Andlauer: Hypercar Chance with Proton “Means A Lot”

Julien Andlauer says his chance to contest the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Hypercar category with Proton Competition “means a lot” after six years working with the Porsche-aligned team in the GT ranks.

The French driver will share Proton’s No. 99 Porsche 963 with Neel Jani and Harry Tincknell for his Hypercar debut in next weekend’s Qatar 1812km.

Andlauer made his WEC debut in 2018 with Proton, becoming the youngest-ever class winner in the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the age of 18 alongside team owner Christian Ried and now-Porsche Hypercar driver Matt Campbell.

Having been part of the Proton set-up at Le Mans every year since then, Andlauer says he’s excited about making the step up to the top class of the WEC with the same team.

“Being in the main category and to compete for the overall win at Le Mans is something big, also staying in the same family for the last six years,” Andlauer told Sportscar365. 

“For the first year at Porsche, I was with Proton, and I have been with them for each of the last six years. We have put something together, I grew up and progressed, and I’ve finally come up to one of the most exciting seasons in my journey. It means a lot.

“It’s also great to be competing in an all-Pro lineup, which is something I missed a bit these past years. I’ll be able to learn a lot from my teammates as they have a lot of experience.

“Outright pace is not something I’m too focused on.  I have more to learn with the systems, the way to work [with the team], to give good feedback, to use all my experience of the last few years.”

Although Andlauer’s drive – which he clarified is for the full season – was only confirmed upon the publication of the entry list for the Qatar 1812km, the French driver said the plan to race for Proton in Hypercar was “already confirmed a few months ago.”

His campaign in the Asian Le Mans Series was partly aimed at preparing him for the WEC season, as he raced an LMP2 car for the first time for Proton alongside Giorgio Roda and Rene Binder, with the trio finishing second in the LMP2 standings.

“After the final round of ELMS in Portimao, I tested the next day in LMP2,” said Andlauer. “They were looking for a Gold driver, so they gave me a test to see if I was fast in an LMP2. 

“It went pretty well. I learned a lot how everything works [in prototypes] which is quite different to GTs, although the driving style for the 963 is closer to the [911] RSR.”

Andlauer’s first experience of the 963 came in the post-season rookie test in Bahrain last year, but next week’s Prologue will mark his first miles in the car since then.

With Proton also having not done any testing with the 963 since then, the 24-year-old was cautious regarding his expectations for how the German squad will perform in Qatar.

“There is so much to do before being able to step on the podium,” said Andlauer. “I wouldn’t say I have no expectations, but we will just go through the plan and see what we can do. 

“The preparation has been limited because the team has been busy doing Asian Le Mans, Rolex 24. We didn’t do any tests before the Prologue, so this will be very useful for us. 

“We’ll try to find a good base line and execute the race properly with no mistakes and gain experience. Maybe we’ll be 15th… maybe fifth. It’s tough to say. We’ll see.”