There haven’t been that many father-son combinations in the past at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We most recently saw the Magnussen family, and prior to that, both the Brundle and Mansell families had each their own outings, just to name a few.
Spirit of Race Ferrari #155 are bringing such combination this year, with Johnny and Conrad Laursen sharing the car, that usually runs under the Formula Racing banner in the European Le Mans Series. We met up with Conrad on Saturday, prior to him going on track for the very first time.
Are you looking forward to jumping in the car?
“Yeah, it will be interesting. It’s the first time that I’m racing here – I’ve been here twice as a spectator. My dad drove it back in 2016, and then I was here two years ago, but have never done a lap.”
It must be a special feeling to drive under the Dunlop Bridge for the very first time, after seeing it for so many years?
“Well, I’m super excited. It’s going to be an experience, especially here with my dad – to do it together. It’s been a dream since I was a small boy, so it’s cool to finally do it.”
Photo: JJ Media
What are your hopes for the race?
“The ultimate hope is to win. It’s a very big challenge, but that is always the goal – if it isn’t the goal, there is something wrong. But a podium would be pretty amazing, but of course, the ultimate goal is to win.”
You have Jordan Taylor with you this year, who doesn’t know the car as well as you already do. Has it been easy to get him up to speed?
“Jordan is, as you might know, a fantastic driver, so it’s been very easy for him to feel comfortable with the car. We had a test day at Paul Ricard, and at the end of the day, he was up to speed, so he is a super fast driver, and with a lot of experience here at the track, so I believe this will go well”.
Spirit of Race Ferrari #155 was P16 during the morning practice, while they posted the 19th fastest time in the LMGT3 category during the afternoon session. Jordan Taylor was the fastest of the three during both practices, but Conrad Laursen did some quite good lap times, that he will be able to build on, especially after having had a couple of days to analyze the data, with the first official practice of race week being run on Wednesday afternoon.
