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WEC - What drivers say...About Mexico

  • gb
01.09.16
WEC - 2016 6 Hours of Mexico
FIA, Motorsport, Mobility, Road Safety, F1, WRC, WEC, WTCC, World RX

Marc Lieb – no2 Porsche Team Porsche 919 Hybrid

“This is my first time in Mexico. The track is interesting.  It is quite narrow; quite difficult I think to manage the traffic.  I think it is the perfect race track for endurance racing, so it is going to be really, really exciting.  The other topic is the altitude where we don’t know how the car will react or how the drivers will react. But other hand that I am looking forward to it and the crowd looks like it is going to be fantastic, so there should be a good atmosphere.”

Nicolas Minassian – no27 SMP Racing BR01-Nissan

“This is the first time I have visited Mexico. The first visiting a track is always exciting, I love coming to a new country. You can already feel the passion of the people.  The track is a strange feeling because you feel that you are in a place that is half street and half road course and that is exciting.  I think it is going to be new to everybody and challenging.  Today I went for lunch in a typical little Mexican restaurant somewhere in town.  The food was very spicy, but great; I love it.  Tonight we will have more time to look around and see more of the city.” 

Sam Bird – no71 AF Corse Ferrari 488

“I think it is going to be a really spectacular event, especially the final sector in the stadium, which will hopefully completely rammed full of people.  We know that the Mexicans are keen on their motorsport, so I am really looking forward to this one.  The circuit is a completely different layout from when I was here with the FIA Formula E Championship, it’s the Formula One circuit with long straights, with tight and twisty corners at the end of the lap.  It is exciting to be here and it is great that Ricardo Gonzalez put so much effort in with the FIA and the WEC organisers to get us here and it is always exciting to go to a new circuit.” 

Nick Leventis – no42 Strakka Racing Gibson015S-Nissan

“This is my second time in Mexico as I was here last week.  It is a fantastic place, lovely people who are very accommodating and I am very happy that the WEC is here.  It’s going to be a really interesting race.  The track is mega, a lot tighter and twister than I thought from looking at the onboard footage.  With four different classes over six hours it is going to make for very interesting viewing.”

Khalid Al Qubaisi – no88 Abu-Dhabi – Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR

“This is my first time ever in Mexico.  The track is interesting with a lot of unknowns for us in terms of the effects of the altitude on the car, but I like the layout of the track.  There are a lot of advantages for our car in the braking zones, it is going to be interesting to find out tomorrow. I visited the old city this morning, I went to the Square of Three Cultures and it was very interesting.  It seems there is a lot of heritage in Mexico, which was very strong in the 14th and 15th century.  It is very good that the WEC is here in Mexico.”

Harry Tincknell – no67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford GT

“This is a really interesting track, some bits are almost back to my karting days in some respects.  Really tight and twisty and it is a circuit that there is going to be a lot of compromise.  You can be really quick in the first part of a section of corners and sacrifice on the exit or slower on the entry to be quicker on the exit. So an intelligent driving approach is going to be absolute key to this weekend.”