Grapevine: Salo Looking Forward to Night Time Thrills

Finn Mika Salo says driving in the Le Mans 24-hour race for the first time on Saturday will give him something his career has been missing.

Salo, who turned his back on Formula One last year after being ditched by Toyota, will start the race from third on the grid in last year's race-winning R8 car run by Audi UK. The 36-year-old, who had been in Formula One since 1994, says competing at high speed in the dark will provide an irresistible challenge.

"Driving-wise it's not such a big change, but schedule-wise there is a big change," he said on Friday. "This car feels a little bit slow after Formula One, so driving at night is when it becomes more fun because you get more of a sensation of speed. I really like driving at night and I think I have found something I was missing."

The Audi entry will start behind the two dominant Bentley cars on the grid and Salo stands a strong chance of winning the event at his first attempt. He is teamed with German Frank Biela, who is aiming for a record fourth straight win at Le Mans, and Briton Perry McCarthy in an impressive line-up.

"I can't believe nobody ever told me what a fantastic circuit this is," added Salo on the rest day. "I've watched it on television for some time but didn't know it was this good. I hope I can help Frank to win for a fourth time because it would mean my first."

Having spent the majority of his Formula One career at the wrong end of the grid, Salo admits he has still not learned to deal with lapping slower cars, especially in the dark.

"It was a big shock for me the first time I was on the track," he said. "A lot of cars don't have professional drivers and they're braking 500 metres before the chicanes on the Mulsanne straight because they don't know where the track is!

"When you're coming up on cars at 300 km/h and suddenly they brake in the middle of the circuit it's quite scary."