How Vandoorne was re-educated for Le Mans

Stoffel Vandoorne has just completed his first laps of the Circuit de la Sarthe in all its eight-and-a-half-mile glory. Only he's not strapped into the SMP Racing squad's LMP1 prototype that he is racing in the 2019 24 Hours, nor is he even anywhere near Le Mans. The Belgian is actually sitting in a simulator in a darkened room 120 or so miles away.

Those laps are firmly in the virtual realm, but worthwhile nonetheless, according to Vandoorne. He reckons he's just got a decent feel for an event he is contesting for the first time aboard one of SMP's AER-powered BR Engineering BR1s. And that's exactly why he's in the simulator at AOTech to the south of Paris. He's undertaking the mandatory day here that each and every rookie must complete before heading to the great race.

There's no exception for a driver like Vandoorne straight out of Formula 1, nor Fernando Alonso, who was still a grand prix driver when he went to AOTech a little over 12 months ago. Porsche racer Mark Webber was one of the first wave of competitors to take what is billed by Le Mans organiser the Automobile Club de l'Ouest as a training programme on its introduction ahead of the 2014 edition of the 24 Hours.

The day in the sim isn't only designed to provide drivers with a feeling for a circuit that's made up of public road for, give or take, two thirds of its length. It also reflects the challenges of a high-speed venue where the cars are necessarily trimmed out to hit big numbers on the Mulsanne Straight and the unique procedures involved in competing in the race.

The introduction of one of those procedures, the so-called slow zones where an 80km/h (50mph) speed limit is temporarily imposed under full-course yellow - or virtual safety car - conditions, was a catalyst for the simulator course. But so too was a series of high-profile accidents involving less-experienced drivers.

"There were some accidents involving rookies, after which we asked ourselves if Le Mans was a race that was at too high a level for them," explains ACO sporting director Vincent Beaumesnil.

"We wanted to make sure that drivers with no experience of Le Mans could test in a mixture of conditions - in the night, the rain and in traffic - that they won't necessarily experience at the test day two weeks before the race.

"At the same time we were looking at how to introduce the slow zones to avoid the use of the safety car, a situation where there would be marshals on the track.

"A big point was the need to ensure marshal safety. And slow zones are something that only we do at Le Mans, so when we put everything together we decided that the best way forward was to have a simulator programme to properly prepare the drivers."

"Once you get to race week at Le Mans you can't afford to make a mistake" Stoffel Vandoorne

That led to the relationship with AOTech, a joint venture company founded in 2011 by the ART Grand Prix single-seater squad and OAK Racing from the sportscar arena. It fitted the bill for the ACO, which was looking for a suitably qualified company that was independent and located relatively close to Le Mans - more than one driver has attended the course with just days to spare ahead of the test day.

Vandoorne is not so last-minute. He undertakes his exercises in a Dallara GP2/11 monocoque, which isn't far removed from that of a current LMP1 car, although AOTech swaps the sim over to a tub from a McLaren MP4-12C GT3 car (ART undertook a Blancpain GT Series campaign with the British car in 2014) for someone making their Le Mans debut in a GTE car. This means a driver can experience Le Mans virtually in a similar environment to which he or she will race.

Vandoorne reckons it's been a valuable experience. "It's good to find out where the track goes and learn the braking points," he says.

"You really feel the bumps and the crown of the road on the Mulsanne Straight, because the model has been created by laser-scanning the track. The simulator gives you a feel of how you need to position the car on the straight and what kerbs you can take and what kerbs you can't. It is as close to reality as it can be, but the most valuable thing is to learn about all the different procedures they have at Le Mans.

"That's particularly important for someone like me racing in Formula E as well. Different championships have different regulations for all the procedural stuff, so it's good to get some practice in, because once you get to race week at Le Mans you can't afford to make a mistake."

It's not just slow zones that make Le Mans different. The length of the track means that when a safety-car period is called from race control, no fewer than three course vehicles are sent out on track. One joins the circuit from the pitlane, one at the first chicane on the Mulsanne and the third at Arnage Corner two thirds of the way around the lap.

New for this year at Le Mans is the possibility of the race director using the VSC over the full lap. Then there's racing at night - Le Mans in the dark is very different to racing in F1 on the highly illuminated Singapore and Bahrain tracks, reckons Vandoorne - and traffic management. Vandoorne is passing GTE and LMP2 machinery during his runs, and apparently there's a Toyota not far behind.

Each driver undertakes a series of specific exercises, explains senior simulator engineer Morgan Trolle, who is also engineering Max Fewtrell at ART GP in the FIA Formula 3 Championship this season.

"Each driver will complete around 40 laps, which is more than they are going to do at the test," explains Trolle. "We do six to seven-lap runs and throw in random situations, like a safety car or a slow zone, just as they would happen in the race."

There is also an "element of coaching" to the course, says Trolle, which is more relevant to the amateur drivers passing through AOTech's doors.

"It is not the main purpose, but at the end of the day our job is to get the driver ready for the race," he says. "We make sure they are on the right line, but we also show them what is safe in terms of managing the traffic and what isn't."

There have been Le Mans rookies who have returned to AOTech between their first taste proper of the Circuit de la Sarthe at the official test day and race week.

"It has resulted in a big step forward in safety. We have definitely had fewer big accidents" Vincent Beaumesnil

"Some drivers have come back to focus a bit more on the performance side," says Trolle. "The LMP2 car, for example, that we run on this programme isn't an ORECA, a Ligier or a Dallara. It is a generic P2, but we offer the chance to return with their own engineer and data from the test day."

Trolle reckons there has been an enthusiasm for the programme among drivers of all levels. He points out that when Nico Hulkenberg came to AOTech ahead of his Le Mans victory with Porsche in 2015 he requested a real focus on the slow zones: "He wanted to be as ready for the race as he could possibly be."

The AOTech programme isn't a test, though a report is compiled on each participant that is passed onto the ACO.

"With a driver like Stoffel there isn't much to say," reckons Trolle. "But sometimes there are drivers who might be a bit too optimistic in traffic or aren't managing everything that is going on around them. We put that in our report and that allows the ACO to keep an eye on that driver at the test day."

Beaumesnil believes that the AOTech programme has been a positive contribution to safety at the 24 Hours. "We have to say that the process is good and that it is working very well," he says.

"Together with the fact that most of the drivers racing at Le Mans for the first time are doing it as part of a programme in one of the other series under the ACO umbrella, whether the World Endurance Championship or the European or Asian Le Mans Series, it has resulted in a big step forward in safety. We have definitely had fewer big accidents."

For Vandoorne it has also offered up a taste of what is to come in the race, and he's looking forward to sampling the Porsche Curves in the flesh.

"The final sector is the tricky one," he says. "Those corners are super-high-speed, but because the cars are so trimmed for straightline speed they are even more tricky."