Ireland’s Matt Griffin has taken part in every ELMS race held at the Red Bull Ring since 2013 and has taken five podium finishes, including three wins, and currently holds the LMGTE lap record of 1m29.147 (174.4kph).
We caught up with the 2013 ELMS LMGTE Drivers Champion as he prepares for his seventh ELMS race at the Red Bull Ring in a Ferrari.
Q: How was the first race of the season in Barcelona for you and the team?
Matt Griffin: “It was good. It was great to be back, last year was a bit disjointed with Covid but the European Le Mans Series did a great job getting through the season last year.So, arriving at the first race and, even with the Covid restrictions, everything worked exactly as it should.
“In terms of the performance, I wasn’t so happy with the qualifying, we made the wrong choice with the tyres, but for the race itself we were really quick throughout.We were a little bit unlucky that we got a puncture in my stint, but to finish third after a puncture in the race just shows how strong we were.I think the Iron Lynx car was definitely out of reach, but second place definitely was. To start the season with a podium is perfect and gives us a good base to move forward.”
Q: You are racing with Duncan Cameron for your 8thseason, but you have a new teammate with David Perel joining you.How is David fitting in with the team?
MG: “Dave’s great to be honest. We’ve had Aaron (Scott) who was our teammate for many years and was a big part of the team. It was a change that was made by Aaron’s choice to set down.The level in the ELMS is really high and if you can’t commit to it, it’s hard to be competitive.
“I’ve known David for a few years, we’ve raced as teammates together and I raced wheel to wheel with him last year when he drove the Kessel car, so he was my first choice.I spoke with Duncan, we spoke with the team.We then asked Dave if he would like to jump on board and he said ‘yes’.He’s slotted straight in and it’s really, really good.”
Q: Your record here at the Red Bull Ring is impressive, with three wins (two with Duncan) and two second place finishes from six starts, and you hold the LMGTE lap record.You obviously like this track?What is your favourite part of the circuit and why?
MG: “I love this track! It’s a place that really suits my driving style.I drive the car very much with the brakes, I’m very aggressive on the brakes, and the brakes are super, super important around here.It’s one of those places that has a real knack to it; it’s about attacking but if you over attack, you’ll break the track limits everywhere, so it’s important to manage that.
“I like Turn 1 and Turn 2 because Turn 1, even though it’s a tight corner, it’s a really aggressive approach to it, really late brake, take a big chunk of the kerb and the car’s on two wheels. You then have a big long straight directly after it which is all up hill, so if you mess up the exit, you’re a sitting duck.But saying that, every corner here is something a bit different and it has 150 different lines for each one.So, it’s super interesting and a place where I’ve been successful, it’s a great place to come and race.”
Q: The Red Bull Ring is the shortest track on the ELMS calendar, with 32 prototypes racing this weekend, what challenges does it present for you as a GTE driver when dealing with traffic?
MG: “It’s tough.It’s tough everywhere, to be honest. It’s always strange because this place is short and we have a lot of cars, you’d think the traffic would be worse but in my experience it’s maybe not as bad as other places because with the tight nature of Turn 1, Turn 3 and Turn 4 it gives you the opportunity to control the prototypes a little bit, brake a little earlier and get a better exit.
“Barcelona is tough because of the high speed and during the race there were a lot of marbles, so going offline was difficult.Having said that here it’s going to be a roller coaster/ rock and roll race and it’s not a circuit where I’ve had a big problem with the traffic.”
Q: What are your expectations for the race on Sunday and who do you see as your strongest rivals?
MG: “It’s going to be difficult because the driver line up in the no80 Iron Lynx Ferrari is so strong and almost unbeatable.Rino Mastronardi, the bronze driver in the line-up, is very quick. He was second fastest behind Gimmi Bruni in Barcelona and so much faster than the other bronze drivers.
“So, in reality we are fighting for the podium and if we have a clean race, I think we will finish second.It won’t be easy because we have the other Iron Lynx car, our sister car, which is going to be super competitive, the Porsches are going to be tough and then there is the Aston Martin. Second is looking like the best result but you never know in endurance racing.”
