Paul Di Resta: “Buzz of Silverstone is tremendous”
United Autosports’ Paul Di Resta enters his first ever FIA WEC campaign at Silverstone later this month by racing on a circuit he rates among the top two racetracks in the world.
The Scottish driver, who will share an Oreca 07 - Gibson in the LMP2 category alongside Filipe Albuquerque and Phil Hanson, is relishing the opportunity to tap into his Silverstone experience.
“It is clearly one of the best circuits, definitely up in the top two that I’ve ever driven,” says Di Resta. “I think the only one that I can closely compare it with is Suzuka. They are the two outright standalone tracks for me.”
“Having seen what the spectacle was like at the British Grand Prix [in July], just the racing that Silverstone creates and the buzz it creates for the drivers is tremendous.”
Di Resta competed in three British Grands Prix between 2011-13 and pinpoints the classic Copse to Stowe section of Silverstone as the standout challenge.
“There is going to be no better sector than, I think, Copse, Maggotts, Becketts, Stowe,” he says. “You know, as a sequence of corners it’s probably a class apart.”
His last time at Silverstone competing in F1 provided one of his career highlights when he qualified in fifth only to have it later taken away from him.
The 33-year-old driver explains: “In 2013 I qualified fifth, but I was half a kilo underweight and it got taken off me. It was probably the most stand out qualifying lap I have ever done. And half a kilo of weight would not have made any difference. It was probably one of the best laps of my career.”
Di Resta concludes that operating with the United Autosports squad with a brand new Oreca-Gibson package will be a fascinating prospect in Season 8.
“As an LMP2 team I don’t think you get better, so we’ll get there – it’s just how long it is going to take to get there. All in all, I can’t wait to get started, enjoy the home support and see where we are in the field. It will be a very interesting season.”
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