dailysportscar’s Mat Fernandez met Graff’s team manager Pascal Rauturier, to discuss the progress of his cars during the first half of the ELMS season and to review his plans for the future.
“In LMP3, there is no doubt that we’ve always been fast yet we haven’t been very lucky. In Monza, I believe that both of our cars (the #8 and the #9 Ligier JS P320) can take a podium position. Our line-ups are well balanced. I see no reason why they wouldn’t”.
“The story is somewhat different in LMP2. We are here to make sure that silver driver Maxime and his brother, bronze driver Arnold (Robin) gain as much experience as possible with support of Vincent Capillaire. Of course, what we are ultimately preparing is their car set up for Le Mans. Both guys are from La Sarthe, it’s going to be something special for them to represent their region in the “So24″ sponsored Oreca 07. Le Mans is something big in the Robin family: they have trained hard in multiple series (VdeV, Ultimate Cup) for multiple years in order to meet that objective. (He Laughs) I believe that even their dad will compete in the Fun Cup support race ahead of the 24 Hours.”
“Of course, we can’t forget the #84 Innovative Car which our team supports. It is an Oreca 07 chassis which we reinforced in multiple areas – for instance, the clutch is inherited from an LMP1. They are not in Monza this weekend as we already took our two preparatory races prior to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s a very challenging project on multiple levels, as you can imagine. The back of a normal driver typically feels a lot about how a car or a track changes. (Disabled drivers Takuma Aoki and Nigel Bailly) can’t get that feedback because of their condition.
“They are not conventional. Let’s just bear that in mind. Now, (while he mimics a left hand on a steering wheel and a right hand pulling a brake lever) we have to let them drive at their pace and see where they land after 24 hours. We have to be humble. I believe we put a good support system in place both, from a human resource standpoint and from a technical standpoint. It’s truly a great life lesson for us and I hope we will succeed. I would love to use that knowledge acquired with Frédéric Sausset and his team for another disabled driver line-up on day. That’s really my wish.”
Looking beyond Le Mans, Rauturier confirmed he would look into several directions. “Nothing is ruled out at this point in time. I am looking at several options including racing a GT car. In any case, I will likely keep on running a Pro-Am car in the LMP2 category of the European Le Mans Series”. Rauturier also indicated that he would get involved in Asia once again: “I can already confirm one entry in the LMP3 category of the Asian Le Mans Series.” he said. “Let’s not forget either Graff’s involvement in single seater competition in F3 and possibly in F4. We are and will definitely be a very busy team in the year ahead of us”.
