2020 ELMS LMP2 Champion Phil Hanson has a great relationship with the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Ask any driver what their favourite track is and the Spa-Francorchamps would usually be the answer. However, for Phil Hanson Belgium’s premier circuit is somewhere he always feels right at home.
The 24-year-old British driver has won the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps four times from five starts since 2018 and has also won the LMP2 category of the FIAWEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps twice from four attempts. All these victories have been with Anglo-American team United Autosports.
Phil Hanson also holds the ELMS LMP2 lap record, a time of 2m04.674 around the 7.0039km circuit, which he set in 2019.
Q1: You’ve enjoyed a fair amount if success here at Spa. What is it that you like about this historic track?
Phil Hanson: “The fact that when I rock up here with United we're always quick. I mean, it's a great track to be honest. It's so iconic and it's got a huge heritage. The corner we’re stood on here at Eau Rouge is famous for many different reasons. A lot of tracks nowadays, especially modern ones, don't have any undulation. This track, with it being 7km, the undulations are great. I think a lot of the undulations make the circuit and you only really find on old school tracks such as Spa,
Q2: You also hold the LMP2 lap record at Spa. What’s the secret to a fast lap around this circuit?
PH: “I don't think there's one secret in particular. I think with it being such a long track it's just important to kind of be consistent throughout the lap, maximise what you can but also not make any mistakes and lose silly amounts of time in other areas.
“The other thing is, like I said, there's lots of different aspects of circuit with undulation. So, it's quite common for a car to be quick in one area and slightly off in the other. So, like I said, maximising where you can where your car is strong, and then also not giving up too much time where you might be giving up a tenth or two.”
Q3: We know that Endurance is all about teamwork and you’ve raced with United Autosports since 2018. Tell us more about your team and your teammates who you’ve raced with over the past six seasons.
PH: “I've been fortunate to work with some really good guys, some I'm still working with now like Filipe (Albuquerque) and ELMS this year with Marina (Sato) and Ollie (Jarvis). Ollie is my teammate but he’s in the other car in WEC, so he is sort of a competitor.
“It's a great environment. To be honest, I think United does a really good job on picking a very good collective group of people, not only the drivers, but the engineers and mechanics as well. I think that whole environment breeds success in the long run.”
Q4: In 2020 you didn’t just win your third 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, you and Filipe made a bit of history by becoming the first drivers to win the ELMS, WEC and 24 Hours of Le Mans titles in the same season.What does it feel like when you set records like that?
PH: “To be honest, the records, they don't add a huge amount because you don't set out to make the records. You set out to do what it takes to then achieve the record, which is win races and win championships. So, the record is just an added bonus. But ultimately, we're not setting out to break records necessarily, we're just setting out to win every race we can and ultimately if that ends up being the championship then then that's the end game really.”
Q5: You came straight into endurance racing from karts, starting in the Michelin Le Mans Cup in 2016. What made you decide race sportscars rather than single seaters?
PH: “I’ve actually been asked that question a few times. It was a happy mistake really, we were just guided almost incorrectly blindly into sportscars. At that time, we didn’t really know what we were getting into and a lot of people traditionally go down the single seater route.
“However, doing this route and going straight into endurance meant that I was in a very, very competitive place at quite young age and in LMP2, which with the regulation changes and Hypercar and LMP1 sort of dying off in the past few years. It meant that LMP2 was probably the most competitive category and the most competitive it's ever been in endurance racing, especially in the WEC and the ELMS.
“So, I found myself in a position I'm super fortunate to be in now where the sport has grown hugely. We now have more manufacturers than there's ever been in the top class and there's so much more spotlight on what we're doing and in the ELMS, the grids have been incredibly strong and they strengthen every year. So, it's a perfect sort of breeding ground for my development over the past few years and still be chasing success here a few years later.
Q6: Looking towards this weekend’s 8thedition of the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. You come here on the back of a win in Aragon alongside Ollie Jarvis and Marino Sato, what are your thoughts on the weekend ahead and the competition you will face on Sunday?
PH: “I think the competition is going to be fierce. Obviously, we've had a long track record of success here in the past few years. So that does mean that we come into the weekend with expectations quite high. We wouldn't really be satisfied without coming away with a win or at least feeling that we were challenging for the win of the race. So that is the goal, but it's no different to any other goals at the other races. The difference being here is that we feel that we have a very strong baseline that we've developed over the past few years, that we've had this success here. So, hopefully this weekend won't be any different and after today's running in in the open test day we feel that we've got quite a strong package here again.”
