FIA WEC Collective Test Report – PREMA Racing has solid test ahead of centenary Le Mans edition

PREMA Racing completed the official collective test ahead of the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours at the famed French venue. The team focused on work in preparation for the race, which included long runs to optimize car balance.

The #9 Oreca 07 LMP2 racecar finished the session with 23-year-old Dutchman Bent Viscaal setting the sixth-fastest lap of the afternoon. The goal for the day was also to make sure that the debuting silver drivers, Filip Ugran, Juan Manuel Correa and Doriane Pin, had the necessary mileage and confidence. Ugran experienced a positive drive since the morning session, and the 20-year-old Romanian continued to run trouble-free in the afternoon.

Correa had a memorable Sunday. After finishing the FIA Formula 2 Feature Race at Barcelona, the 23-year-old Ecuadorian-American jumped on a plane and landed in Le Mans in mid-afternoon. He made it on track just in time to complete the 10 mandatory laps, of which five consecutive, needed to be admitted to Le Mans as a silver-categorized driver.

In the #63 car, Pin achieved the same result in the morning. The Frenchman, who is the youngest driver on the team at 19 but already had the chance to drive at the track in the 2021 Road To Le Mans event, showed excellent potential all day. Also driving for the first time at Le Mans, F1 veteran Daniil Kvyat had solid runs and worked with the team to improve the car’s set-up.

Mirko Bortolotti had an eventful day as well. After driving in the 1000 Kilometers of Circuit Paul Ricard, the 33-year-old Italian arrived at the track on Sunday morning and quickly got up to pace.

The drivers will take a deserved break tomorrow before jumping back into action with a tight succession of on-track sessions and fan festivities that will lead to the centenary Le Mans 24 Hours.

#9 JUAN MANUEL CORREA
“It was a really cool day, racing in the morning in Barcelona and doing a stint in Le Mans in the afternoon. The track is amazing, sometimes quite sketchy, and even if the straights are long, there is always a lot going on. I just really enjoyed it. The feeling was good with the track and car, so I’m really looking forward to getting the weekend started.”

#9 FILIP UGRAN
“I really liked the track, it’s even better than I expected by driving it in the simulator. I really really enjoyed driving for the first time here today. It was a bit dirty in the morning, but it quickly improved as the laps went on, and we could see it with the lap times. It was a pleasure, and I hope to have a lot of driving time in the practice sessions and in the race.”

#9 BENT VISCAAL
“In general, I’m quite happy with the performance today, we tested a lot of things even if the track is still green, so we expect it to rubber quite a lot. The first feeling on track is quite positive, and while it’s never perfect on a track that is only used once a year, I think we made good progress with the engineers and mechanics as we got into the grips of the circuit and the procedures.”

#63 MIRKO BORTOLOTTI
“I arrived very early in the morning from Paul Ricard, and it was a really short night. Also, a bit of a chaotic day. I had the experience of doing the race last year, while both my teammates are rookies, so they took most of the track time. I did only a few laps, but it was important to be back in the car, and, even with a limited mileage, I’m pleased to have had this chance.”

#63 DANIIL KVYAT
“My first time at Le Mans! It’s a legendary track I really like. We didn’t have many clean laps, but that’s normal, there are a lot of cars and traffic here. However, we learned the corners and the braking zones and had a global vision of how the track is. The feeling is great, and I can’t wait to be back on track.”

#63 DORIANE PIN
“It was honestly amazing. I already knew the track from Road To Le Mans in GT3, but LMP2 is another step and the sensations are incredible. The track was still pretty green, but I enjoyed every single lap completed today and I feel we went in the right direction. I’m really looking forward to the next sessions.”