Bouchut joins Kolles for Le Mans
Former Le Mans 24 Hours winner Christophe Bouchut is to lead the Kolles Audi assault on the French classic this summer.
The 1993 winner has put together a deal that will see him share the #15 R10 TDI with Scott Tucker and Maxi Rodriguez - both of whom have run with the Frenchman in the past.
Indeed, Bouchut raced at La Sarthe alongside Rodriguez last season in a GT2 Ferrari for the JMB Racing team, while he will partner Tucker in both Grand Am and the American Le Mans Series this season - the latter in the new Le Mans Challenge class.
"On paper, the choice of an Audi seemed a little bit crazy given the limited experience of Scott and Manu in sports prototypes," Bouchut said. "I'm not going to ask them for out-and-out performance. The most important thing is for them to get to grips with the car in a relaxed frame of mind. My advice to them will deal with overtaking and traffic management. They'll have to be very careful in the braking zones as you catch the GTs very quickly.
"Our respective programmes won't allow us to take part in a preparation race, but we're going to organise some test sessions with the Kolles team to be ready for Le Mans.
"A private LMP1 up against the works cars has no chance of winning, but it's obvious that this Audi will help us achieve a better result in the overall classification than any GT or LMP2. It's a superb car and I can't wait to get behind the wheel. It's technically a success and extremely reliable. I think that a top-ten finish is within our reach if we don't make any mistakes on the track."
