By RANDY COVITZ
Scott Tucker of Leawood hopes to last longer in this 24 Hours of Le Mans after his team ran just 13 hours last year.
This weekend, Tucker, of Leawood, is there to devour the world’s oldest and most prestigious sports car race.
“We’re there to win,” Tucker said before leaving for France last week. “That’s a bold statement … because everybody who races at this level and is invited to this race are teams capable of winning and are the best of the best …
Last year, Tucker, 49, drove an Audi for a German team that lasted 13 hours before a teammate crashed. But Tucker’s success in sports-car racing, including winning the 2010 American Le Mans Series LMPC Championship, earned his Level 5 Motorsports team one of 55 invitations to the 79th running of the glamorous endurance race nestled along the French countryside.
Level 5 is the only American team in the Prototype Classes LMP1 and LMP2 — the two fastest classes in the race — and is the only American driver in the prototype classes.
“There’s not many Americans that get to race here, so I feel very privileged and proud that we earned the right to be among that elite group that has been able to compete at Le Mans,” Tucker said. “Any time Americans go and race against the best in the world and win, I think it’s an incredible achievement. It would be a fantastic result if we were able to pull it off, but it’s a very tall order. We realize that, but we’re fully prepared for the challenge that’s ahead.” Tucker will again team with France’s Christophe Bouchut and Joao Barbosa of Portugal in the No. 33 Microsoft Office 2010-sponsored Lola-Honda Coupe as they pursue top honors at Le Mans and the World Championship. Their prototype entry, capable of reaching speeds up to 200 mph, will be one of 11 cars competing in the LMP2 category, the highest form of sports car racing in the world for private teams.
The trio currently is third in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup standings heading into Le Mans, which awards double points. Level 5’s world tour began at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March, where it scored top honors in the American Le Mans Series season-opener. Tucker also is racing fulltime in the American Le Mans Series.
“We have a full plate, that’s for sure,” said Tucker, who has 54 wins and 81 podiums in his driving career, which began just five years ago. “Our goal, obviously, is to win the global championship. At the same time, we are running for the ALMS championship concurrently, which no one has done before from what we’ve heard.
“It’s a pretty tall order, but we feel like we can be competitive for a championship and win there, also.”
Tucker is confident he’ll benefit from last year’s experience.
“Last year, we were able to understand the whole week, the timing of things,” Tucker said. “Learning the track was huge, because you don’t get to test on this track because most of it is public road during the year, and they close it off, and you race on it. Mentally, I’m much better prepared for understanding the track and understanding what it takes to race in this.
“The racing part of it is a big part of it, but there is so much other fanfare that goes with it. A whole week of interviews and people, and there is a huge parade. The spectator list is approaching 300,000 people. It’s larger than the Indy 500 in the States.
“You’ve got people from all over the world, and manufacturers from all over the world. It’s truly a world-wide and global sports-car event.”
Tucker and his two teammates will take 2- to 3-hour shifts, making about 29 pit stops, consuming more than 60 tires and 600 gallons of fuel. There’s no finish line in the race. The car that travels the farthest — which usually encompasses 3,000 miles — after 24 hours wins.
Four different classes of sports cars — LMP1 and LMP2, GT Pro and GTE-Am — race on the course at the same time. It’s comparable to having NASCAR’s Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Trucks Series all on the track at once.
A prize is awarded to the winner of each class, and to the overall winner.
“Le Mans is a race of attrition,” Tucker said. “Even though we’ve got pretty tight competition, and the cars are new and the rules are new, we’re going to go at it like any other race. We’re prepared to take the cars to the distance, but it’s a survival for the first 20, 22 hours.
“What you want to do the first 20 hours is keep that car rolling around, no problems. If you come to a position on the track where a pass is 50-50, you back out of it. You take the safe route. That’s the way you have to look at the race if you’re going to have any success at all. … The real race begins, hopefully in the 22nd or 23rd hour.”
To reach Randy Covitz, call 816-234-4796 or send email to rcovitz@kcstar.com. Follow him at twitter.com/randycovitz.
Posted on Wed, Jun. 08, 2011 10:59 PM
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