We caught up with the 2013 ELMS LMGTE Drivers Champion as he prepares for his seventh ELMS race at the Red Bull Ring in a Ferrari.
Q: How was the first race of the season in Barcelona for you and the team?
Matt Griffin: “It was good. It was great to be back, last year was a bit disjointed with Covid but the European Le Mans Series did a great job getting through the season last year.So, arriving at the first race and, even with the Covid restrictions, everything worked exactly as it should.
“In terms of the performance, I wasn’t so happy with the qualifying, we made the wrong choice with the tyres, but for the race itself we were really quick throughout.We were a little bit unlucky that we got a puncture in my stint, but to finish third after a puncture in the race just shows how strong we were.I think the Iron Lynx car was definitely out of reach, but second place definitely was. To start the season with a podium is perfect and gives us a good base to move forward.”
Q: You are racing with Duncan Cameron for your 8thseason, but you have a new teammate with David Perel joining you.How is David fitting in with the team?
MG: “Dave’s great to be honest. We’ve had Aaron (Scott) who was our teammate for many years and was a big part of the team. It was a change that was made by Aaron’s choice to set down.The level in the ELMS is really high and if you can’t commit to it, it’s hard to be competitive.
“I’ve known David for a few years, we’ve raced as teammates together and I raced wheel to wheel with him last year when he drove the Kessel car, so he was my first choice.I spoke with Duncan, we spoke with the team.We then asked Dave if he would like to jump on board and he said ‘yes’.He’s slotted straight in and it’s really, really good.”
Q: Your record here at the Red Bull Ring is impressive, with three wins (two with Duncan) and two second place finishes from six starts, and you hold the LMGTE lap record.You obviously like this track?What is your favourite part of the circuit and why?
MG: “I love this track! It’s a place that really suits my driving style.I drive the car very much with the brakes, I’m very aggressive on the brakes, and the brakes are super, super important around here.It’s one of those places that has a real knack to it; it’s about attacking but if you over attack, you’ll break the track limits everywhere, so it’s important to manage that.
“I like Turn 1 and Turn 2 because Turn 1, even though it’s a tight corner, it’s a really aggressive approach to it, really late brake, take a big chunk of the kerb and the car’s on two wheels. You then have a big long straight directly after it which is all up hill, so if you mess up the exit, you’re a sitting duck.But saying that, every corner here is something a bit different and it has 150 different lines for each one.So, it’s super interesting and a place where I’ve been successful, it’s a great place to come and race.”
Q: The Red Bull Ring is the shortest track on the ELMS calendar, with 32 prototypes racing this weekend, what challenges does it present for you as a GTE driver when dealing with traffic?
MG: “It’s tough.It’s tough everywhere, to be honest. It’s always strange because this place is short and we have a lot of cars, you’d think the traffic would be worse but in my experience it’s maybe not as bad as other places because with the tight nature of Turn 1, Turn 3 and Turn 4 it gives you the opportunity to control the prototypes a little bit, brake a little earlier and get a better exit.
“Barcelona is tough because of the high speed and during the race there were a lot of marbles, so going offline was difficult.Having said that here it’s going to be a roller coaster/ rock and roll race and it’s not a circuit where I’ve had a big problem with the traffic.”
Q: What are your expectations for the race on Sunday and who do you see as your strongest rivals?
MG: “It’s going to be difficult because the driver line up in the no80 Iron Lynx Ferrari is so strong and almost unbeatable.Rino Mastronardi, the bronze driver in the line-up, is very quick. He was second fastest behind Gimmi Bruni in Barcelona and so much faster than the other bronze drivers.
“So, in reality we are fighting for the podium and if we have a clean race, I think we will finish second.It won’t be easy because we have the other Iron Lynx car, our sister car, which is going to be super competitive, the Porsches are going to be tough and then there is the Aston Martin. Second is looking like the best result but you never know in endurance racing.”
