Benoit Treluyer will aim to secure his third consecutive victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the help of his highly talented Audi team-mates and the guidance of Le Mans legend Henri Pescarolo.
Treluyer, along with Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler, goes in to the iconic race as the favourite for the victory, but is well aware of the challenge coming from not only his fellow Audi challengers but from rivals Toyota.
“To win at La Sarthe you’re relying on the car, but it is also important that the driver has received the correct education,” said Treluyer, who will be relying on the updates to the R18 e-tron quattro and advice from the four time Le Mans winner Henri Pescarolo. “And to drive these type of cars ‘Pescarolo coaching’ is the best in the world! Henri is the reference: he taught me all of the basics and offered me the opportunity to race at Le Mans. The foundations of my success at the 24 Hours come from him. The way in which I manage my endurance races comes from what Henri taught me and I stick to it. His advice allowed me to grow and mature. Today, I hope that he regards my victories as a bit like his own. He is a great man for whom I have a lot of respect.”
“When I ended my driving career I decided to put all my energy into supporting drivers on the Elf Scholarship,” added Pescarolo, who also holds the all-time record for Le Mans appearances with 33. “Benoît was one of the good drivers we selected and then trained. He continued in single-seaters and achieved great things, but the doors to F1 never opened for him. It’s a shame but endurance racing benefited by gaining a first-class person. Benoît is a brilliant driver, very serious and whom I always had great trust in. As I always say, in order to win at Le Mans you have to be as quick as an F1 driver when required, intelligent and capable of adapting your driving style according to the evolution of your car, its tyres and how the race is unfolding. And you also need to be settled in your own mind and put others before your needs in the interests of the car and your team. Benoît has all of these qualities.”
“The car to win, an efficient team to manage everything and team-mates capable of helping your bid: Benoît has all of these elements at Audi Sport. On top of this, drivers from western France have always done whatever they can to perform well at this race, which for them remains a major regional event in spite of its worldwide notoriety.”
