Every year at the Le Mans 24 Hour, there are drivers making their first attempt at the Grand Prix of Endurance.
This year, there is a significant proportion of the entry list in that category. Particularly, in the new-to-Le Mans class of LMGT3.
With the introduction of LMGT3 and the GT3 platform into the Le Mans entry, some manufacturers are making their long-awaited return to Le Mans after significant periods. Ford is returning to Le Mans with the first race at La Sarthe for the Mustang since 1997, where a pair of Saleen Mustang’s didn’t make the finish.
Lexus comes to Le Mans for the first time ever, with the RC F GT3 breaking new ground for the brand, while McLaren return for the first time since 1998.
Also, as a consequence of the admission of LMGT3 to Le Mans, the door has opened to some high-profile drivers of GT3-spec machinery to make their Le Mans debuts, after extensive careers in GT3 racing already.
On the Le Mans entry list for remarkably the first time are Christopher Mies and Daniel Juncadella, two drivers with incredible GT3 racing pedigree.
Also on the entry list making their Le Mans debut with GT3 parcours are Lexus drivers Kelvin van der Linde and Jack Hawksworth. Kelvin was racing last weekend in DTM, while Jack is a late addition, filling the vacancy left by Jose Maria Lopez’s move to Toyota’s Hypercar after the late withdrawal of Mike Conway.
DSC sat down with Mies and Juncadella during Scrutineering on Friday to get their thoughts on this incredible event.
“It’s a big honour for me to be here,” said Christopher Mies, making his Le Mans debut at the seat of the #44 Proton Competition Ford Mustang, soaking up the atmosphere at Scrutineering. “I’m really excited about it.
“It’s probably the longest race week I’ve ever had! We’re here for almost 2 weeks.”
Daniel Juncadella, at the wheel of the #82 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette for his Le Mans debut, shared a similar sentiment.
“At 33, it’s quite interesting that you can get to debut at such a big race,” said Juncadella. “Le Mans is one of the biggest highlights for me to race this year.
“It’s like Daytona, with the Roar – it’s one of those kinds of events. But it feels a bit different here. There’s a lot more driving at The Roar, whereas here it’s just one Test Day.
“[Scrutineering] is more for the fans, in front of the people in town. And that’s also quite cool! I like all of this stuff.”
All four drivers are driving brand-new cars to Le Mans; two of those cars are making their first GT entry this century.
Mies is at the wheel of the Ford Mustang’s first foray in Le Mans since the Saleen Mustang of 1997 (and an attempt that didn’t get beyond pre-qualifying in 1998), Juncadella is piloting a Chevrolet Corvette in their first full season of GT3 racing, and van der Linde and Hawksworth are driving the Lexus for the debut of the brand at the event.
It’s a major shift from what they have been driving in recent years.
Mies, who is a long-time Audi driver, has moved from a mid-engined car to now a front-engined machine, while Juncadella, normally at the wheel of front-engined Mercedes AMG’s, has gone the other way, into the mid-engined Corvette Z06.
“The Audi [R8] is a good race car; it’s a proven race car,” said Mies. “But I’ve raced it for 15 years – It was good to have a change, I really needed that.
“And when I jumped in the Ford [Mustang GT3] for the first time, I was impressed by how easy the car is. Especially in high-speed sections.
“A mid-engined car is always a bit edgy if you push hard. Whereas the [front-engined] Ford is way more balanced. It has other issues – the mid-engined cars have a bit better mid-corner rotation, where the front-engined cars suffer a bit. But it didn’t take me long to get up to speed with the car.
“I love the vibration inside the car!” Mies says while beaming. “It’s insane! I wish you could feel it because it’s so American! The noise, the fans like it, and it’s a cool project.”
For Juncadella, the switch to Corvette has been ‘exciting.’
“I’ve been linked to Mercedes AMG for so many years,” said Juncadella. “Now making the switch to Corvette is massively exciting. I love racing with Corvette.
