Vector Sport’s Gabriel Aubry: “The car is insanely quick”
Gabriel Aubry was one of the stars of Saturday at Portimao after qualifying second, missing out on pole by the slenderest of margins – 0.001s.
The French driver captured Vector Sports best grid position start and was actually unaware what he had achieved, saying that “I didn't know I was on pole when I came in (to the pits).
“I could see actually the Prema pit board saying P1, so I assumed I would be near that. But everyone was really happy about it, for sure.”
Aubry had set fastest times in the second third free practice sessions heralding a welcome turnaround in fortunes for the British team.
The Portimao track is clearly suiting the Vector Oreca-Gibson LMP2 car much better after a tough Sebring last month.
“It feels very great to be back in a competitive environment, it’s been phenomenal on the operational side and it feels great to come on the track and literally just focus on what I have to do, which is driving,” said Aubry.
“Just for my performance and the mental aspect of it, it's so beneficial for me. It is my best individual WEC qualifying and the car is insanely quick. The Vector Sort team is operating really well.”
Aubry went on to explain that the increase in pace was partly because “Sebring is the lowest energy applied to apply to the tire of the entire season, and Portimao is the most.
“If you look at the opening stints I did in Sebring, where it took me a good five or six laps to start to match the Jota's, I was one second per lap slower than them,” he added.
“Right now, it's the opposite. I'm going much quicker than them and it somehow holds.”
Aubry was part of the development team of the Goodyear tyre back in 2019/2020 period as LMP2 transitioned in to a single make tyre category. That experience has informed his armoury as a driver.
“When I was with JOTA we were developing the tyre when we were against Michelin,” Aubry confirmed.
“So, all the test days that we did in Sebring where we were just learning from the other drivers was fantastic. Having the chance to do tyre development with guys like Will Stevens and Anthony Davidson, especially when you're young, it's a goldmine of information.
“Just learning to look at the right thing in the tyres and also the experience from IMSA, we can still apply some learning from those times.”
Today’s 6 Hours of Portimao – round two of the FIA WEC – will commence at 12h00 local time. Click HERE for information on how to watch the race.
