Interview with Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, President of the FIA Endurance Commission

Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, President of the FIA Endurance Commission, travelled to Paul Ricard to watch the teams and drivers take part in The Prologue, the first time the new breed of LMP1 Hybrid cars had been seen on the track together.  We caught up with him on day two to find out his thoughts after all the hard work to make the new 2014 technical regulations a reality.

Q: After all the pre-season meetings and preparation for the year ahead, we are here at Le Castellet. What are your thoughts?

A:  "My biggest satisfaction is that in the LMP1 class, where we’ve made a really big change to the rules, the cars are all out there going round and round with no embarrassment of people being towed back to the pits after a quarter of a lap and so on.  I think the manufacturers have been fantastic in preparing this in a very professional way and that we should be very proud of them.  It really looks as though we are going to have a ding-dong season with them."

Q: We held a press conference with our technical delegates yesterday, the rules were being explained.  They are quite complex; how do you feel we should project that to the public – should we be very technical?

A:  "No. What's very important is that you have to set up rules, and they’ve got to push the manufacturers in a way that is relevant to their road cars.  Endurance racing always has been, always will be where the best lighting systems were developed, the best braking system, and so on.  We must push them in that direction.  Having said that, we fix the rules, they are a bit complicated but they understand them and then it’s a race.  This is not an economy run – these cars have got 1000 bhp under acceleration and we haven’t seen that anywhere for a long time.  They are some of the most exciting cars the world has ever seen."  

Q: Have you been out to watch the cars?

"I have, and the way they pull out of those corners is mind-boggling.  Even 250 metres after the turn they are still wheel-spinning just a little bit and I’m sure that’s quite difficult to master from inside the cockpit."

Q: We’ve talked a lot about LMP1 but we’ve obviously got 3 other classes as well.  The rules are there, are you happy with them?

"You are absolutely right, but LMP1 is symbolic; they do help to bring the championship forward and I think the other teams understand that.   I think the turnout in GTE is fantastic – we have a really beautiful grid of cars this year and I think you are going to see the gaps between them are getting smaller and smaller. It’s going to be very tense every single race.  

"We’ve also got the crème de la crème of LMP2 cars because the most prestigious do the world championship whereas some of the smaller teams do the European series.  We know in LMP2 perhaps we’d like it better if there were another one or two more cars but what we have is the best."

Q: Can I ask about drivers?  We have the established stars such as Tom Kristensen, Loïc Duval, Stéphane Sarrazin and, of course, our Australian newcomer back to sportscar racing, Mark Webber. Are you also pleased to see new, young guys coming up from single-seaters – the top 3 from GP2, for example, have all come to sportscar racing this year? 

"I’ll answer that when I’ve seen them at work.  We know they are fast, but are they clever enough?  The whole point about endurance racing is that it’s always required from drivers a different dimension.  It’s not just blind speed; they’ve got to use their minds.  Are they clever enough to manage the car over a 24-hour period, give it back to their team mate in the same condition they received it because if they can do that then they build trust. They will then become very precious because we know they are quick.

"If they can’t, they’ll just be yet another example of quick, open wheel formula guys who then didn’t really make it in this discipline.  

Q: Are you pleased they are looking at sportscar racing – not as a poor man’s relation to F1, but as a credible alternative?

"I’m not pleased, I’m thrilled and delighted.  It’s fantastic they should see it that way and they absolutely should.  The way endurance racing is evolving, it’s becoming the ‘thinking man’s motorsport.  I say that without any false modesty but I really believe this.  I think that everything that’s done to try and jazz up some of the other formulas really just takes them further and further into the spectacle game and we are firmly in hard racing; we do nothing to artificially jazz it up."   

The first race of the 2014 season will take place at Silverstone on the 18-20 April.  First there will be the official UK launch at Kensington Palace in London on Wednesday 9 April in the presence of their Royal Highnesses Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.   

Jeff Carter

Photo:  SIR LINDSAY OWEN-JONES, PRESIDENT OF THE FIA ENDURANCE COMMISSION