Vautier, Loic Duval and Sebastien Bourdais (still racing a Cadillac but now for Chip Ganassi Racing) drove the JDC Miller car to a remarkable triumph on the 3.741-mile Sebring course last year, despite the car sustaining damage when Vautier was sent off the track into a tire barrier just as he left the pits.
While that was a triumph against the odds, Vautier believes the #5 Mustang Sampling-backed car – which he now shares full-time with Richard Westbrook and in enduros with Duval, too – could now be on a level playing field. He puts this confidence down to progress in the last two rounds of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and an encouraging test at Sebring.
The 32-year-old Frenchman remarked: “Last year, the weather was great. We were very strong in the night in cold temps. We had a tough time during the day. We also had a lot of adversity and a lot of things to overcome.
“Everybody has improved a lot since last year and teams are making progress every weekend, so we’re mainly trying to keep the momentum from Daytona where we were really strong [started second, finished third]. Not really adding to the expectations to Sebring; we’re there to win.
“I don’t want to jinx us, but it seems like we made a good step forward last year at Petit Le Mans. Even if it didn’t convert to a win there, we had a good feeling going into the offseason, and at Daytona it was confirmed. I hope we can keep on that trend and that Sebring can be another confirmation that we are on a really good track to be in the fight.
“I want to be in the fight; I want to be in the position where when it comes down to the last two hours we will be in the position where we can go for it like we were at Daytona. The team has been working really hard, non-stop.
“We tested at Sebring, which is good. Last year, we had two test days all season. I think this year we might be able to test a little more, and that has been helping us as well. The test felt good, but until you are on the racetrack with all the other cars around you it’s hard to really validate where you’re at…
“I feel much better going into the race weekend than I did last year, but it’s such high level in DPi right now. If you have one little thing that’s wrong, you’re last. You’re not mid-field or anything. There are seven cars and the field is often covered by a half-second, so if something is not right, you’re last.
“So, we feel strong and we know we need to get everything right. We will have the validations once we are there. Sebring is a very specific track; depending on winds, temperature and track conditions, things can change very quickly on race weekend. I feel better, but we really don’t take anything for granted.”
Vautier also praised his new full-time partner Westbrook, who until Daytona in January, had not raced in IMSA’s Prototype class since 2015. Integration, said Vautier, had been “very good – I think the result and the overall performance has showed it.
“He’s very experienced. He had not driven prototype for a long time, but he adapted back very quickly, and I think all three of us – Richard, Loic and I – we are very close. Daytona showed our lineup was very consistent. We all bring different things to the table for the team.
“Richard is older and has a lot of experience, so there are things he brings for me as a younger driver in sportscars. There are a lot of things I can learn, which I have already learned from Seb [Bourdais] and Loic. We all bring things that are unique, and I think it makes the lineup quite complete.”
