Hoy ready for Le Mans debutposted in LMANS11 | 06 | 2016
SCOTTISH OLYMPIC LEGEND, Sir Chris Hoy, is gearing up for his Le Mans 24-Hours debut at the famous 8.47-mile La Sarthe circuit next weekend.
The 40-year-old from Edinburgh, not content with six Olympic Gold Medals in his pocket for cycling, will bid for four-wheel glory in his Nissan-powered Algarve Pro Racing Ligier LMP2 sportscar.
In doing so, he will become the first-ever Summer Olympic Medallist to compete in the classic French endurance race.
Hoy, who committed to racing at Le Mans two years ago when he switched to sportscars, has rapidly established himself in motorsport. Last year he was crowned European Le Mans Series LMP3 Champion.
Now, having successfully completed the official Le Mans Test Day last Sunday, when he completed 30 laps/408.88kms, the Scot is looking forward to making his full race debut at the world’s most iconic endurance race.
"The car didn't miss a beat at the test,” Hoy, who will be partnered by Renault-Nissan Alliance athlete Andrea Pizzitola and British racer Mike Munemann, said
“The track was pretty green and slippery out there early in the session but even so I was really pleased with my lap times and I was able to chip away and get quicker and quicker.
Related: Four Scots in Le Mans line-up
"It’s great to get back on this track: it is such an amazing circuit. Looking forward to the race weekend, I'm really not focussed on the results, I'm just trying to do the best job I can.
"Whenever I'm in the car, I'm driving to the absolute limit of my abilities — not beyond it — and trying to finish the race. It is such a challenge to just survive the race. I'm really not thinking beyond just trying to do my job.
"As soon as you start thinking about winning or getting on the podium it just distracts you from what you are trying to do."
After becoming the most successful British Olympian ever in 2012 in London, Hoy retired from cycling the following year and began to focus on his “hobby” behind the wheel.
Linking its role as a Team GB Olympic sponsor, Nissan first entered Hoy in the British GT Championship in 2014 in a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.
The Japanese car giant has put him through its intensive driver development program created to turn graduates from the successful GT Academy “gamer to racer” programme into professional drivers.
Hoy scored a podium in his debut season and graduated to the European Le Mans Series last year in the new Nissan-powered LMP3 prototype class.
He then scored victories in three of the first four races with Team LNT in a Nissan-powered Ginetta with co-driver, fellow Scot Charlie Robertson. to clinch the LM P3 driver’s title.
Related: Chris Hoy — Le Mans dream now a reality
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Jim McGill