Porsche IMSA GTP Factory Stars Relishing Le Mans LMP2 “Fight”

Kevin Estre said he’s hoping to “have a few stints together” with his fellow Porsche IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP drivers Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich in the LMP2 class during this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, meaning they “can fight” and have “fun.”

The trio were unable to secure top-class drives in this year’s contest after Porsche Penske Motorsport exited the Hypercar ranks of the FIA World Endurance Championship at the end of last season, but have all found race seats within the LMP2 division.

Estre, who will team up with Matthias Beche and Tobias Lutke at TDS Racing, is looking forward to the new challenge.

“We were speaking last week with Julien and Laurin and how we are going to approach this,” Estre told Sportscar365. “The car is very different. There is no factory team behind, it’s a lot less people, a lot leaner team, which is in a way fun.

“It’s very competitive and you have to be on top of your game and hopefully I can match these guys.”

Estre completed only one partial day of testing in the Oreca 07 Gibson at Paul Ricard last month prior to arriving in Le Mans but is confident of quickly getting to grips with the LMP2 class that he last tackled in 2015.

He added that he was determined to secure a place on the grid despite Porsche’s absence.

“There was no chance, no possibility for me to drive a Porsche this year in Le Mans and I wanted to be in Le Mans,” he explained.

“I think a few teams thought that would be interesting so I had a few calls and TDS was probably the best package for me and the best fit and I’m happy to be here in LMP2.”

Fellow factory Porsche works pilot Heinrich is also looking forward to the prospect of racing together with his stablemates.

“I wouldn’t call it a rivalry so far because we all focus on ourselves until right now,” he said when Sportscar365 asked if there was a rivalry between the trio.

“But, once the green flag drops, it’s going to be a funny situation once I know that the car in front or behind is one of my Porsche brand colleagues — it will be funny to fight each other in a different type of machinery this time.”

Heinrich will be making his Le Mans debut in a Pro-Am subclass CrowdStrike by APR entry alongside LMP2 regulars George Kurtz and Alex Quinn.

“It’s very exciting because I’m a rookie and that’s not a situation which I find myself very often in,” he said. “But I’m just enjoying the experience so far and can’t wait to get out on track to feel the car on track for the first time.

“It’s not easy because there’s not so much driving time, especially also if you consider it’s not only the race which is new to me but the car and the category I’m racing in.”

Heinrich first sampled the Oreca at a Watkins Glen test and admitted to being surprised by how different it was compared to the Porsche 963 he’s now used to.

“Both are prototypes but the characteristics of the car are very different — they couldn’t be any more different actually,” he explained.

“From where I come from, which is sim racing, where you keep driving new tracks and new cars all the time, so I think that’s something I’ve learnt to adapt quickly and I hope we can use that well here also.”

Andlauer, meanwhile, is due to share the Team Duqueine entry with Doriane Pin and Richard Verschoor and has previous LMP2 experience from two Asian Le Mans Series campaigns with Proton Competition and Pure Rxcing.

“It’s all very different [at Le Mans] but in the end to have this little background driving the P2 for two winters in a row I think helps me a lot because I know what to expect from the car,” said Andlauer, who completed two days of testing with the team at Paul Ricard.

“It feels strange for me because I’m the oldest (in his lineup) — that’s never happened before. I’ve always been the kid of the crew but I feel like I’m the daddy who needs to take care of the crew now.

“We’re going to be against drivers and teams which have a great experience and I think it’s going to be full of challenges.”