Julien Canal will take part this year to his fourth season in European Le Mans Series. He is at the wheel of the n°65 Panis Racing Oreca 07 alongside Will Stevens et James Allen.
We have met Julien ahead of the 4 Hours of Le Castellet, third round of the 2021 ELMS.
Q : Julien, let’s talk about the start of your season
The start of our season was encouraging, and we finished second in the first race of the season in Barcelona, in front of a lot of competitive teams. But our second race was really disappointing, we had a technical problem that slow us down by 5km/h compared to the other cars and an unfortunate mistake from my teammate in the rain prevented us from being in the top five.
Q: It’s been now several seasons that you have participated in the ELMS, what do you think of the championship and his evolution.
It’s my fourth season in the European Le Mans Series and after also 10 years in the FIA WEC in GT and in Prototype, I think that the level in the European championship is higher and higher, both for the drivers and the teams. This championship is one of the most competitive that I have taken part in. This year, and in the future, we will have to pay attention to the Balance of Performance between the GT, LMP2 and LMP3.
Q: Does the fact to race in Le Castellet, in France, gives you an extra pressure or on the contrary it motivates you even more?
Honestly, racing on the track in Le Castellet does not give me any extra pressure. I know this track well now and for me it’s a great pleasure to be back here again this year. For me the pressure is bigger during the 24 Hours of Le Mans because this is my city, where I live.
Q: What do you think of the track at Le Castellet?
It’s a really technical track with really fast parts such as the turns of Signes and Le Beausset, which are really demanding for the heart but is also hard for the neck and the arms. The first and third sectors are also really challenging with different kind of turns that force us to be really focus. I really like this track …and the region!
Q: Who will be your biggest rivals for this race of the 4 Hours of Le Castellet?
I think that our rivals for Le Castellet, but also for the whole season, will be United Autosports, G-Drive Racing, Orlen Team WRT but also many more…such as Idec Sport, Duqueine… It’s really hard to choose as the level of the championship is so high and honestly there are five or six teams that could win every weekend. So we cannot make any mistakes if we want to be standing on the podium.
