What the Drivers said at Spa on Thursday

Fernando Alonso – No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing

“I think it’s going to be an interesting season. Obviously we’ve done some tests already in Spain and Portimao.

“I missed the Prologue, I was racing in F1. Now is really the first time we meet with all the traffic and all the other cars, so definitely still a lot to learn, but step by step I'm trying to learn this as much as I can with every single lap in the car.

“We’ve been training a lot in the simulator, this kind of traffic and these kind of situations. I hope I’m as prepared as I can be. We’ll see on Saturday. I’m not too worried about traffic management.”

Andre Lotterer – No.1 Rebellion Racing

“It’s always great to race here. Belgium is my home race.  I’m from Germany but I grew up here. I even had my go-kart engines prepared here at the go-kart track back in the day. It’s a great track for everyone, but especially for me.

“It’s a race I have won before, once or twice, and I’d like to win it again obviously. That’s going to be difficult. We have a lot of work to still with the car, it's quite new. I haven’t driven it this morning, only my teammates, so let’s see how it feels in the afternoon.”

Maxime Martin – No.97 Aston Martin Racing

“This is my home race. It’s nice to start a season here in Spa, it’s always a nice track to be at. With Aston Martin Racing, it's quite a new challenge.

“I’ve come from BMW. I think it was the right moment to go there. Aston Martin is a lot more involved. We are coming with a new Vantage GTE, we’ve done a lot testing, the car’s done 35,000 km over the winter, as a new car, which is quite impressive. I am looking forward to the season, it’s my first WEC season.”

Antonio Felix da Costa – No.82 BMW Team MTEK

“It’s really good to be here. In the last four or five years, my career has been changing quite a lot.  From just missing out on Formula 1 to going straight to DTM and Formula E, everything is so different from each other. Now coming to the World Endurance Championship is another new step.

“Everything is new for me and new for the team. The team comes from DTM as well. We’re just keeping an open mind at the moment, learning as we go, trying to understand all the different aspects of endurance racing.  Also for me as a driver, it’s hard to change my mind-set sometimes. We’re just learning as we go.

The car has been through very intense off-season testing, lots of endurance testing, and it went well."

Tony Kanaan – No.66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing

“That makes me feel old! (Kanaan was reminded that he last raced at Spa in 1993)

“Some of these guys were not even born when I was here, and the chicane was the other way around, so I was confused this morning! It’s been a long time!

“It’s a big responsibility stepping into the car with Harry and Andy. They have a full championship ahead of them and they’re extremely kind to let me do a couple of hours of this race in preparation for Le Mans, which they really didn’t need to do for this weekend.

“The schedule, the way it is right now, I’m racing every weekend for the next three months between WEC and IndyCar. It’s great.”

Egidio Perfetti – No.56 Team Project 1

“Obviously it’s going to be a great adventure. I’m very pleased to be able to join such a line-up of drivers in the championship. I’ve done a bit of Porsche racing mainly, in the Carrera Cup.

“Fortunately I’ve been able to do the Michelin Le Mans Cup, so I was watching intensely the WEC championship. I’m very excited and know there will be a lot of watching in the mirrors, something I've already done this morning.

“There’s a lot of adjustment taking place, but we still feel confident that we’ll have a very good season."