Grapevine: Herbert Happy Just to be Driving at Le Mans

Johnny Herbert has grabbed the chance to return to the Le Mans track where he was a winner in a Mazda in 1991 after being left without a drive in top class circuit racing for the first time in over a decade.

"The good thing about Le Mans is there's lots of prestige and that's important for someone who wants just to go racing," said Arrows Formula One test driver during preparations for the 24-hour race, which starts on Saturday.

The 36-year-old Briton won three races in 160 Formula One Grands Prix with Tyrrell, Lotus, Ligier, Sauber, Stewart Jaguar and two stints at Benetton. Last year he became unhappy with the constant rumours that he was about to replaced at Jaguar and decided to move on to a new challenge in the American Champ Car series.

But a proposed drive with the Zakspeed team fell through earlier this year and Herbert filled his time testing for the Arrows team this season. He was also in the frame for a drive for Bentley on their return to the Sarthe circuit until they chose his fellow Briton and F1 driver Martin Brundle to lead their challenge.

But Herbert certainly landed on his feet when the chance came to drive in the non-factory Audi R8 for the Champion team in his quest for his second win in his fourth Le Mans.

"This is one of the big races of the year and it's great that I've got a good opportunity with Audi," he said.

Audi got a 1-2-3 sweep in their second year at Le Mans last year and if qualifying is anything to go by, in a race where reliability is more important than flat out speed, they have every chance of repeating that feat on Sunday. Herbert's car, in which he will share stints with Germans Ralf Kelleners and Didier Theys, qualified in third place.

"I'm very happy to be starting my first Le Mans in nine years from the second row. We've got ourselves an excellent race car - it's a joy to drive," he said. "It would have been nice to get more time behind the wheel but I reckon I'll get that opportunity over the weekend."

However, the Englishman realises Le Mans is a marathon, not a sprint.

"The all-important thing in the race is going to be the strategy and not making mistakes as far as the drivers are concerned," he said. "We've also got to make the pit-stops as quick as we can."

Herbert said that despite his long absence from Le Mans, it was still familiar to him.

"It has changed a little bit, but not that much. But as I said, it's just good that the prestige is still here," he said. "The cars have got a bit more downforce than the ones I drove (in the early 90s)."