Prema ORLEN Team makes Le Mans debut in official Test Day
Prema ORLEN Team made its first foray at the legendary Circuit de la Sarthe today in Le Mans, taking part in the official test day ahead of the 2022 Le Mans 24 Hours, round three of the World Endurance Championship. Excitement was running high for every single one of the team members as the #9 Oreca 07 LMP2 racecar went from the famous public scrutineering process in the city centre to the high-speed track for the opening collective session.
After going through some initial checks, Robert Kubica and Louis Delétraz put the car through its paces, and started to adapt its setup and smoothen out some of the inevitable rough patches ahead of such a unique technical and competitive challenge. On the other hand, Lorenzo Colombo had the chance to take his first laps at the 13.6-km venue, making a pivotal step in his professional career.
The sessions also featured safety-car situations similar to the ones that will happen during the race, and slow zones, so the rookie teams and drivers got a real-world chance to see those aspects at work.
In the end, Prema ORLEN Team finished with a double P9 in class in the two segments, as no qualifying simulation or laptime-chasing runs were made. The 24 Hours of Le Mans will go underway on Wednesday with the running of the first rounds of free practice and qualifying, while the race will start on Saturday at 16:00.
#9
LORENZO COLOMBO
“This is a special place. Taking part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans is an amazing experience, and I found quite a good chemistry with the track straight away. The car worked well as Robert and Louis worked on it before I jumped in. I managed to find a clean lap only in the late afternoon. With so much traffic, there are parts of the circuit where you can make a big difference. I want to keep learning as I still have to maximise some aspects, but there is time to work. We have good feedback also with Robert and Louis in terms of pace, let’s see how far we can go!”
#9
LOUIS DELETRAZ
“Many kilometers done, and many laps, which are important for the weekend. I think we learned a lot. It’s going to be a long few days before the race starts, so we have to keep focused, rest well and be ready.”
#9
ROBERT KUBICA
“As always, the Le Mans Prologue is an important day. We were lucky with the weather, so we got to run on the dry. It has been an okay day, although we experienced a few issues which prevented us from completing our full program. However, it’s better today than during the race weekend. We have to get on top of them and try to solve them, then analyze the data. It will be tricky to try and understand in which direction the circuit will go. The race is long, and we have to remember this. We have to keep focused and keep working.”
Source | Photo: PREMA Racing