WEC / Qatar - José María López (Lexus / Akkodis-ASP) : "This project is very interesting"

How do you analyse your transition from Hypercar to LMGT3?

I've been very long involved with this Toyota family. So my main objective was to stay with them. Of course, I can't lie, I would have liked to probably do a couple of years more in the Hypercar class. But I'm not a kid anymore, and I think this project is also very interesting for me and for everyone involved behind.

From a sporting point of view, it could be exciting, couldn't it?

The LMGT3 category is looking amazing. And I'm very happy to be part of it. And the racing in GT is always very nice. Even when we are in the Hypercar class, we're looking at the monitors and we are impressed how close is that fight, and things that we're not very used to in Hypercar. So I'm very excited about it. But it's a new experience for me and, for sure, it's not going to be easy. When I see all the guys around me, they've been racing GT3 for a long time.

What motivates you in this challenge?

First of all, as you say, it's a new challenge for me. But I'm also going back to where my main experience is, which is GT / Touring cars. And as I said before, I think it's going to be very challenging for everyone. When you see the line-ups of teams and drivers and everyone involved in this new category, it's very exciting. So, I think it's going to be very nice. It's going to be very good to be in the car and racing all these guys out there.

Did you find it hard to adapt to driving the Lexus RC F GT3?

It's hard to say how I am compare to the others, I'm going to see that in Qatar. I tested the car for the first time in Portimão, for a Goodyear, test. And one of the guys of the IMSA (Ben Barnicoat. Ndlr), who has been racing the car for a while, was there. It was important for us to have him for the experience he has. And he was a big help.

And what about your pace ?

I was on pace. There is a few things I need to get used to it : ABS, and few other things. But I felt very comfortable in the car from the beginning. Then I drove the car in Barcelona. That time, I was already with my with my team-mate : Kevin (van der Linde. Ndlr). He has a good experience in GT3 as well, so I could compare myself with him. And the last test was Paul Ricard a couple of weeks ago. So I do not have any excuse, I've been running the car and I'm looking forward to be on track and see how I perform compare to the other guys and how the car performs.

You have the oldest car in the grid. Will it be a difficult against the new models or an advantage ?

It's difficult to know. We know it's not going to be easy. We have a big challenge in front of us. We have old cars, news cars... But we also have the Balance of Performance to try to equal everyone. And then it's up to us to take the best from the car.

Akkodis-ASP knows the GT3 category well, but is new to Lexus and the WEC. What kind of team have you found?

It's not a new team, but a new team for the series. Akkodis-ASP is stepping up on the World Endurance Championship. So, of course we will be experiencing some things and learning, from the races as well. We've been testing the car, which is been around for a while. But, I'm really looking forward to be at the start of the first race.

Do you think you can play up front from the outset?

The team is very good. They have shown in the other series how strong they are. And we have a strong package of drivers. But everyone is there for winning. I just hope that when we'll start the race in Qatar, we'll have the pace to fight for the win. That would be ideal. But I try to prepare myself knowing that it's going to be very hard.