Today was the drivers parade through the city center of Le Mans. I have to admit, I've been to many races all around the world, and there is just nothing like this race... The fans are electric and full of energy and around 40,000 fans came out to cheer the drivers on...

To my delight, I would hear random calls from fans in Chinese...yes,, Chinese fans were here in Le Mans to cheer our team on...absolutely fantastic... It makes me proud to be able to represent Hong Kong and China at this historic race...

Please see below for the pictures of the parade!

It was always going to be a tough challenge for all our drivers to qualify for the big race. With the official testing day cancelled and a rain drenched free practice yesterday, all 3 rookies at the 24 hours of Le Mans had alot to catch up with for todays qualifying session.

The regulation states that all 3 drivers need to reach a minimum qualification time. Usually this is not a tough task, but with the LMP1's setting a very fast lap time, it is not an easy task to reach the minimum 125% in the session.

I set the fastest time for the team with a 4:10.45. I was able to complete 6 timed laps in the qualification session. For the first 3 laps, I set a time of 4:11.0 and for the second outing in the night, I expected to set a much quicker time.

However, my session was plagued with traffic with every single lap either having slower cars in front or Prototype cars overtaking me. This really disturbed my session and I was unable to better a 4:10 on my laps.

I had expected to go out for another go towards the end of the session, but a differential suffered a problem mid way through the night qualifying session and the car had to stop 1 hour early.

This leaves us in 15th position overall. Not the type of qualifying result we wanted, but the team will work hard tomorrow to rebuild the car and prepare it for the 24 hour race.

The most important is that we have a mindset for the 24 hour race. This is not a sprint race and it requires that we take care of the car and not get into trouble. All 3 drivers are aware of this and we will give it our best effort come saturday.

Tomorrow we have a day off as the team gets a chance to prepare the cars and make the final adjustments. We will also have a drivers parade through Le Mans as we will get to see all the fans that have come to see the race.

The event has been a blast so far and a great experience. I look forward to Saturday and until then, will try to get some well needed rest.

I'll try to post some pictures from the parade tomorrow. For more up to date pictures, please go to www.enduranceasiateam.com

Bon Nuit!

Free practice finished last night at midnight. As predicted, the weather made everything extremely difficult as the circuit was raining on and off the entire 6 hours of the session.

Although the weather wasn’t great, the experience was still absolutely fantastic. Just to be on the Le Mans circuit was a tremendous feeling and I really enjoyed challenging myself each and every lap I drove.

We started the session in daylight and the track was looking to dry, but soon after, the rain started to come down hard again. This track has only one way to describe it… High Speed! I have to continue to build up my confidence on this circuit and really work to build up my speed. It was difficult with the conditions but I managed to get quicker every single lap with my best lap time in the rain coming on the final lap of free practice just before midnight.

It is a strange feeling going down the straight at night. With no one around you in the dark, and just flat out for a long long time at 280km/h in the rain, it is just an interesting feeling that I never felt before. I guess you would describe it as feeling very alone and in the zone….

The LMP1 cars come extremely fast so it is important we always keep our eyes in the mirror as the speed difference is immense. Sometimes it is even difficult to see them coming which makes it extremely challenging as to not get into an incident with the quicker cars.

The qualifying session is today and I hope it will remain dry. So far, it has been sunny this morning, but as we have seen the last few days, the weather can change really quick here at Le Mans. Most the corners here will have to be taken with extreme confidence in 4th or 5th gear so it requires a lot of focus and concentration to carry the speed, hit your driving lines on the mark, and NOT crash the car!!

More to come…..









Meeting the famous and legendary Jacky Ickx, 7 time winner at Le Mans.. He actually helped to deliver my helmet from Bell Helmets..what a great surprise...

I have been now at Le Mans for two days. It has all been about preparation the past few days as the entire team is working flat out to get things ready for the big race. The atmosphere continues to grow as people begin to make their way to the circuit 24 hrs du mans and the rain continues to come down hard.

The car looks great and the final adjustments are being made on the car. Basicly there are alot of small details the team has to work hard on as they prepare such as the drivers seat position, belts, car setup, radios etc etc etc...yes, alot of work.

The car went through scrutineering on Monday which was an exciting event. People came out in big crowds to witness this event as all the cars were being inspected. I found it quite amazing as the crowds were so big. You can imagine, there was no driving at this event, only car inspection!

Yesterday, I spent time with my co-drivers to walk and study the race track. The track spans 15km and the corners are all extremely fast and challenging. It seems to be a track where the highspeed never stops and the driver must stay alert in order to be prepared to take yet another high speed corner.

The Porsche curves look especially fun as this series of corners are all taken in 4th gear and it is extremely narrow. Another thing to note is the length of the straights. We spend a high percentage of time on full throttle, which gets us up to speeds of around 290km/h!

Now for the weather. Since I have arrived, there has been nothing but rain! Every hour it rains hard and stops which should make for extremely tricky driving conditions. As all 3 of the drivers on our team are at Le Mans for the first time, we are each required to complete 10 laps in the free practice session today. Practice begins at 6pm and will go all the way to midnight so 6 hours of free practice.

We will be extremely careful in the first few hours of practice to ensure all the drivers complete our mandatory 10 laps. Then we can begin to work on the car setup and push harder to learn the circuit and improve.

The practice session will be live in Hong Kong today on Eurosport. Remember to catch the action and follow here for more updates about practice soon.

Also, please stay up to date on www.enduranceasiateam.com for the latest!!!

Darryl

I am just about to take off to Le Mans France for the big race. It is my first experience at the 24 Hours Du Mans and I expect it to be simply fantastic.

I have to arrive very early for the Le Mans race with my arrival set for Monday afternoon. That means I'll be in Le MAns for the entire week. It is necessary as it will be the first time I drive together with my new team mates and also the first time I work with this team, Endurance Asia Team.

We have to get there early to prepare the seats, belts, and for scrutineering. I will also spend time preparing to learn the new circuit which spans just under 14km. I will probably use a bicycle to go around the track!!

The past week has been extremely busy. We had our press conference for the Le Mans, followed by trips to Shanghai and Guangzhou for some promotional events for my sponsor, A-Ha Coffee.

This year, we are doing a promotional campaign around the different universities around China. I hope to inspire the youth to chase their dreams and work hard to achieve their goals...It is a message both A-Ha coffee and myself want to get across to the younger generation. It was a great experience as I got to meet many of my fans. 4 lucky students were fortunate enough to win a lucky draw which will give them the chance to attend one of my races this month!

I ended the week with two days for Porsche Center Hong Kong at the Porsche sports driving school This was held at Zhu Hai and is a customer event Jebsen offers to their Porsche customers. It is an introductory program to driving on a circuit and equips the customers with a basic understanding of how to handle their Porsche's. We had great weather and a fantastic two days of driving.

Please follow here all this week as I will be updating frequently with my progress during Le Mans week. Remember, the free practice starts on Wednesday, so for all those in Hong Kong, you can start to catch the action right from the begining of the week, live on Eurosport.

Back soon with more updates!!