Le Mans-Brabham INTVW
Subj: LE MANS - BRABHAM INTVW Section: F-1/Internat'l News
To: All Saturday, June 15, 1996 1:01:22 PM
From: RIS/UK-Martin Buck, 100113,3322 #819558
By Martin Buck
RACING INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Le Mans, France - RIS - On Thursday, prior to the final qualifying sessions, I interviewed David
Brabham, who is driving here this year in one of the Gulf McLaren F1 cars. He is teamed up with
Pierre-Henri Raphanel and car owner Lindsay Owen-Jones in the No 34 car.
RIS: How has qualifying gone, so far?
DB: Pretty well. Both Gulf cars are the quickest McLarens, and we're in the top ten so far. We
won't be trying to put in qualifying laps any more - both cars are set up for the race. Our car still
needs one or two more set-up changes, which we'll be doing this evening - we'll be trying to get
the balance a little better. But things have gone pretty good.
RIS: What kind of set-up changes are you looking to try?
DB: The car doesn't have enough roll stiffness at the front, so we're going to try stiffer springs and
a stiffer roll bar, and we might change the ride height a little, just to try to make it easier to drive.
RIS: A stiffer car is *easier* to drive? Isn't that a paradox?
DB: When you enter a corner fast, and the front end is too soft, there's no support. That makes
the back come out, and you have to cut down on your speed. If you go in too fast, then the back
comes out and it makes the car nervous. So stiffening the front will settle the back down - if that
makes any sense!
RIS: Is the track getting quicker? At the start of first qualifying, there were a lot of comments that
the track was very dirty...
DB: For sure it's getting quicker. When Pierre-Henri went out, it just wasn't sticking anywhere, it
was really quite bad. And then, when I went out, we kept the same tyres - that was a mistake.
There was so little grip that we thought there was something wrong with the car, when really it
was just how dirty the track was. So yes, it's getting quicker and quicker. Today, it's a lot hotter,
the track temperatures are hotter, so I'd be surprised if people went much quicker than yesterday.
RIS: What are your plans for the race?
DB: Well, obviously the plan is to win! But really, it's a 24-Hour sprint race, and there are so many
cars that could win... there must be twelve or fifteen cars that could win, which is more than
normal. So everyone has to push, as hard as they can, and just hope that nothing breaks.
Because if something is going to break, it will, regardless of whether you push hard or not. So you
might as well push, and be quicker. It'll be interesting, because the weekend is supposed to be
even hotter, so that'll be harder on the cars.
RIS: Are you planning to be driving double stints during the night?
DB: Oh yes - in fact, we'll do double stints most of the time. We'll probably continue that through
to 3pm on Sunday. We hope!
RIS: That could be tough, because the weather forecast for Sunday seems to keep getting hotter
and hotter. The last I saw was 31 C.
DB: Yes, that could lead to a situation where you get thunderstorms, which could make it...
interesting!
RIS: You weren't here last year, were you? [In 1995 the race was as wet as anyone could
remember]
DB: No, that's right - I was sitting in a studio, commentating on the race for Sky Sports.
RIS: Wish you were doing that this year?
DB: Oh, no! I came close to doing a deal last year, with one of the McLaren teams - but it didn't
come off.
RIS: You've been here before, with Toyota and Jaguar - what makes you keep coming back? It's a
24-hour race, it can't be that much fun...
DB: Well, actualy, it IS fun. Drivers like driving - the longer, the better, I suppose - but Le Mans
has such an historical meaning to it, that winning it means so much to any driver. There's the
Monaco Grand Prix, the Indy 500, or this race. You'd really like to win any one of them - although
all three would be nice! But it just draws people in. There's always big crowds here, there are so
many good drivers, in all the different cars, it just makes for an interesting race. It's a great
challenge, and a lot of people in this sport like big challenges, that's why they do it.
RIS: You mentioned the Indy 500, have you thought of going over there?
DB: Yes, I'd love to do it. I'd like to do the whole Indy car championship. Obviously, at the
moment, they don't do the Indy 500. But it's something I've wanted to do - I'm still young enough
to be able to go over there and do it. But it's like Formula One, it's all about sponsorship, it's
money-related.
RIS: Switching to Formula One, both your former team, Simtek, and Pacific, have failed to break
into the circus. Do you see new teams being able to get started in F1 in the future?
DB: There will be teams coming and going, because Formula One has that draw to it. There are
F3000 teams who become successful, and who think they can go and do F1 - but the way F1 is
structured is not to help teams coming in, but it's to help the established teams. That's where the
money is, that's where they make their money. There's very little support for teams coming in, you
have to pay your way - which is fair enough - but there's no support. You go to a sponsor, and
say: Be part of our team, this is what we can offer; but in reality, you can't offer them much
compared to a big team. That's where the TV is, so that's why the smaller teams don't get the big
money.
RIS: Do you think it should stay that way? While it's difficult to see of any way it could hapen, do
you think there should be a system where the smaller teams are encouraged?
DB: I would like to see the people in Formula One at least help the smaller teams, at least help
with some of the costs, because they can afford it - the top teams make an awful lot of money.
But then again, you have to ask yourself, do they really WANT more cars? Maybe it just suits
them fine with that many cars. It was very difficult for us - and, sometimes, it was made difficult.
RIS: Thank you David, and good luck tonight and in the race.
Regards,
Martin Buck/Jacquie Groom/Jon Baker
