IDEC’s Chadwick, Jaubert With “Momentum” Ahead of Le Mans

Jamie Chadwick and Mathys Jaubert are heading into their first 24 Hours of Le Mans with “momentum and confidence” after a successful start to their European Le Mans Series LMP2 campaign with IDEC Sport, with both drivers in line for potential Genesis Hypercar seats as part of the brand’s trajectory program.

IDEC Sport has won both rounds of the ELMS season to date in the LMP2 class, including taking the overall win in Le Castellet in May.

Next weekend, the pair will make their Le Mans debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s lone race featuring LMP2 machines, co-piloting the No. 18 Oreca 07 Gibson with three-time Le Mans winner Andre Lotterer.

Coming into this year’s Le Mans, Chadwick felt that the team’s performance in ELMS provided “more momentum and confidence than we would have expected coming into this year.”

“We’ve obviously had a good ELMS start,” she told Sportscar365. “But we want to have a great race here. I think it gives confidence, but you can’t underestimate the challenge of Le Mans.

“It’s one of the best events we have in our sport, so I want to enjoy it. I want to make the most of it and celebrate what we’re achieving.”

“[Le Mans] is completely different,” added Jaubert. “Now we need to look in our mirror. It’s a huge difference with all of these manufacturers. It’s a completely different circuit and layout.”

Both drivers also expressed excitement about the opportunity to participate in what each described as a “dream” event in their racing careers for the first time.

While Chadwick and Jaubert were optimistic about their and the team’s performance, both also noted room for improvement, especially with the looming prospect of consideration for a top-class seat with Genesis when its GMR-001 LMDh program comes online, beginning with a two-car WEC presence next year.

Chadwick previously told Sportscar365 that drivers in the Genesis trajectory program were given certain internal KPIs (key performance indicators) by which to measure their performance and judge their chances of a potential Hypercar seat with the Korean manufacturer.

“The team has for sure hit [these benchmarks],” said Chadwick. “I think I’ve still got a lot of work to do to get to where I want to be.

“The team has done an incredible job, and I think the beauty of endurance racing is that there’s so much more to it than just one piece of the puzzle, so let’s see what we can do. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is no easy task.

“Just being a part of that is the main thing, but also this event as a whole is a whole festival of motorsport. I’m super excited. Coming into this season, it was kind of the big one on the calendar.

“It’s a dream to compete here, but obviously we want to also see what we can do, and try and do the best job possible.

“The nice thing, and the beauty for us in LMP2, is that it’s a standalone race. It’s not counted towards the championship, so I’m sure we are going to go for it in some regards, but we want to obviously get a good result.”

“It’s a dream,” Jaubert added. “It was one of my dreams when I was young, so I’m very happy to be here at 20 years old, especially with Genesis and IDEC Sport. So I’m very happy.

“It’s mainly all the fans. It’s amazing here with I think 300,000 people, so it’s just crazy all the fans are already here for [scrutineering]. It’s just amazing.

“I am doing a great job since the start of the year, and I will continue like this. I think I need to improve my quali. I did P5 in Barcelona, P4 in Le Castellet. Maybe I’ll be in the top three here [at Le Mans]. Let’s see.

“I’m not looking at the seats for next year. I’m looking at the job I’m doing this year with my teammates and my team. And if I’m doing a good job, then next year probably I’m in the Hypercar. But it’s just about doing a great job in the LMP2 now.”