The 2018 Le Mans 24 Hours starts on 16 June, but what's the big news this year? We've picked out some cars and drivers to keep an eye on, with a particular focus, of course, for entrants British.
How’s this for a meteoric rise? In 2014, Phil Hanson was a promising rookie karter, claiming the Whilton Mill Club Championship at his first attempt. Four years later, the 18-year-old is gearing up to start his second Le Mans 24 Hours, sharing an LMP2 prototype with an ex-F1 racer.
After just two seasons in karting, the Berkshire driver jumped straight to LMP3 sports cars with Tockwith Motorsports, winning the Asian Le Mans Series class title. Hanson says: “It can cost £10 million just to get to Formula 1, so we looked at other routes to make a career as a driver.”
Hanson’s route involved stepping up to LMP2 last year and the chance to tackle Le Mans. It was an eye-opening experience: “The big challenge is the scale of the event. The week leading up to the race is more exhausting than the race itself, due to all the events and the sheer amount of fans.”
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That experience will help Hanson this year, and he has gained plenty more since then. He’s now racing for United Autosports and his focus is on a European Le Mans Series campaign with ex-Audi works driver Filipe Albuquerque (ex-F1 racer Paul di Resta will join them for Le Mans). He also drove for the team in the Daytona 24 Hours, sharing a car with Fernando Alonso.
Hanson soaks up the knowledge of his team-mates: “When I started, the learning was all about driving: braking points, corner speeds and so on. But I know those now, so it’s about the other things: feedback, working with the team – just the way you present yourself.”
After finishing ninth in class last year, Hanson hopes his extra experience will allow him to push for class glory. “It’ll also be nice not to be so new,” he says.
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