Salo concerned about slower drivers

For rookie drivers, Le Mans has no curves more vicious than the learning curve. No matter how experienced, this unique test throws up some testing rites of passage. Audi Sport UK driver Mika Salo thinks that the difference between classes, of car and driver, is an accident waiting to happen

Jun 14, 2003, 1:18 PM

"The biggest problem so far for me is racing with non-professional drivers - it's really quite scary," he told autosport.com. "When you come down to Mulsanne or the Indianapolis corner, you look for the 200 metre board and braking for us begins somewhere between the 200 and 100 metre boards. I have been out there when some drivers are braking at something like 500 metres!

"It's very dangerous, to be honest, it's like they've suddenly gone into reverse gear. This is going to be a big problem, especially at night when I think they will maybe forget where they are on the straight."

But the Finn admits it's the same for everybody and hopes the problem will become less as the race goes on. "The way everybody is talking it's like the Bentleys and Audis are almost the only ones who will be there in the end anyway. So if we can avoid these mobile chicanes and keep our reliability we should be okay."