Porsche works driver Laurin Heinrich will be making his 24h Le Mans debut in LMP2 machinery next weekend with Crowdstricke Racing by APR. Speaking to media, including Motorsport Week, the young German explained his preparation for the world’s largest endurance race.
“It’s not often the situation nowadays that I find myself being a rookie, right?” started Heinrich, who only joined the Porsche Penske LMDh squad in Bahrain last year, thus missing out on the last edition of the endurance classic.
“But I love it, you know, for me, obviously, I’m a Porsche factory driver, and unfortunately, Porsche is not on the Hypercar grid this year, but I still really wanted to make my first experience at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. There was no space in GT, so the only chance for me was to be in LMP2, but I think to do my first Le Mans here in LMP2 in prototypes is a great opportunity, and I have a strong team around me.
“You know, I go for racing, they’re so familiar with the car, they’re so well known and successful also in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, so for me, being a rookie, I’m not afraid of this situation.
“I generally adapt pretty well to new cars, new tracks, but it will be a jump into the cold water, like I would call it, you know, being a new car, first time at Le Mans, first time with a new team, so a lot of first times, but I love the challenge.”
Heinrich will also make his debut with the LMP2 car, having no previous experience with the Oreca 07 – Gibson chassis: “We did a preparation test at Watkins Glen, actually, which was after Long Beach in April, so I got some laps to get used to the car, and a track which was familiar to me, which helps.
“But you don’t learn a car within one test day, so I’m still building, but as I said, I like to adapt to new cars and it’s very different, actually, the car compared to the GTP, what I’m used to, but I think it makes me a more complete driver to learn all categories of cars and to try to adapt as best as I can.”
APR as a winning-proven team
The Portuguese-based APR, Algarve Pro Racing Team, is a three-time class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with having dominated the 2023 LMP2 Pro-Am class with CrowdStrike Racing.
“It’s a very performance-oriented team, you know, but at the same time, it feels like a very big family, and actually, it’s family-operated, so that’s something I really like. They’re not only there to have fun and to be a family team, but they’re also successful, and I really like this combination. I really like this atmosphere.
“We are racing in LMP2 Pro-Am, so being with George Kurz and Alex Quinn, obviously two drivers who also have a strong history in LMP2 racing, is for me a very comforting fact, I think we can all learn from each other, we’re not afraid of asking any questions, and I think so far we have a very strong team dynamic, which in a race like this is very important, because you’re only three drivers, right, and there’s still 24 hours to tackle, so you need to have a strong bond with your team, and so far it has been working pretty well.”
Laurin Heinrich isn’t the only Porsche Penske Motorsport driver who will be taking the wheel of an LMP2. Kévin Estre and Julien Andlauer will both take part as well, Heinrich expects some minor team rivalry to make the race more exciting: “So far we haven’t been out on track, right, so we all focus on ourselves, but I think once the green flag drops on Saturday, for sure there will be some rivalry, and we try to beat each other, right, we’re all here to win the race, so if we want to win the race, we need to beat the other PPM drivers.
“It will be a fun dynamic, fun scenario, once you find out that in the car ahead or in the car behind is one of your Porsche brand colleagues, it will be funny, and it will be a new type of challenge to fight each other in a different type of machinery.”
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