Mathieu Jaminet (1/2) : "The goal of a lifetime"

It seems that you are happy in 2022. What about it? 

IMSA is great! Wouldn't that be a great title for the article? I've been lucky enough to do some races there in the past but now I have the opportunity for the first time to do the entire season in the same car, with the same team (Pfaff Motorsports) and with the same team mate (Matt Campbell) and it's a real treat. At Road America, we have increased our lead in the championship with two rounds to go (VIR on August 28 and Petit Le Mans on October 1), so we can't complain. IMSA is motorsport as I like it, as I understand it. There, even if your car is not at its best over a weekend, you can influence your result thanks to the strategy, the fuel consumption, the tyres... In Europe it's more complicated. 

➡️ Mathieu Jaminet (2/2) : "If we don't win,it will be considered a failure"

The BoP seems to be less controversial than in other championships, doesn't it?

They have their own system. I don't talk about that because I don't control anything. What is certain is that, as I said before, even when you are not so good, you can win. At Watkins Glen, we conceded almost a second a lap to our best opponents all weekend and we almost won. We should have finished second.

Thats the reason why Matt and you said you wanted to race in IMSA next year, with the 963?

I wouldn't go as far as to say that, but somebody asked us the question and I said : yes, I would like to race in IMSA in the GTP class next year. Apart from what I said before, I like their vision of racing, the atmosphere, the circuits... I really enjoy it. On the other hand, I don't have a lot of experience in WEC, I don't know half of the circuits, I'm not used to the rules... In WEC, I would be starting from scratch and in a programme like that it is not necessarily easy. But it's not me who decides in the end... 

Would you like to stay with Matt?

What is certain is that it works well over there and that our association seems to be prolific, a bit like Kévin Estre-Michael Christensen. Why separate duos who know each other well and who work well? Then, on the other hand, you can ask yourself if associating two young people with little experience in proto would be a good idea. 

But choosing IMSA also means almost missing out on the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

That's the negative point for sure, maybe even more so for me as a Frenchman. But I work on pleasure and if I don't have any, I don't perform as well. And today I am totally fulfilled in IMSA.

You stopped single-seater racing early in your career to go to Porsche Carrera Cup France. When you see where this led you, how do you see your career?

I did indeed turn to endurance racing early on and it is obvious that I do not regret my choice today. Beyond my F1 dreams, my first ambition was to live from my passion. I didn't have any money and I saw that there were good opportunities in endurance racing and Porsche was for me the only manufacturer offering a real pyramid based on performance and not on politics or money. So far, it has worked out quite well...

How did you react when you learned that you were among the selected drivers...

It happened gradually. They didn't tell me straight away that it was good, but I had a first meeting, then a second one... And then you start to see that you are part of the process. Everything is going well and you start to believe in it. And when they make it official, you're torn between relief and excitement. It's the goal of a career, almost of a lifetime, that is being achieved. But the hardest part is still to come...

What do you mean?

Let's just say that I'm starting out in something new where I'll have to prove myself. On the one hand, today I have everything to succeed. I wanted to be given a chance, but I was also the first to say to Porsche that if I wasn't up to it, I would totally understand if they ask me to go back to GT racing. I know I'm good at it. If every weekend I'm not on the same pace as my team-mates, I'll leave on my own. There are some great races in GT and I am having a lot of fun in this category. After that we are all competitors and we all want to win races overall.