Franck Mailleux is hoping to emulate his performance in last year’s Le Mans 24 Hours with a second consecutive podium finish at the legendary event. Mailleux, who is part of the two-car, six-driver strong line-up at the Signatech-Nissan squad, heads into the iconic 24 hour race hoping to overturn a difficult start to his 2012 World Endurance Championships campaign and to register his first podium result of the season. Signatech-Nissan enjoyed a strong 2011 season ending up LMP2 champions in the Intercontinental Le Mans Challenge (ILMC) Series with five podiums and victory in the season finale at Zhuhai. However, luck has not fallen their way so far in 2012, something that Mailleux is keen to put right at Le Mans.
The Frenchman is something of a Le Mans veteran nowadays, having contested the event three times previously with the Signature team in their various guises, but for this 80th running of the esteemed event, Mailleux will benefit from the consistency of a second season with Nissan power, as well as the established relationship with Dunlop and the Signatech-Nissan crew.
The team does not underestimate the task in hand at Le Mans and carried out two private one-day tests at Magny-Cours after the last WEC race at Spa-Francorchamps at the start of May. Mailleux joined the team for the first day immediately after Spa, and again at the official Le Mans test on Sunday 3 June, with the team managing to carry out a thorough test with the Oreca 03 chassis, Dunlop tyres and Nissan engine in advance of the 24 hour race, with no stone unturned in the pursuit of a good result.
Mailleux’s team-mates in the #23 car for the 80th Le Mans 24 Hours race will be Jordan Tresson and Olivier Lombard, while Franck will also be deriving further support from his long-term partners Sojasun, who have worked hard to a dietary and fitness programme to meet the physical demands of Le Mans and the 24 hour race.
Franck Mailleux commented: “Le Mans is a fantastic event for any driver and one of the outstanding highlights on the motorsport calendar worldwide. It’s a privilege to be joining Signatech-Nissan for my fourth Le Mans and I am looking forward to seeing what we can achieve. We scored a pole position and a podium last year so we have our sights set on a repeat top three performance in LMP2 this year. We know the car has a strong base and good potential, both with the Nissan engine and the Oreca chassis. Jordan, Olivier and I have been getting on well this season and I think we make a good team. The guys within the Signatech-Nissan team work tirelessly so we definitely have a good package to compete next week. We’ve done some interesting and useful testing at Magny-Cours and in the official Le Mans session, so we will continue working in this way to make sure we get the best out of ourselves and the car. I’ve also had the usual incredible support from my partners at Sojasun which has been highly appreciated, as always. It’s an amazing atmosphere at Le Mans and I can’t wait to get down to business!”
Source : Franck Mailleux