Strakka aims for repeat LMP2 win

Last year its HPD ARX.01 D led LMP2 from start to finish in the hands of Jonny Kane, Nick Leventis and Danny Watts, despite an extended pitstop to fix bodywork damage caused by a punctured tyre.

"It would be great to score a back-to-back victory," said Leventis. "Although we think we'll be slightly down on performance because of our engine's air restrictor, particularly compared to the Nissan.

"We know that Le Mans will be a lot more difficult to win this year. Because of the new regulations our car this year has less power, we're down on top speed and the car is 85kg heavier.

"We've had trouble this season overtaking GT cars on the straights; it won't be as bad as it was at Paul Ricard at the opening LMS race, but it won't be easy and at least we now have the experience to know how to deal with situations like that.

"In some ways the pressure is off, because we won't run away from the rest of the field at the beginning of the race, and we may have to wait for the reliability of our package to come to the fore. We have our own strategy, and part of that is not making any mistakes and waiting for the race to come back to us.

"It's going to be a very challenging race. Le Mans is always a race of attrition and a 24 hour race is all about who is there at the end."