With the first eight hours now over, we have gathered the first impressions from some of the drivers involved in the race behind the wheel of the 488 GTEs.
Daniel Serra, AF Corse #51: “I'm happy for my two stints, in the first one I was fighting against Aston Martin and it was difficult because they have more power than us, plus they had new tyres and it was difficult to find the right moment to overtake, while in the second it was easier because their tyres were more worn. At that point I moved in behind Davide until the end of my stint.”
Alessandro Pier Guidi, AF Corse #51: “So far it’s been pretty good; we have the pace to fight with Aston Martin while Porsche at the moment seems slightly behind. The car is running really well and has a good balance. However, the race is still very long and it is difficult to make any predictions, so let's keep on trying to create a bit of a gap in order to control the race, but it will be a battle until the end as always. ”
Sam Bird, AF Corse #71: “So far everything is going very well, Ferrari has done a super job and we have a great car to assist us. For the moment we are leading the race but there is still a long way to go, even if we cannot ask for any more as we are in first and second place.”
Charles Hollings, Red River Sport #62: “This is the first 24 Hours of Le Mans for Red River Sport and we have managed to make up five positions from twentieth to fifteenth place, without making any mistakes. If, in the end, we manage to finish in the top ten, we will all be very happy.”
Matteo Cressoni, Iron Lynx #75: “We are third in class and Andrea [Piccini, Editor's note] is behind the wheel. Our car is performing well and we are staying out of trouble. In an hour-and-a-half it will be my turn and we hope that it won't rain tonight even though it is likely to happen. Our goal is to stay away from problems at least until the morning and fight until the end for the result.”
Rahel Frey, Iron Lynx #83: “We haven’t managed to gain positions but we haven’t lost any either, even if we were hoping to be further ahead in the standings. My stint went well and we gained some pace compared to the free practice, but we need to progress further to gain positions.”