Le Mans is always tough and we thought 2005 would be even harder in GT1 - and so it proved to be! We had a new car in the Corvette C6.R and new competition with the Aston Martin DBR9s, who had won at Sebring and been faster than us in qualifying. The Sebring result was a great motivator for the whole team in the preparation for Le Mans. At the start of the race we managed to keep up with one of the Astons and get out in front of them at the first pit stop. During my second stint I had a puncture at the first Mulsanne chicane and had to run at 50mph for two thirds of the track.

 

Olivier had another puncture in the Porsche Curves during his second stint. He performed a miracle to keep the car on the track as his tyre exploded. From then on though, we didn't have one more problem with the car, the team did an absolutely amazing job and that Corvette reliability saw us through. Olivier and Jan, brilliant team mates, drove exceptionally well and none of us made a single mistake.

 

The hot weather was a real strength sapper and I clearly remember thinking how tough this is going to be on Sunday morning when the sun came up and it was obviously going to be another hot one! But our reliability and careful driving got us into a strong second place, on the same lap as the lead Aston. It was going to go down to strategy, quick pit stops and staying out of trouble. In the end the trouble hit the Aston and not us, and we kept on motoring through to the chequered flag. It was very satisfying for everyone because the harder the battle, the sweeter the win. It was my 3^rd win in 4 years at Le Mans but in terms of driver, team, and car performance I would say it's the best we've had.