After realising a long held dream of undertaking his first laps on the fabled Circuit de la Sarthe at Le Mans last weekend, Adderly Fong is now undertaking final preparations before race week begins in earnest for the 82nd running of the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours.
Driving a Ligier JS P2-Honda, the 24-year old Chinese racer will share the cockpit with fellow drivers Ho-Pin Tung and David Cheng in the Oak Racing Team Asia entered LMP2 coupe.
The all-Chinese line-up ended the official test day last Sunday in 17th position in LMP2 with the Oak Racing Team Asia team satisfied at completing their objectives of getting both Adderly and his team mate David Cheng qualified with the mandatory ten laps completed.
We will be following Adderly’s first experience of Le Mans with the Oak Racing Team Asia team throughout the next ten days or so. Sam Smith caught up with him as he started a week long training camp in Austria.
How was the test overall?
“I would say it was a successful test for us at Oak Racing Team Asia last Sunday. We had to run higher than anticipated downforce and we were using as few tyres as we could for the test. Le Mans is a slippery circuit both literally and aerodynamically, so we were struggling with straight-line speed ultimately. This was because the main aim of the first test day was for my team mate, David Cheng and I to make the ten mandatory laps to qualify for the race. We ran more downforce to make the car safer for us to experiment in high speed corners like the Porsche curves. I am confident we have a good package and believe the next running we have next Wednesday in official practice will show some good performance.
“We lost some time after a small clutch issue stranded me out at Arnage on my out lap. However it was fortunate that we ran into the problems in the test and not when lap times counted. I am confident that as a team we can make a real impression next week.”
What are your earliest memories of Le Mans? When did you first become aware of the race?
“I was very into cars at a young age; I was very interested in one car which was the Mazda RX7 because of its beautiful shape and more specifically its rotary engine. With more research I found the Mazda 787B and that then led me to Le Mans and the introduction to the concept of endurance racing which I love.”
You are part of an all-Chinese team. How special is that to you?
“Very special to me of course! I am happy to be representing one of the biggest nations in the world in being the first to do this with an all-Chinese team. I really hope to be able to set a benchmark of what China can achieve in this race and for future generations to try and come beat it!”
How are you anticipating the switch from the GP3 mentality of racing just for yourself to the team work ethic of Le Mans?
“Having done a little bit of testing to begin with already, I can say the mentality is totally different. No one in the Le Mans team is interested in single lap times. Everyone is commenting on consistency and how we can make the car run for a long time. In GP3 it’s all about single lap pace and maximum attack. I would say in a Le Mans team, they focus a lot more on tuning the car and checking that nothing will fail and more importantly driver comfort is something the team is very concerned about. I must make sure that in no way is it any less good in a GP3 team, but the chances of some component failing in 30 minutes is a lot less likely than something over 24 hours.”
How did you feel the first laps in the new Ligier?
“Interesting and a new experience would summarize the feeling in the new Ligier. I feel my legs are very horizontal to the floor like in a formula car. However the top half of my body is very upright like in a GT car. It’s my first time in a closed cockpit prototype car. Visibility is very good in the new Ligier but with the A-pillars for sure there is some restriction to vision. Ventilation and comfort in the car is amazing, for the speeds we are doing and it feels a lot like a video game since you are driving behind a canopy.”
Are you aware of the history and prestige of the Ligier name?
“To be honest, not until I joined the team. Then I was taught all about the company history in F1, Le Mans etc and some of the great drivers like Jacques Lafitte and Rene Arnoux.”
What was your favourite part of the Circuit De La Sarthe?
“I wouldn’t say there is a specifically favourite part of the track; I would say it’s more that the race runs for 24 hours and the prestige that follows that race and how much other people would like to be driving in this race. The weather will also play a factor in the race which I am looking forward to immensely.”
Some quick fire questions for you Adderly……….
How is your French? “I used to know some French since I was in a French elementary school in Canada. Now having not used it for a while, it’s quite bad actually.”
My favourite track is: “Macau…..but now maybe Circuit de la Sarthe!”
Three tracks on my bucket list are: “Nurburgring Nordschlief and Bathurst.”
My dream race car is: “1996 993 Porsche GT1”
My other interests are: “Collecting 1:43 model cars, Car Culture/modification, Anime.”
My hero/Idol is: “Arnold Schwarzeneggar.”
My dream Le Mans team mates are: “Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.”
Three words that describe me are: “Understanding, serious, smart.”
One thing you will not know about me is: “My passion in making other people happy.”
You can follow Adderly’s adventuresd at Le Mans via his Twitter page at www.twitter.com/Adderly_F
Sam Smith
