Neel Jani: Take every chance
“I came to Le Mans for the first time in 2009. Back then I didn’t know what to expect. My priority was on single-seater racing and I also did some Formula One tests. I then received a request from Rebellion to drive a closed LMP1 Lola Aston Martin. I was amazed how big this event was.
“A huge fascination comes from the race’s unpredictable nature and the incredible drama. It keeps developing in unexpected directions and sometimes not the fastest car wins. I have seen that over the years. Peugeot could have been clearly faster than Audi but retired with four cars. I understood you need to be quick but first of all you must stay in the race and be there when your time comes. Anything can happen and it’s rare that the same car is the fastest over the 24 hours.
“Last year’s race was a perfect example of this. When the Toyota retired just minutes before the finish, of course it hit me how hard it was for Toyota and its drivers. It confirms just how difficult Le Mans is to conquer. We were in a close fight with Toyota. It wasn’t a wheel-to-wheel battle because we were on a different refuelling strategy but on our simulation the gap was always only a few seconds. Sometimes our car looked like the winner, then it was the Toyota again. We had been unlucky with the Full Course Yellow timings several times and also had two punctures. I felt we had not much luck. In the end the pendulum swung our way. Of course you don’t want to benefit from someone else’s misfortune but somehow everything comes back and evens out. I’ve done Le Mans eight times and have only finished the race with no technical issues three times. Before the start, Jacky Ickx said to me: ‘You cannot win Le Mans. Le Mans lets you win.’”
