Jordan Taylor is well placed to comment on the many rookies racing at Le Mans this weekend. Now in his third Le Mans campaign, the Corvette Racing driver enlightened Michelin Alley on the challenge. Interestingly, with the latest forecast indicating a storm passing over the circuit later this afternoon, Jordan also remembers his wet weather initiation at Circuit de la Sarthe.

“The first time that I drove here (2012) I didn’t fully realize everything that goes on until after the race. There is just so much going on here every day. It’s hard to just focus on the driving the car. Coming back the second year was much better.

“One of the biggest challenges is that it is such a long lap (8.47 miles). It’s a four-minute lap in a GT car,” continued Taylor. “You can be 6 or 7 second off the pace if you catch traffic or mess a up a corner or two which just kills your confidences. At other (shorter) tracks, you may be a second or two off. You can’t lose your confidence. It’s all in your head.

“Racing here the first time at night when a P1 car blasts by is a shock to your system. They are aggressively fast and they aren’t waiting. You have to be fully focused at all times.  Driving in the rain here at night is the most mentally stressful thing I have ever done.”