After claiming a podium finish at the last event in Monza, Andrew Watson heads to the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend full of confidence.
Returning for his second appearance at Le Mans, Andrew is keen to get out on track in the #777 D’station Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GTE with his team mates Satoshi Hoshino and Tomonobu Fujii.
The trio scored the team’s first-ever trip to the podium at Monza in a thrilling finish. In only its first season in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Andrew and the team have impressed in the three races so far. In his Le Mans debut last year, Andrew finished an excellent fifth in the LMGTE Am class and looks forward to enjoying similar success this time around. Traversing the 8.467-mile Circuit de la Sarthe, Andrew will race around some of the most famous turns in motorsport such as Tetre Rouge and Arnage and will also reach speeds of almost 190 miles per hour down the legendary Mulsanne Straight. “I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for such a long time,” Andrew said. “Since my first time here last year, I’ve been dreaming of coming back ever since. Driving this track and taking part in the race really is unlike anything else in the world. We’ve continued to go from strength to strength this season which has given us all a real confidence boost as we arrive here. We’ve all experienced Le Mans before so we know what to expect and how to prepare. There’s a long race ahead of us and we’re determined to get a good result.” Andrew will take to the track on Wednesday for the opening Free Practice session at 14:00 local time (13:00 BST) before Qualifying on Wednesday evening at 19:00 (18:00). A second Free Practice session then follows at 22:00 (21:00). Returning on Thursday, they’ll take to the track for a third Free Practice at 14:00 (13:00) with the Hyperpole shootout following at 21:00 (20:00) to determine the final starting order. The team will then make use of a final Free Practice session at 22:00 (21:00). On Saturday, the Warm Up marks the start of the day at 11:30 (10:30) before the race itself gets underway at 16:00 (15:00) on Saturday afternoon. Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the race unfold live on Eurosport 1 for the full 24 hours, or through the official FIA WEC website and app.