Christophe Bouchut, Scott Tucker and Manu Rodrigues will share a Kolles Audi R10 TDi at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
Frenchman, Bouchut, will race alongside Tucker at Level 5 Motorsports in both Grand Am and the American Le Mans Series this season and has been instrumental in setting up the deal with Kolles.
“2010 is my 23rd season in motor sport, the 30th in fact if you include karts, so I know a lot of people in the business, in particular the team manager of the Kolles squad, Jackie Eckelaert, with whom I worked in Formula 3,” he explained.
“This year, I’m racing in two American prototype series with Scott Tucker, and I discussed taking part in the Le Mans 24 Hours with him. I’ve been working on four projects, two in prototypes and two in GTs. The opportunity to race with Kolles was the most prestigious as we’ll be driving a car that’s part of the legend, because it was the first diesel-engined vehicle to win at Le Mans.
“This is what struck Scott, so I then looked after the negotiations and contracts with Colin Kolles, and I contacted Philippe Dumas (the HEXIS AMR team manager) to ask him if his driver, Manu Rodriguez, could be part of the team.”
Bouchut, who won Le Mans outright on his debut in 1993 with Peugeot, also knows Rodrigues well having shared a JMB Racing Ferrari 430 with the Portuguese-born FIA GT3 Championship regular last season.
“On paper, the choice of an Audi seemed a little bit crazy given the limited experience of Scott and Manu in sports prototypes,” said Bouchut. “I’m not going to ask them for out-and-out performance. The most important thing is for them to get to grips with the car in a relaxed frame of mind.
“My advice to them will deal with overtaking and traffic management. They’ll have to be very careful in the braking zones as you catch the GTs very quickly. Our respective programmes won’t allow us to take part in a preparation race, but we’re going to organise some test sessions with the Kolles team to be ready for Le Mans.
“In a project like this, the professional driver tends to run for much longer than the gentlemen drivers, but that’s not how it’s going to be with us. On the contrary, I think they’ll be full members of the driver line-up, and they’ll have to play their part in going for the result, just like me. We’ll develop a relationship so that each one gets what he wants as well as, of course, the maximum amount of pleasure.”
“Christophe has done a fantastic job and I’m delighted that this project has come to fruition,” said Tucker. “I’m also very happy about making my Le Mans 24-Hours debut with him, as an extension of our common involvement in racing in the United States.”
“It was really fantastic for me to have raced in the Le Mans 24 Hours with Christophe in 2009, and I’m honoured that he’s asked me to drive with him again this year,” added Rodrigues. “It’s a huge challenge for me, and as I got used to traffic with the GT2, I think I’ll be able to avoid the traps thanks to Christophe’s advice.”
Andy Wilkinson
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