It’s really important because obviously you’re spending a lot of time together and you have to get along. I think it really depends on the characters and where they’re coming from. The first year, I had a great time with Peter and David and they’re still really good friends. We’ve become really good family friends. I know their kids and everything. Last year again I had Brendon (Hartley) who’s again become a really good friend. I speak with him really often and we go karting together so that really helps. We’re genuinely friends.
This year, it’s a little bit different. Okay I’ve known Rodolfo (Gonzalez) for a long time and actually even Nathanael (Berthon), I’ve known them separately for a long time. But they are coming at it very much from a single-seater mentality so they haven’t yet chilled out enough. Sportscar racing you do need to chill out a bit and you do need to be less competitive with each other. You’re always under that pressure that you don’t want to screw it up for everybody else.
And then there’s obviously the danger element as we saw last year with Allan Simonsen’s crash. It’s bigger than, say, in Formula One. Does that play on your mind? Are you keenly aware of it when you’re driving?
No, not at all. And obviously what happened to Allan, you wouldn’t want that to happen to anybody. It’s a terrible thing. But we accept the risks in the sport right? You accept it and that’s what it is. But also, I really hope that they don’t make Le Mans like all these other racetracks – big tarmac run-offs and safe barriers. Because Spa, for example – okay I like going to Spa but I don’t enjoy it as much as I used to because in many ways they’ve made it easy you know. Anybody can now go to Spa and be within two or three tenths of a good driver. They’ve taken away a huge element of the challenge.
I love Le Mans. For me, my three favourite circuits in the world are Suzuka, Le Mans and Monaco. I’ve been on the podium at Monaco and it would be nice to get a podium at Le Mans.