Interviews

Harold Primat on his American season-end

© Harold Primat

During the Silverstone weekend we had the chance of discussing Harold Primat’s upcoming ALMS mini-season as well as some of his 2008 perspectives. It will be Primat’s second end-of-season American excursion and he will race at Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca with the Creation Autosportif team like last year.
PLM- Harold, what is your aim in these two races?

HP- First of all to be competitive. I have a verbal agreement with Creation for both Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca, I talked to several teams including some LMP2 possibilities but there’s little chance of being competitive in that class with both Porsche and Acura competing.

PLM- Why the choice to race in the US?

HP- Racing there is very good for your profile and visibility as a driver. There’s a lot of media coverage, Speed Channel for example, which is very positive. Also the whole environment and the show factor are present and this adds to the motivation to be there. If you do well there you can get exposure, these two races together with Sebring are the most important in the ALMS season and after Silverstone you have enough time to prepare well for them.

PLM- How was last year?

HP- It was good fun, even when the car was a bit small for my size. Petit was really difficult, there was a lot of rubber on the track and our power steering was a bit weak. After my first stint I was really in pain, after this we lost second gear and Jamie Campbell-Walter spun, nevertheless we finished fourth after fighting the Zytek for quite a while.

PLM- Is the cockpit bigger this year?

HP- Yes, Creation has changed the car and they thought also of me, the cockpit is longer so we should have no worries in that sense.

PLM- Was Laguna Seca as tough?

HP- Well, in Laguna I had the incident with McNish. He was a bit too ambitious and we touched, my back was hurting quite a bit after that. However, even with mechanical issues we managed a good podium. I also learned quite a bit since Nicolas Minassian has a completely different setup style and I had to manage that.

PLM- Was that hard?

HP- Well, take this year for example, Christophe Tinseau and I like the same setup on the car, stable on the back, so it’s pretty easy to get along that way. With Nicolas I drove on a completely different setup but I discovered how to be competitive and get the performance out of that configuration which was very good for me.

PLM- So, do you think you can beat the Audis this time around?

HP- I think so, we can fight them and have a good chance of a podium. We have less weight, a bigger fuel tank. It is also very interesting to challenge them. Challenge the Porsches on P2 would have also been a good objective but the LMP1 victory is more interesting.

PLM- What are your perspectives for 2008?

HP- There’s lots of talking and I’m still evaluating possibilities. I’m still not happy with my position in the car so we need a solution for that and get me more space on the Pescarolo. The only issues we have had have been mechanical but I feel we are doing really OK as a team.

PLM- Any areas you are focusing to improve?

HP- Well, my qualifying could improve. My race pace is OK and is comparable to that of Boullion or Collard, we should be at the level of the 16 car during races. But I think it’s always important to aim for better performance if you want to be on the list for times like, say, Peugeot or other factory teams. Driving for Pescarolo is very good, people know you and they know you’re racing for a top team. My aim is to get the right package for the next year.

We wish Harold all the best for his American adventure, we will be following his progress and hopefully his success on the other side of the Atlantic during October.

gabriel@planetlemans.com