Richard Mille Racing: Time for some answers

With just one race to go in the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship, we got some answers from the drivers of the LMP2 Richard Mille Racing Team #1 Oreca 07 – Gibson, Charles Milesi, Paul-Loup Chatin and Lilou Wadoux.

How do you assess your season so far? 

Charles Milesi
For the moment, I would say that we missed some opportunities, like in Monza. But there’s one race remaining, so I will judge our season after Bahrain.

Paul-Loup Chatin
The 2022 season was an important for me, both with IDEC Sport in ELMS and Richard Mille Racing Team in WEC. I joined Richard Mille Racing Team after the 24 Hours of Le Mans to help them make a further step forward and get closer to the top. I think it's going very well. We get along really well with Charles, Lilou and the whole team. We're also getting much stronger, even despite the very high level in WEC. Our performances are more and more interesting, race after race, and we just need that bit of luck to get everything together and this is what we are going to fight for in Bahrain. We want to end the season on a high to show the progress that we have managed to achieve together.

What have been the highlights? 

Charles Milesi
I would say Le Mans was a nice one. I think it was our strongest race so far with no issues, we nearly made it to hyperpole and we were in the top five for quite a long time.

Lilou Wadoux 
It has to be Le Mans! Obviously, the 24 Hours of Le Mans was completely new to me and it lived up to its reputation! It was an amazing event with a lot of new things to discover on my side, so all in all it was an extraordinary experience!

Paul-Loup Chatin 
It’s a bit of a mix of the two races I’ve done with Richard Mille Racing Team, in finding the performance we were looking for, but the real highlight will be in Bahrain when we materialize the efforts provided by every single member of the team! 

What has been more challenging? 

Lilou Wadoux 
I wouldn’t say there was a single thing more challenging than the others as it was a bit everything actually. There is a steep learning curve in a lot of areas: the Endurance world, the LMP2, sharing the steering wheel, new tracks, a completely different car compared to the Alpine A110 Cup… Everything! 

Paul-Loup Chatin
Basically, to come into a team during the season. The team has its habits and it’s always challenging to replace someone like Sébastien Ogier, a monument of world motorsport, and to bring my personal touch to help the team, Charles and Lilou to keep pushing to the top.

Have there been any surprises in 2022?

Lilou Wadoux 
I think the biggest surprise is my rookie test invitation. I’m really happy to have this opportunity and discover the Hypercar class, so I can't wait to be there and I hope everything will go well!

Paul-Loup Chatin
Yes, the phone call from Richard Mille Racing Team to join them after Le Mans. I was really happy and delighted to join the team for the last three rounds of the WEC calendar. It was really a nice surprise and I thank them very much for their trust. I do everything to live up to the expectations and to help the team, Charles and Lilou to get that strong result we all deserve.

What’s the gameplan heading to Bahrain?

Charles Milesi
No game plan really. Just trying to do our best, I don’t really have any objectives, if we do our best the result will come by itself.

Lilou Wadoux 
We will all be aiming for a good race to end the season with a strong result. The target is to finish the season on a high, enjoy the season-finale at its fullest and keep improving in the right direction.

Paul-Loup Chatin
The plan is quite simple: put everything together, all the effort and everything we have built throughout the year with Richard Mille Racing Team, to get the result we all know we can achieve. I really think we can reach a top five, or even a podium. We just need that bit of luck we didn’t have in the last two races. We will focus on our work and our race, try not to make any mistakes, and have a look at where we stand before the last half hour of the race to give it a final push and get the best result we can.

Which has been your most rewarding race?

Charles Milesi
I would say Le Mans, but I think we didn’t have a race where everything went right in terms of results.

Lilou Wadoux 
Maybe Monza as we were fighting for a podium before a race incident. I think it was a really strong race from us and we were actually in a good position, so it was a shame to see our efforts did not pay off.

Paul-Loup Chatin
I only did two races with Richard Mille Racing Team, but both were rewarding as we built some momentum. I think we were quite close to get what we wanted in Monza, at least a top five result, but unfortunately we got hit in the second half of the race. That’s also why we really want to get a strong result in Bahrain.

How well do you work with the team and your team-mates? 

Charles Milesi
Pretty good. With the team it is really nice to be part of Richard Mille and Signatech. For sure the results are not here for the moment, but everybody is pushing hard since the beginning of the season and I hope it will finally pay off in Bahrain. With my team-mates, I had a really nice moment with Seb and it was a pleasure to work with him. With Lilou and Paul Loup too, we didn’t have a race without issues for the moment so I hope we will have one in Bahrain!

Lilou Wadoux 
There’s a lot of meetings, calls, debriefings and talks as in every other team. We just work all together to keep moving forward!

Paul-Loup Chatin
Everything is going really well with the team and my team-mates. With Richard Mille Racing Team, I am lucky to be surrounded by the technical staff provided by Signatech, a reference team in LMP2 and also in Hypercar with Alpine. It's a team with a lot of experience, they know exactly what they do, which is always a plus for us drivers. I’m also lucky to share the car with Lilou and Charles and I think we are a strong crew, we fully trust each other, we have a close technical feedback which makes it really easy to work together. Charles proved his worth last year and brings his speed and experience. Lilou amazes the whole paddock with her talent as she has very little experience in motorsport, not only in Endurance but in general, and still she fights against the best Endurance drivers in the world. It's amazing and super rewarding to work with them!

What does the future hold for you in WEC?

Charles Milesi
I know, but I can’t comment anything for the moment!

Lilou Wadoux 
I don't know yet, but hopefully a lot of good things!

Paul-Loup Chatin
We all want to be in the WEC, the ultimate Endurance championship in the world, but it's only November and nothing has been decided yet for next year!