For eight dedicated drivers, the first round of the FIA World Endurance Championship will only be half of the challenge as they seek to sweep both the 6 Hours of Silverstone and the European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Silverstone on the same weekend.
The challenges involved in ‘doing the double’ are many, but extend far beyond the physical exertion – simply being in the correct place at the correct time and with the correct kit can be a challenge in itself.
“It’s not an easy situation, it’s not like you’re just going out of the back of the paddock,” says Darren Turner, who will combine his Aston Martin Racing commitments with an appearance with Beechdean AMR in the 4 Hours. “The team have done a good job of managing my schedule, we’ve got the transport sorted to make sure I can get to and from the Wing and the National paddock in ten minutes on the golf buggy.
“It helps that it’s an Aston I know very well, so although the new car has got different characteristics and the cockpit environment is slightly different as well, I know the cars well enough to be able to jump in and out without too much of a problem.”
Nicolas Lapierre and Harry Tincknell will expect to be in the thick of the fight for victory during the 4 Hours with their Dragonspeed Oreca 05 and G-Drive Racing Gibson 015S respectively, however the Frenchman will expect to prevail when the pair tackle the 6 Hour race on Sunday.
While Lapierre joins up with Signatech Alpine in an Alpine A460, Tincknell will take to the wheel of the no. 67 Ford GT, a machine which has very little in common with his open-top Gibson LMP2.
“Your focus has to change quite rapidly from going forwards to looking backwards, especially with the LMP1s coming past you so quickly,” said Tincknell. “You don’t have any time to adapt, you just have to get on with it, there’s no other choice but to do it by instinct. But when you’re a professional, this is what you have to do.”
While the differences between the two Porsche 911 RSRs that WEC GT Drivers champion Richard Lietz will race during the weekend are not quite so extreme, they are nonetheless pronounced. The control Dunlop tyre used in the ELMS work very differently to his Michelin-shod WEC machine, and will consequently require a different setup and driving style to achieve the fastest time over the course of a stint. However, the Austrian admits that his greatest concern is an altogether more basic one.
“It’s quite funny because with the ELMS you have the [pits at] old start-finish but the timekeeping is still based at the new one,” he said. “The thing I’m most scared of is that I will use the wrong pits in the race, so I told the engineers to always tell me which paddock I have to go!”
Drivers completing ‘double duty’ (ELMS/ WEC)
1. Nicolas Lapierre (LMP2) Dragonspeed/ Signatech Alpine
2. Harry Tincknell (LMP2/ GTE-Pro) Jota Sport/ Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Team
3. Rui Aguas (GTE/ GTE-Am) AF Corse
4. Wolf Henzler (GTE/ GTE-Am) Proton Competition/ KCMG
5. Richard Lietz (GTE/ GTE-Pro) Proton Competition/ Dempsey-Proton Racing
6. Christian Ried (GTE/ GTE-Am) Proton Competition/ KCMG
7. Richie Stanaway (GTE/ GTE-Pro) Aston Martin Racing
8. Darren Turner (GTE/ GTE-Pro) Beechdean AMR/ Aston Martin Racing
