Q & A with Rockenfeller and Premat

Autosport.com caught up with them of the eve of the most important race of their sportscar careers.

Q. What is your plan for today's race, to go for it or be cautious?

Mike Rockenfeller: I think all year we planned to be cautious, because last year Le Mans really, really hurts us still. We have had more chances since, but for me and also for the young drivers it was not easy. It was a really bad moment.

Our main priority at the beginning was to get mileage, that means don't crash, stay on the track, get experience. We learned a lot at Le Mans this year, we got to drive in many different conditions, and it helped me build up my confidence on the sports car.

At the Nurburgring we tried our best and we will do the same here, we try to stay out of trouble, but also we try our best to put pressure on Peugeot, because it's the only way that they mistakes.

Q. But they do make mistakes from time to time don't they?

MR: Yes but if you take the Nurburgring, they pushed until Peugeot had a one lap lead and they eased off. So I think they learned. I think they will try and do the same thing at Silverstone.

But it does depend on the weather conditions and this is something that Alex and I have talked about. I know if it rains then we will be much closer to Peugeot, and we will be able to put them under presser, and then maybe they will make mistakes.

If it is a dry race and they don't think they will push so much and they will have an incident.

From the very beginning of the year it looked like they were quicker, so for us the priority was to try and score points, and if we pushed too hard on a track where we had no chance we would have made mistakes. And that is trouble for nothing.

Alex Premat: But we need to put Peugeot under pressure. Like for example at Monza, we were two seconds a lap slower at Monza and then we put them under pressure in the race and they became unstable.

I think we can do that again here.

MR: Also the Peugeot cars always really race each other really hard, which we don't so much. We still raced Allan (McNish) and Rinaldo (Capello) very hard, but maybe in a different way.

The sister car is also really strong and they push like hell to put pressure on the Peugeots.

I think and I believe we can win tomorrow. If we do our job we can win this championship.

AP: We can do it.

Q. With so much traffic to contend with on the track at Silverstone, there is an element of chance as well isn't there?

AP: Yes it is worse than even Monza!

MR: But the problem is that the traffic can also have an effect on us. I think we need to be really, really careful, but this will not be enough. We have to make push without making mistakes and Peugeot have to do the same. But as you say, it can happen.

Q. How important is it to be decisive in traffic?

MR: I think a good example is Allan McNish. He is really, really good in traffic and he pushes a lot.

AP: He pushes like hell.

MR: And to be honest it is not through luck that he never had incidents. Allan is quick and clean because he goes for it, he is aggressive but in a good way. Sometimes I feel I am too careful and then it is worse, because you create uncertainty in the driver you are passing.

We have learned to get better and we have learned from our sister car. It is always our goal to be on the same pace as the No.1 car. In the Nurburgring we did quite well, and hopefully tomorrow we can do the same. It is all we can do.

We have the tools we have, but our team is very strong.

Q. It is fair to say that McNish and Capello have been the quicker Audi crew. Why do you think that is and how much have you learnt from them. Do you feel you are closing the gap?

AP: For sure at the beginning of the year we didn't have enough mileage with the car. We needed to do some races, and especially for me this year, it was my first year in endurance and this discipline is not easy.

I think it was worse for me than Rocky, because in traffic it was so hard. But after a while I started to open my eyes, and said to myself, 'Okay I now know where the limit is with the different classes of car, different drivers.'

Definitely we needed a lot of experience to learn about all of this, and then after that I would say that before Le Mans we had got quicker, but still one step slower than [the No.1 car]. They know the car perfectly, they know how to handle the car, to be quick on one lap, to use the pick of the tyres, and we were not so good on these points.

I think in the pre-test and the qualifying, we were not too bad compared to them, but then on the race we got a lot of mileage to drive in traffic and different conditions. In this race I think we learned more than we would in a whole season.

Then at the Nurburgring I think we were on the same pace as Dindo and Allan and I was happy. But for sure we learnt a lot of things at Le Mans about how to work with the team and work with Michelin and how to deal with problems with the car.

MR: It is also important to point how great Allan and Dindo are as teammates. They try to help us, they are not condescending or anything, but if we go to them we get an honest answer.

They are a good barometer for us.

Q. What would it mean to you become the Le Mans Series champions?

MR: For me it would be great! We have looked forward so much to have the chance, and we have it on Sunday. It is going to be tough, I'm not saying we are definitely going to win it, but we have a chance.

It would be important for both of us because it will always be on our record and I think no-one expected us to be have a chance to win the championship.

Q. But that's fair because you were the rookies and McNish and Capello are the established stars.

MR: For sure to begin with we were slower, and sometimes we have not got the set-up right, but I don't want to blame it on the car. We just did not have the experience, and even in qualifying here we would like to have been a bit closer, but Alex did a good job. But the problem is that it has been wet here all weekend and we haven't had a lot of time in the dry here with this car, and Allan did an amazing job in qualifying.

So if we can be on Allan and Dindo's level then we should be happy.

Q. What about you Alex, what would it mean for you?

AP: For me it would very important. The Le Mans Series is a very nice championship, and also starting a career in endurance, I think it would be great to beat Peugeot!

I think we can achieve more in the LMS in the future as well, and I think will get better and better as a series as well. We need some new manufacturers like Acura or something.

MR: We race in this championship to win. We are really, really happy to be in a position to win it, I am proud of it and Alex is proud of it, and we both want to celebrate some kind of victory this year.

Q. How frustrating has been to turn up to races knowing that the Peugeots are going to be faster?

MR: We are used to it! But I think it is a good thing. It is a good thing for Audi, and I think it is what the sport needs. Because now, if we continue in sports cars, we have to step up. This is great to have such strong competition because that is what sport is all about.

We have to develop and get better.

It was great to beat Peugeot twice at Le Mans, which was also a surprise for some people this year, and if we can win the LMS it will be even better. But when you look how fast they have been, it makes us even more proud that we are only two points behind going into the last race.

Even if we don't win the championship, we can still be proud of what we have achieved this season. We can look back on this year and say we have done a good job, we haven't damaged the car, and we have raced well.