Kévin Estre will return to the LMP2 category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time in a decade next weekend, joining TDS Racing’s #14 ORECA 07-Gibson. The Frenchman, who remains a Porsche factory driver and currently competes for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, told Motorsport Week about his 12th start at Le Mans.
“It’s my 12th time here and LMP2 is where I started at Le Mans,” Estre said. “It’s something pretty cool with a different car, different team and in between many drives in GT and Hypercar. So yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”
Despite his extensive prototype experience, Estre arrives at Le Mans with limited mileage in the LMP2. His preparation consisted of a single test day at Paul Ricard, where he completed only around 30 laps.
“It’s a big challenge for me to jump in this car which I don’t know and try to do well in a very competitive field,” he said.
Estre explained that adapting from a Hypercar to the LMP2 will be one of the key challenges during the event. While both are prototypes, he pointed to the absence of a hybrid system, reduced power and lower levels of downforce as notable differences between the two categories.
“It’s still a prototype, it has wheels and a steering wheel so you need to push it to the limit,” he said. “But it’s a different car. No hybrid system, less horsepower, a bit less downforce, different tyres, so it’s quite a different car to drive.”
The LMP2 field also includes fellow Porsche drivers Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich, giving Estre a familiar benchmark despite competing outside Porsche’s factory programme.
“Of course there’s big rivalry,” he said. “We’ll try to do our best, each one of us, and beat the other one, that’s for sure. It’s good to have a lot of people I know in the paddock, a lot of friends and teammates, but when we put the helmet on we just want to win.”
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