“I do love IMSA because it’s a championship I came to know only in the last couple of years. It’s probably the #1 project as a Corvette driver – as a driver for an American Brand.
“But WEC, it’s a world championship. And I’ve enjoyed getting to know a new championship, and racing at Le Mans.”
Both drivers have vast GT3 experience elsewhere – Mies in IMSA, GTWC and many starts and wins at Nurburgring and Bathurst; Juncadella with a GTWC Endurance championship under his belt and a win at the Spa 24 Hours, and a full season in IMSA last year in GTD;
Interestingly, they each had different thoughts on how the WEC feels compared to the other championships they are more familiar with.
“There is a little bit of difference rules between the championships,” Mies said. “But in the end, IMSA feels the same.
“You also have the Hypercars – GTP in IMSA – so it’s the same.
“I think it’s good to have the experience from IMSA racing, and multiclass racing, and to have LMP2’s there or to have GTP or Hypercars there, and also GT3.
“It shouldn’t feel too different.”
For Mies, that also extends to the car. Despite the different surfaces, conditions, tracks, tyres and BoP processes between the Ford Mustang he drives in IMSA and the one he pilots in the WEC, Mies’ response was quick and cool, “No, it feels the same.”
Similarly, when asked if anything about the WEC has surprised him so far or that has been unexpected, Mies answered with a nonplussed “Not really, nothing!”
Juncadella gave the query more consideration.
“It’s hard to tell because I’ve only done two races in IMSA with the Corvette, and now I’m focussing on WEC during the season,” he said. “My next IMSA race isn’t until Petit Le Mans.
“It’s really difficult to compare. I think overall, everything looks pretty much the same.
“Just the tyres – it’s something completely different to IMSA in the US, and also to GT World Challenge in Europe.
“When I do some of the races with [Mercedes] AMG, on the Pirelli tyre, it feels different.
“But overall, GT3s are great cars to drive. To be in the Z06, a new GT3 car in the old GT3 environment, it’s pretty cool. To be a part of that development, and that improvement through all the procedures, it’s very nice.”
For Juncadella, the scale of the professionalism of the WEC operation is what sticks out to him the most.
“I think, the organisation, the environment all around it, it feels very professional,’ commented Juncadella. “It looks a bit like in Formula One.
“It’s probably what you would expect from a World Championship. I didn’t have any comparison.
“The racing is cool! So far it’s been pretty exciting, and the biggest highlight is yet to come with Le Mans.”
However, Juncadella did say that something that he enjoys is missing from the WEC its current form.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a negative or a positive thing, but I’m surprised there’s no GT3-Pro class,” comments Juncadella. “There was in the past, but for a world championship, I would hope that in the future, it would come back with some GT-Pro races.
“For the amateurs, I think having so many Pros, especially with the Hypercar class coming through, I think it’s a bit difficult for them to manage that. And it can be a bit frustrating for them – so many professional [drivers in prototypes] diving left and right.
“Mixing it up a little bit more would be cool.”
With the experience level of these two debutants, it would be easy to get carried away with expectations ahead of their first Le Mans. But, of course, their experience shines through.
“If we’re on the podium, I’m happy. If we’re P5 I’m also happy,” said Mies. “I’m just happy to be here and to get the experience.
“I just want to finish the race. I wouldn’t be happy if we had to retire the car for whatever reason.
It’s a similar story for Juncadella in the Corvette.
“I’m quite confident that we can have a good show here in Le Mans,” he says. “The Corvette has been developing very nicely.
“Already in Spa, we were a bit more competitive. And reliability-wise, at least in our car, we’ve had no issues so far. So that’s quite encouraging.
“Just thinking day by day though. I just want to get the most out of what we have, and have some fun.”
If there was any question as to their excitement to be here, that’s summed up best by Christopher Mies.
“I just want to race in the race! I want to go through the night, I want to be super tired on Sunday morning thinking, like, ‘What am I doing here?’
“I really want to have this in the end. If it’s P1, P3, P5, P10, I don’t care!”
Driver images courtesy of Proton Competition & Corvette
