Alex Brundle admitted the opening day of the European Le Mans Series opener at Silverstone was a tricky one due to the weather conditions meaning very little dry running across the two free practice sessions on Friday.
The United Autosports LMP3 Ligier JS P3 – Nissan driver finished second in class in the wet first practice but dropped to sixth in the second practice as the track began to dry with team-mates Michael Guasch and Christian England.
“It was pretty tricky to be honest all day,” said Brundle to The Checkered Flag. “One session in the full wet conditions and another one wet and drying, which are tricky conditions to be out there in, loads of traffic as well and lots of mistakes being made all round so didn’t really get too much clean running.
“I think we took something like what we needed to take out of the day, I’m pretty happy with it, I would have liked to have been further up the time sheets in FP2 but realistically I didn’t have the option to do so, and we maximised what we could have done.
“In the qualifying and in the race we are just gonna have to go out and rag it, all of the running we’ve done so far has just been about acquainting ourselves with the car, actually getting down to proper lap times has proved to be really tough with the amount of carnage that was going on out there.
“But it’s good that we’ve got all three drivers in the car in wet and dry conditions, we feel as prepared as possible given the circumstances.”
Brundle believes the team have all the ingredients required to take the LMP3 title in 2016, and feels they can start the season in the ideal manner with a class victory at Silverstone.
“We’re not here to come second, we’re going to do the best possible job we can, and I think we’re capable of winning the race this weekend,” said Brundle. “The team are great, they put the cars together faultlessly, we’ve barely had any reliability issues, they know what they are doing in endurance racing and have been doing it for a very long time.
“I have absolute confidence in the boys, they work incredibly hard as almost all the teams down the paddock do but there really is incredible attention to detail and I think that will stand us in good stead to get us to the end of the race.
“I think we have the package to win the championship this year, we are capable of that, [but] everything is going to have to go right.”
Brundle admits it was painful being on the sidelines through his enforced layoff due to an abdominal muscular illness, but is happy to be back behind the wheel of a competitive racing car once more.
“It’s nice to be back out there,” said Brundle. “My break was painful, I don’t enjoy being out of the car and watching races I should be in. It’s been great to come back and I’ve really enjoyed it.”
