Drivers Look Ahead to Sebring 1000 Miles

A host of stars shared their hopes and ambitions for a new WEC season on the eve of the Sebring 1000 Miles.....

Jose-Maria Lopez, No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing – Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar

“It's always nice to start a season and see how we perform at this track.

“The objectives, I think are pretty much aligned with everyone which is to win and to try to achieve the championship.

 “We have been learning as much as we can today, and it’s not been easy. We knew we would take a hit here from the Balance of Performance and we struggled a bit on our car.

“Our main focus is to address any issues and be ready for the race. We are confident that we can fight for the win if we do a perfect race in terms of getting the right balance, making no mistakes, and handling the traffic well. So, we are staying positive.”

Ryan Briscoe, No 007 Glickenhaus Racing – Glickenhaus 007LMH Hypercar

“We're excited that the programme and it’s a great story that we keep going. I mean last year everything brand new.

“It's a very small group of people putting together a very big project, it's a steep learning curve, and it continues to be a big learning curve.

“The last time the car ran on the track before coming here was at Le Mans. So, we unpacked the car, and we had some small updates. It's nice to be back on the track and we will continue to learn.”

Robert Kubica, No.9 Prema Orlen Team – Oreca-Gibson LMP2

“Joining the WEC with Prema Orlen Team is a big challenge for us and it is the first full campaign for us in this series. We have quite a young group within the team, and we have some things to work on and improve on.

“I really am enjoying the track which is really old school and a big challenge with the surface and the bumps which I heard a lot about. It is completely different to what we are used to in Europe which is nice.”

Sebastien Ogier, No.1 Richard Mille Racing – Oreca-Gibson LMP2

“Honestly, in the back of my mind, the wish was circuit racing after many years in rally and I always thought that WEC could be the best category to do it with some exciting cars to drive and sharing the car with some good reference drivers, which would help me and in a good direction.

“So, I am very happy to be here and so far I really enjoy the experience of being in Sebring. This car is really, really fun to drive and the only things missing a bit is that I would like to see more circuit time because that is that's what I need right now.”

Tommy Milner, No.64 Corvette Racing – Chevrolet Corvette LMGTE Pro

“To have this opportunity with Corvette racing to race these cars around the world is something very special to go for a world championship is very cool.

“It doesn't quite feel like something different yet because we are here at Sebring, again in places that this team was very, very familiar with.

“So, it’s kind of the best case scenario realistically for this team to just come and get comfortable again, with different settings and different strategies involved racing in this series. We have quite a bit of data and understanding of what these cars can do around the racetrack and we are hoping that we can use all of that knowledge over the years to attack this weekend.”