Ben Keating will be starting the race for the polesitting Team Project 1 Porsche, and believes getting all of his driving time in early could be an advantage.
The Texan took pole position along with Larry ten Voorde in the #57 Porsche 911 RSR. Speaking to Motorsport Week before the race, he shared his thoughts heading into the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
"Same as usual. One of the things that I think is an advantage for me is that I'm pretty good physical fitness wise. I have to do a minimum time of two hours and twenty minutes. I will do all of my time up front, at the beginning," Keating said. There's always an element of risk when you do that, but I think there's also a chance that that's a big competitive advantage, and I think I expect most of the teams will change up drivers almost every stint.
So I don't think that many or any of the other bronze drivers will complete their time up front. So there's at least a small chance that we have a safety car and bunch the field up, and then it's a big advantage."
Keating and longtime team-mate Jeroen Bleekemolen currently sit third in the GTE Am standings, behind TF Sport and AF Corse.
"There are a lot of really competitive teams out here this weekend," he continued. "I'm actually excited that it's hotter today. It's actually hotter than it's been so far at all in practice and I think tyre management will be key for this event.
I feel good, obviously it's nice to start up front. I love my Dutch team-mates and I've got a lot of faith that as a team we're a pretty strong group of drivers. It's nice to start up front and hopefully we'll be able to build a gap that we can maintain at the end."
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