Mission accomplished at Le Mans test day for Adderly Fong

After realising a long held dream of undertaking his first laps on the fabled Circuit de la Sarthe at Le Mans, Adderly Fong is now undertaking final preparations before race week begins in earnest for the 82nd running of the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours.

Driving a Ligier JS P2-Honda, the 24 year old Chinese racer will share the cockpit with fellow drivers Ho-Pin Tung and David Cheng in the Oak Racing Team Asia entered LMP2 coupe.

The all-Chinese line-up ended the official test day last Sunday in 17th position in LMP2 with the Oak Racing Team Asia team satisfied at completing their objectives of getting both Adderly and his team mate David Cheng qualified with the mandatory ten laps completed.

Adderly on......his Le Mans Debut

“I would say it was a successful test for us at Oak Racing Team Asia last Sunday. We had to run higher than anticipated downforce and we were using as few tyres as we could for the test. Le Mans is a slippery circuit both literally and aerodynamically, so we were struggling with straight-line speed ultimately. This was because the main aim of the first test day was for my team mate, David Cheng and I to make the ten mandatory laps to qualify for the race. We ran more downforce to make the car safer for us to experiment in high speed corners like the Porsche curves. I am confident we have a good package and believe the next running we have next Wednesday in official practice will show some good performance.

“We lost some time after a small clutch issue stranded me out at Arnage on my out lap. However it was fortunate that we ran into the problems in the test and not when lap times counted. I am confident that as a team we can make a real impression next week.”

Adderly on....Circuit De la Sarthe

"What a track! I did some work in a simulator for my rookie tests the week before the test day so I knew a little bit of what to expect. But there is only so much you can learn without experiencing the real deal!

"I previously had two days at Magny Cours with the Oak Racing Team Asia Ligier-HPD, so I already had an idea on how the car felt. I found the track was much like normal racing circuits in terms of the abrasive surface and high grip level but of course it is such a long lap with so many different challenges that it is in essence completely unique. As everyone knows there are some parts which are open to the public so it is quite bumpy. A lot of it feels like driving on a street track due to the surface, white lines, etc.

"The Mulsanne straights are the most enjoyable parts of the track for me. Just the sheer length is unlike any other race track I have experienced, even Shanghai which has a nice straight but is probably only half the length of what the Mulsannes are combined."

"I am really looking forward to seeing all the media and fans at Le Mans next week.]

Adderly Fong