Adam living the Le Mans dreamposted in LMANS16 | 06 | 2016
FIFER JONNY ADAM, the Aston Martin works driver, will make his Le Mans 24-Hours racing debut this weekend, and he’s relishing the prospect of tackling the world’s greatest endurance race.
Adam is one of four top-line Scots — including Bathgate’s Marino Franchitti, Airdrie’s Ryan Dalziel, and Edinburgh’s Olympic gold medal legend, Sir Chris Hoy — racing at Le Mans this year.
And as Adam prepared for Wednesday's opening four-hour practice session — on the gruelling 8.45-mile La Sarthe circuit, which runs on closed-off public roads normally used by cars, lorries and tractors — Adam was still pinching himself.
“It’s something I’ve dreamed of ever since I started racing in sportscars,” the 31-year-old from Kirkcaldy said. “I’ve done other 24-hours, like the Nurburgring and Spa, but this is the big one.”
And the Scot, who completed his first runs in the dry when he completed the official Le Mans test day 10 days ago, is relishing the atmosphere of the French endurance classic.
Related: Sir Chris Hoy ready for Le Mans debut
“I’ve never experienced anything like it in the build-up to a race,” he continued. “The atmosphere is already terrific, and it’ll only get more intense the closer we get to the race starting on Saturday. But at the end of the day, it’s a job.”
Though Adam had previously completed the ‘rookie’ 10 laps during testing in 2013, he had avoided experiencing the race until last year.
“I’m not a great spectator,” he laughed, as he sat in the Aston Martin garage, eyeing his gleaming AM Vantage, which will race in the highly competitive GTE Pro class, “so I’d avoided the race.
“But last year, when I became aware there was the possibility of me being part of the Aston Martin World Endurance Championship programme for 2016, I thought I’d come and watch.
“Honestly, it blew my mind. What really got me was the emotion of it all. The emotion, from so many individuals and teams, is unbelievable. You quickly understand why so many teams around the world try to get one of the 60 entries for Le Mans.”
Related: Four Scots in 2016 Le Mans line-up
Aston Martin has long been associated with the world’s greatest race, and Adam already has a poignant link to Le Mans. In 2014 he received the Allan Simonsen Award from the British GT Championship organisers. The award is named after the Dane who was killed just three laps into the 2013 when his Aston Martin crashed.
Now Adam — who will partner Kiwi Richie Stanaway, and Brazilian Fernando Rees in the #97 Aston Martin, which started from GTE Pro pole position last year — admits the trio are gunning for a podium.
“As a team, our target is to get a podium, but certainly we’ll be pushing for a win,” he said matter-of-factly. “A podium is our mindset. If we have a clean run, and our pitstops are good — and they’ve been incredible so far this year — we have every chance.
“We know our car inside out. We’ve run this car since 2012 as a factory programme, and yes the car has changed through its lifetime — especially this year with the new rules and regs — but underneath the skin of it, it’s a car that’s reliable.
“We know it’s good and strong enough for a 24-hours race and that, hopefully, will put us in good stead. But as we know, this is Le Mans, and anything can happen.”
Related: Ryan Dalziel pledges — I'll be back to win
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Jim McGill