Q & A with Stephane Sarrazin

Stephane Sarrazin: "Peugeot gave me the chance to do qualifying last year and I got the pole, so this time I knew I could do it. It was important for us to have pole again so they gave me another chance, I was very happy in the car, I pushed very hard, and did a very fast lap.

"The car gave me a lot of confidence and I've done so many kms and races that I'm so at home in it. I think the 908 is the best car I've ever driven in my career. It's a dream for a driver to have the pole at Le Mans. It's the biggest race in the world and it's amazing to be on pole, I like this feeling."

Q. What did you think when you crossed the line at the end of the lap?

SS: "I was a little bit frustrated actually, because I had some traffic at the end. But it was just a little bit, just about three tenths. I knew it would be a very good lap time because I pushed really hard and I didn't make any mistakes so it was the maximum of my car I think, apart from the little bit of time at the Porsche Curves. But everybody has traffic at Le Mans, it's not possible to do a lap without any..

"When I finished the lap and saw 3:18 on the dashboard I thought 'wow, that's fast' because last year I was doing 3:26s. It was a strange feeling to know the time was that quick."

Q. Where have those eight seconds come from?

SS: "Compared to last year, the car is easier to drive quickly because it's bettered balanced and has more grip everywhere. Especially in the fast corners there's less sliding. Last year it was sliding a bit everywhere but now it's very stable."

Q. How do you think Peugeot and Audi are measuring up after qualifying?

SS: "We saw yesterday that the Audi was quick, very quick. Allan (McNish), Tom (Kristensen) and Dindo (Capello) did very fast stints and we were a bit surprised by their speed. I hope we will keep an advantage of about three seconds, but it will be a very hard race.

"They were closer to us, but in one lap we were very quick so I think it's ok. I think we can carry on being faster than them.

"For the spectators I think it will be very exciting, especially in the first two hours with six very fast cars."

Q. Do you think traffic will play a significant role in the outcome of the race?

SS: "For me the traffic is not a problem, that's just Le Mans. There's a lot of traffic but that's endurance racing. You need to think about the many different levels of driver and car in the four categories and I like this part.

"You need to make good decisions to overtake in the right place. And the track is changing throughout the race with the rubber and the debris, so you can overtake at the beginning of the race in the Porsche Curves but later on you can't. Experience of Le Mans has shown me these things and I will try to be very strong."

Q. Is there a plan for the race between the three Peugeots?

SS: "We will talk about that as a team before the race but I don't know yet. Of course I hope we are at the front from the start and I would like it if Pedro gives me the lead and I have an easy race, but I don't know, it's never this easy."

Q. Can you win the race?

SS: "Audi are very strong on reliability and they have won eight times, and for the last three years. We need to prove we can win as well. This is what everyone is working so hard for. We are strong and we've done many endurance tests. We can do it.

"For me, it's a dream to win Le Mans. The dream of everybody in the team as well. Last year we arrived with only four months of experience with the Peugeot and we finished second. We were far behind the Audi because it was too strong with the performance, but we took the experience and analysed everything, and now we are much stronger. It's another life, last year was just the beginning of the story and now we are here to win."