Marco Sorensen says he is having little trouble adapting to driving a prototype at Le Mans after years of competition in GTE categories.
Adapting to the ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2 car has come naturally to Sorensen, he told MotorsportWeek.com this week at Le Mans, as he has prior experience in downforce cars from his days in Formula racing.
After six years in the GTE class, racing with Aston Martin, Sorensen has switched to the LMP2 class, with a seat at Danish team High Class Racing.
“GTE to LMP was quite natural for me to change because I come from a formula background, with downforce,” said Sorensen. “So for me, the mentality of downforce was quite easy to adapt to. Of course, there’s always stuff you can learn – but I’ve never tried this type of car before.”
The driving style required, meanwhile, is different. An LMP2 car generates most of its downforce from the floor of the car, while a GTE generates a lot less downforce, both generally and from the floor. But, Sorensen says, because they’re so different, you can’t compare them like-for-like.
“It’s just a completely different way of driving. The feeling, the driving, the downforce you have – it’s really two different cars to drive. So it’s hard to compare which one’s more fun than the other, because GTE has its areas where it’s really fun, and so does the LMP2.”
Another challenge Sorensen has to deal with is traffic. In GTE, the traffic comes from behind, with the faster prototype cars constantly overtaking you, meaning the mirrors were invaluable. But in LMP2, with only the new-for-2021 Hypercar class ‘above’, the traffic, in the form of the GTE cars, is now in front.
This, Sorensen said, required a different style of driving.
“It’s one of the first times where you’re driving around out on the track and you don’t have to really think about if someone is coming from behind if you’re on good laps at least,” he said.
“Because even the hypercars are not so quick anymore, so you don’t even see these cars on track anymore. So it’s definitely a different feeling.”
Sorensen shares the #20 ORECA with Dennis Andersen as well as experienced prototype racer Ricky Taylor.
According to Sorensen, having Taylor, well-versed in racing the ORECA 07 and its US-based offshoot, the Acura ARX-05 DPi, alongside him as been a huge blessing as the Dane gets up to speed in the LMP2 car.
“It’s really good to have Ricky here, because personally I’m a fan of learning all the time,” said the 30-year-old. “To have a reference point in Ricky is honestly the best for me, because I can see where I am pace wise.”
Sorensen is eying up further chances in prototype classes going forwards, although he stressed he’s happy in GT cars as well, saying he’s an “all round driver” and he thinks he can “do both”.
“Everything is open both for me. I would like to do prototypes. I’d like to do GTs as well. I’m quite open to different kinds of stuff. I think I’m quite an all round driver. So I think I can do both.”
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