In conversation with Jean-Karl Vernay: The French driver of the No.76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR will share the cockpit with his fellow countrymen, Raymond Narac and Christopher Bourret.
It’s your first full 24 Hours of Le Mans. How are you finding the atmosphere so far?
It’s really nice to be here and there are a lot of people around. I’ve had the chance to test at Le Mans two times before with Peugeot and Sebastien Loeb Racing, both in a prototype, but this is my first full 24 Hours so I’m going to enjoy the whole week.
As well as what we have on the track there’s the drivers’ parade and today in town, it’s pretty cool to see this happening. It reminds me of my year in America when I won the Indy Lights Championship where you get really close to the fans; it’s the same here. There are only one or two races in Europe where you find this atmosphere.
Will your experience as 2012 Porsche Carrera Cup Champion benefit you in the race?
All the Porsche drivers have so much experience; most of them are official factory drivers with lots of experience. I don’t have so much compared to them, just the Carrera Cup in France last year but the car we used there and the GTE is a little bit different. Of course I’m going to use my GT experience, but I’ve still got a lot to learn if I compare myself with drivers such as Patrick Long and Wolf Henzler. They can teach me a lot and that’s what I’m going to try to do. Of course to be as close to them as possible in lap time is my objective; we’ll see how it goes.
Fiona Miller
Photo: SPA FRANCORCHAMPS CIRCUIT (SPA, BELGIUM), WEC 6 HOURS OF SPA FRANCORCHAMPS, RACE, SATURDAY 4TH MAY 2013. Jean-Karl Vernay of the IMSA Performance Matmut team.
