WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans
Button: NASCAR Le Mans qualifying pace exceeded expectations
Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button says the qualifying performance of the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 NASCAR that has entered the Le Mans 24 Hours as the Garage 56 car has exceeded expectations.
Stephen Lickorish
Edited: Jun 10, 2023, 11:08 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Hendrick Motorsports machine was almost four seconds faster than the quickest GTE Am entry in Wednesday's opening qualifying session, despite the team's modest pre-event public predictions of being somewhere in the middle of the GTE Am pack.
Instead, 2010 Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller posted a 3m47.976s lap that was only 8.5s slower than the lowest-ranked of the LMP2s.
"I think we've progressed a lot and here we are qualifying four seconds quicker than all the GTE cars - I think it's a phenomenal effort by the whole team," said Button.
"We came here thinking we'd be in the mix and, when the GTE cars get the amateur drivers in the car, we'd be able to be as quick as them - if not quicker - but we didn't expect to qualify four seconds in front of the quickest GTE car.
"Everything has been spot on, all the homework that's been done by this team has been phenomenal and I would put it up there with one of the best teams I've raced with in the world."
Rockenfeller said fast lap times had been simulated before arriving at Le Mans, but he still feels the qualifying performance was better than expected.
#24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 of Jenson Button
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
"When we started with the Cup car we felt there's so much potential and then we tweaked it and got faster and faster at Le Mans on the sim, but you never know until you hit the real track," he said.
"To be here now, having qualifying done faster than we expected on the sim, everybody can be so proud - so far we have overachieved."
However, Button has cautioned that finishing ahead of the GTE Am runners will likely be more difficult in the race.
Read Also:
- TDS LMP2 car gets three-minute penalty for Le Mans FP1 crash
- How Ferrari could have won Le Mans outright in its factory absence
- Van der Zande fears rivals "built cars to suit Le Mans only”
He explained that multiple factors, including possible rain showers predicted for this weekend's event, are likely to contribute to a closer contest.
"We'll have to change brakes during the race, which takes us five minutes - for the other guys it's one minute - so that's over a lap," added Button.
"The goal has to be to beat the GTs. First of all to finish, and then to finish in front of the GTs. And, if we can do that, it's a great achievement."
The 2009 F1 champion, whose only previous Le Mans outing came in 2018 with SMP Racing with a BR Engineering BR1, also stated how much he was enjoying driving the NASCAR machine.
"I love the sound, I love the look, I love the challenge - and this is a real challenge, to take a Cup car base and to build it into something as quick as Hendrick Motorsport have is really impressive," he said.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Van der Zande fears rivals "built cars to suit Le Mans only”
Next article The 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours entry list in full
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Stephen Lickorish
The standout performers from the action-packed Macau GP weekend
General
General
The standout performers from the action-packed Macau GP weekend
Freddie Slater "unstoppable" in Macau but "gamble" didn't work out
General
General
Freddie Slater "unstoppable" in Macau but "gamble" didn't work out
Latest news
Jorge Martin concedes 2026 MotoGP title is “already lost” after Malaysian GP withdrawal
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
24 min
Jorge Martin concedes 2026 MotoGP title is “already lost” after Malaysian GP withdrawal
Layne Riggs had no problem with teammate going for the win despite title fight
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Martinsville
48 min
Layne Riggs had no problem with teammate going for the win despite title fight
MotoGP Malaysian GP: Alex Marquez claims pole from Marc Marquez; Jorge Martin out
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
1 h
MotoGP Malaysian GP: Alex Marquez claims pole from Marc Marquez; Jorge Martin out
Two drivers and 20 points will determine NASCAR Trucks title at Homestead
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Martinsville
1 h
Two drivers and 20 points will determine NASCAR Trucks title at Homestead
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe