autosports in the #32 Ligier JS P217 making his debut at Le Mans.
After the delayed start to the season and an uncertain route to 2021 the late announcement of the Le Mans deal looks to have kick-started Cullen’s season in spectacular fashion:
How did this all come about? Because this was very late?
“I put in all the hard work, training, and just getting focused on the season before the whole COVID-19 thing happened. When the lockdown came I had got a new trainer, to build on my existing strength to get as fit as possible and trying to become more of a complete driver.
“When the opportunity was confirmed to drive with G-Drive and Nick and Ollie and to also go back to Algarve Pro where I first started my LMP2 career with Stewart and Sam, I thought it sounded perfect.
“It happened so quickly, it went from something which had been worked on in the background to a real programme, in motorsport, you hear a lot of stuff that potentially might happen and then all of a sudden, a few days later, it’s on, this was one of those, and all of a sudden I’m going to Le Mans!
So the first moves were between G-drive and APR by the sound of things?
“Yes, I’d heard some things from G-Drive, and particularly from Stewart (Cox), but behind the scenes, the people who look after my racing were working hard to make it happen. Pretty soon after that, I got the heads up on more details.
“Of course even the outline details were good, and it’s fair to say that it just got better and better by the point that it became clear that it was definitely going ahead.”
Pretty clearly when the three drivers were announced that #16 car is now in that list of cars that people cannot ignore as having potential for at least a podium.
So there are two or three factors that can come into that one is you’re on the Goodyear tyres. Have you done much with the Goodyears?
“I’ve done one race weekend with the Goodyear when I got the call up to go and race with Jota to fill in for Gabby Aubrey.
“The team filled me on how the Goodyear is driven and it’s slightly different from the Michelin but ultimately can produce the same performance.
“It was a short spell on the Goodyear, but I got to grips with it pretty well and I think. I have enough information going into Le Mans about the tyre.”
LMP2 races, particularly the big races, are won by the teams that make no mistakes and have the fastest and most consistent silver or bronze drivers. That absolutely puts the trio that we’re talking about the #16 car right into the mix so are you feeling pressure at this point?
“No pressure! I feel like we have everything to gain.
“And because it’s all been announced at the eleventh hour, this is kind of where the pressure is completely off and we just go and race and drive as fast as we can.
“The only pressure I would feel is just from the whole event of Le Mans and how big it is.
“Everyone, including me of course, wants to win it. So I feel more motivated than under pressure from that side of things.
“But I know the cars we’re going to be racing against at the front are fighting for a championship (and it’s a double points weekend for them!) and we’re not.
“So I don’t know how they are going to race but I just know that we can just go flat out and just try and win.
“With the package we’ve got, we have to try and win it. I just need to try to enjoy it, which I will do, and I already feel like my motivation to win is pretty strong.”
It’s your second consecutive year after racing last year with United and the Ligier. That circuit knowledge will be very valuable?
“Yes, Le Mans is so different. It’s not just the track, it’s the evolution of the track which I learned last year. I’ll know straight away when I jump in the car what to expect.
“It is going to be a bit different with no fans and the whole procedure of the way that the week the week’s run changing so much.
“But from the driving point of view on track, I now understand what kerbs I can use, what it’s like in the dark. What corners are in complete darkness, which corners have a bit of light. Where you can go wide if you do make a small mistake. And then as the track evolves, how much marbles are on the wider lines even in the wet. I learned a bit when it rained in the practice sessions. I sampled Safety Car conditions during the night time, so I’ve got a good knowledge of what the race is about. It’s just driving a different chassis.”
What’s the major difference between the Ligier and Oreca from the driver’s point of view?
“I believe that both chassis can do a similar performance. It probably depends on the track because the Ligier can be quite strong like we saw last year when we got a podium at Monza.
“The Ligier has good characteristics in certain ways, it has good traction for instance. The Oreca is better in other areas. For Le Mans, I think we have the better package.”
Psychologically, has the lack of notice about this programme been a good thing?
“Yes, I think so because of the build-up, you get a lot of pressure and stress.
