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News Archive » Talented Trio Revealed for Le Mans 24 Hours May 26, 2007 Scuderia Ecosse announced today that Chris Niarchos, Andrew Kirkaldy and Tim Mullen will pilot the team’s Ferrari 430 at the 75th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours next month. This is the same line-up that took the team to a podium finish in last year’s epic race. The competition is tougher then ever before with five Ferrari 430s on the 2007 entry list but the team is well-prepared for the race and looking to improve on last year’s third-place finish. “We have more competition from rival Ferrari teams this year but we are more than ready to take them on,” commented Team Principal, Stewart Roden. “During the two Le Mans 24 Hours we have entered so far we have learnt that there is a lot more to this race than just going flat out. All-out speed does not win Le Mans. We’ve learnt that we need all of our drivers to be a ‘safe pair of hands’ and we’ve learnt that the strategy evolves as the race enters each new hour. I’ve got a great team, a great car and three top drivers and none of us can wait to get stuck into our favourite race of the year.” After competing in his first-ever Le Mans 24 Hours last year, which he described as ‘living the dream!’, current British GT Champion Chris Niarchos, is delighted to be making a return to La Sarthe. “I can’t wait to go back to Le Mans,” said Chris. “We were the victims of misfortune last year (a sheared drive peg caused the left rear wheel to stick fast and the team lost over an hour in the pits fixing the problem) so we are going back to finish the job off. The car is the right package and we have one of the strongest driver line-ups out there. I will return to Le Mans with more confidence and a greater understanding of the whole event and a firm belief that we can get it done this year.” Andrew Kirkaldy excelled himself at Le Mans last year when he set the fastest-ever GT2 time at the Test Day. “There’s no other event like the Le Mans 24 Hours,” said Andrew. “It seems like yesterday I was entering my first Le Mans but this is already my third. I love the circuit and I love the car so it’s a real pleasure for me to race there. Last year was tough when we had the wheel problem as without that we could have won but I now know that Le Mans is full of ‘what ifs’. This year we will go out there and work as hard as ever and hope that we hit a lucky streak this time around.” Rounding off the talented trio is Tim Mullen, already a Le Mans veteran, and, like Chris and Andrew, relishing the chance to race in such an awe-inspiring event. “For a racing driver Le Mans is one of the races that everyone wants to win. The others are the Indy 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix so I’m going to have to do it at Le Mans! We were so close last year and it’s heartbreaking for the whole team when things go wrong. This race is a big beast and every team goes out there to try and tame it. Let’s hope we can do it this year.” The Le Mans Test Day takes place on Sunday 3 June. The 75th Le Mans 24 Hours begins at 1500hrs (local time) on Saturday 16 June. ENDS |
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