Shahan Sarkissian and co-driver Jihad Abujaoude will head to the streets of Pau for the second round of the French GT4 championship.
After a mixed weekend at the opening race in Nagaro, highlighted by a pole position, the duo hopes the experience will put them both in a stronger position to compete on one of the toughest circuits in motorsport.
The tight and twisty streets offer a challenging mix of hairpins, chicanes and fast, flowing corners all of which have no margin for error as the barriers loom large.
But the smaller and more nimble K-Worx Ginetta G55, which Sarkissian and Abujaoude will be driving, may be perfectly suited up against the bigger Porsches, Mercedes and BMWs.
The Lebanese pair will hope they can close the gap on teammates Pascal Huteau & Valentin Simonet as well as the AGS Events Porsche entry of Nicolas Gomar & Julien Lambert, both of whom took class victories in the Am class at Nagaro.
In all, 40 cars will line-up on the grid meaning traffic is a major issue on the 2.76km track and overtaking will require absolute precision to avoid disaster.
To make the French GT4 action even more exciting, the first race on Saturday will take place as night sets in, providing an even bigger challenge for the drivers on the street circuit, with the second race scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
“Pau is a really difficult track and tighter than Monaco with many more cars so qualifying is very important there and can decide your final result,” Shahan commented ahead of the weekend.
“We have done a lot of sim training to get ready for the qualifying. Jihad will do the first session and I will do the second one. It is critical to do a good qualifying.
“Any mistake will be so costly and you will lose a lot of places, you have to be so patient to qualify in a good place.
“In the race, we have to do the pit stop and change drivers very efficiently,” he added. “Jihad and I are training a lot to get ready for this challenging and demanding track.
“Overtaking during the race can be impossible, especially as we don’t have straight line speed so it is important to defend our position on the track.”
For Jihad, after a solid debut in Nagaro, Pau represents another steep learning curve, but he is looking forward to the opportunity.
“I feel more confident than last round in Nagaro as it was my first race,” he said.
“I will try my best to qualify in a good place and drive safely and defend my position and bring the car safely to the pits.”
On Friday, Sirkassian and Abujaoude completed two practices in Pau, with a best result of P7 in the first session followed by a P15 in the second.
Saturday will see the very important qualifying session at 1:20pm ahead of the Race 1 under the stars at 9:05pm.
Race 2 is scheduled for 13:40pm on Sunday.
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