Voices Of Le Mans: Wold Henzler

Wolf Henzler: "I went last year for the first time and it was amazing. ... I felt like a superstar. There are so many people."

Braselton, June 6, 2009: For the second consecutive year, Porsche factory driver Wolf Henzler will compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Team Felbermayr-Proton in a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Like many Le Mans rookies, last year’s American Le Mans Series GT2 champion was swept up in the magnitude and scope of the world’s greatest auto race. A fifth-place GT2 finish made his first experience that much more memorable. This year, the Farnbacher Loles Racing regular will drive with Marc Lieb (the pair was second in class at Miller Motorsports Park) and Richard Lietz.

“It’s a place where every driver wants to go at least one time," Henzler said. “I went last year for the first time and it was amazing. When we went to the city (for the Friday drivers parade) and drove older cars through the city, I felt like a superstar. There are so many people. From the grid, the grandstands are so crowded that it’s like a football (soccer) match. It has such a long history and is the biggest race in the world.

“There are more cars - more prototypes, more GT cars (than in an American Le Mans Series race). Other than that it’s similar to what we see in America. Le Mans has very long straights and you reach higher speeds that you don’t in American Le Mans Series races. But you won’t reach those at any other track in the world. That is the biggest difference.”