Deletraz: Prema Enjoying ‘Strong Dynamic’ in Debut Season

Louis Deletraz says the “dynamic is strong” within the fledgling Prema LMP2 squad as it prepares for the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa and the 24 Hours of Le Mans after scoring a maiden sports car racing win in the European Le Mans Series at Paul Ricard.

Deletraz, who shares the No. 9 Oreca 07 Gibson with Lorenzo Colombo and Robert Kubica for this weekend’s six-hour enduro, was part of the winning lineup at the 4 Hours of Le Castellet when he teamed with Colombo and Ferdinand Habsburg.

Habsburg is not part of the WEC lineup, returning to Team WRT to continue his LMP2 title defense instead.

Prema will take part in only its third race in sports car racing after Paul Ricard and the 1000 Miles of Sebring in March, where it narrowly missed out on a podium and finished fourth on debut.

According to Deletraz, the team will look to carry over its winning momentum from its victory in the ELMS to Spa, where it looks for its first WEC victory.

“Winning in Paul Ricard was important to us,” Deletraz told Sportscar365. 

“Prema is a brand new team, Sebring was already strong but a bit unlucky, we won in Paul Ricard. 

“The dynamic is very strong, I think we have a strong lineup in WEC too, and we definitely aim at winning and being in front.”

Deletraz celebrated two LMP2 race victories in a matter of weeks, as he also took a class victory with Tower Motorsport in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca last weekend.

“I’m on a good dynamic recently, because ELMS win and then this past weekend in Laguna we won as well,” Deletraz said. “Maybe we can make it three in a row.”

Prema’s LMP2 effort, which is run in collaboration with Iron Lynx, started strongly with a win in only its second race in the class.

Although the team has a high reputation from years of title success in junior single-seater categories, Deletraz believes that the team is still in a building phase and drew a comparison to Team WRT’s debut year in sportscar racing last season.

“I hope it’s only up from here,” the 25-year-old said. “It was the same with Team WRT, it was a brand new team.

“People don’t realize how much work it is in the winter and how much input we have as drivers too, to try and build it around us. 

“I’m glad because the people are super talented, super keen to learn. 

“They come from single-seater [racing] which is very interesting. A different approach, so to mix endurance racing and single-seaters is super helpful.”

The team is also in the process of preparing for its maiden outing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which takes place next month.

According to Deletraz, Prema has placed a big focus on Le Mans, trying to go through the learning process in sports car racing as quickly as possible to be ready for the twice-around-the-clock enduro in June.

“It’s all preparation for Le Mans,” the Swiss driver said. “All the work has to be done now and all the learning has to be done now. 

“Last year we got lucky, Le Mans got delayed, which helped us as a new team at WRT.

“We don’t have this luxury this year. Le Mans is in June and we just have to be ready and strong straight away.”