“For me, the way it’s going, this is an entry with G-drive by Algarve and I haven’t thought about the outcome either of the race or what comes next yet.
“I’m just going there and just driving the best I can and I know that with everything going on and what we’ve got, we can get a very, very good result. I’ve been thinking more about the tyre because I haven’t driven much on the tyre rather than the Oreca Le Mans package, because the Le Mans package on the Oreca is meant to be good. So I don’t have too many concerns about that, to be honest,
It’s been a tough time for everybody leading up to this. You’re a young driver with ambitions. Has it been psychologically tough through 2020?
That waiting for something to happen, the uncertainty. So many things have been decided so very late, that must bring with it its own pressures?
“It was tough because I was actually testing in Spain a few weeks before countries went into lockdown. I even remember being on being on my break during the winter and I heard about the Coronavirus and to be honest, probably the same as everyone you just heard about it and where it started.
“We went testing, everything was normal. And I was training, doing my own thing and looking forward to the European season. And then all of a sudden it was it happened within two or three weeks with major sporting events getting cancelled and you’ve been told what you should and shouldn’t do and you have to stay away from people but it was kind of weird because the public didn’t really change for another two weeks after that.
“I was already prepared at that point because I got good advice. As I said I got a new trainer and he works with other race teams.
“So he told me that I should go and buy gym equipment. He said something’s gonna happen and you’re going to need to stay on top of things mentally and physically. So that’s what I’ve been doing during the whole lockdown is just training. I pretty much kitted out a whole new gym myself, which was a bit of a project of mine.
“I just did Skype sessions and spoke to people on the phone and pretty much became almost like a boxer in a way where you just have your training camp for however many weeks.
And has that been good for you physically and mentally?
Yeah, mentally it gave me a bit of structure as I always have during my career. I went instantly into the training mode where I was just training and training and just waiting for the news.
Now I don’t have to ask the question what the objective is because the effort tells its own story and that from, it would be fair to say, would it not that this is not a team that is just going for a finish? You’re going for glory?
“Yeah. And that’s the target because I believe with what we’ve got there’s no messing around.
“When I think when the driver lineup got announced there were a good few smiles and comments from people saying this is going to be quite a serious contender.
“I feel like we are and like every other race, I’m going I want to try to win.
“For this one, it’s all come together so nicely the momentum has taken us forward.”
Have you spoken to Ollie and Nick since the announcement?
“We’ve spoken a bit to catch up about some bits and pieces like making seats, I raced with Nick in Formula Ford.
“With Ollie, I’ve been in the other car of the garage with him. Yeah. So it should be just a neat slotting back in, learning a lot from both of them I hope.”
And after Le Mans, what’s next?
“It’s a bit early to be talking about it but what I’m hearing is good stuff. I’m not too worried about what’s coming after Le Mans right now.
“I trust that everyone who’s looking after me will give me the right options and then we can make the right decisions. Everything I’m hearing so far seems okay. But I can’t really say more because it’s all in the planning and discussion stage at the moment. But there’s definitely stuff going on that is going be quite decent.”
One thing is that, if you do win, it won’t be your first 24 Hour race win!
You took the 2019 LMP2 win at the Rolex 24 Hours (with DragonSpeed), that is a completely different challenge from Le Mans but there’s a whole lot of darkness there at Daytona, and that’s something we’re going to be dealing with more than usual at Le Mans?
“It’s interesting, Le Mans this year is going to change quite a lot because there is going to be a lot more darkness. Daytona is a similar race where you do have a lot of darkness too. And the weather could play a part because with the race at the end of September, we could have a bit of rain.
“I’ve got a good experience in the dark now. I actually quite liked driving in the dark for some reason. I just seem to settle into a rhythm better.
“It feels like I just drive getting into a zone where I just look at the shift lights and I just know what gears I’ve got to hit and I just see my braking points and that’s what I’m focusing on. I’m just driving by what my peripheral vision can see.
“In the daytime, you can see a lot more around you and subconsciously you’re probably focusing on a lot more. I just concentrate on the shift lights and the engine!”
