The WEC Rookie already making waves
There are several new names on the 2024 WEC entry list, and one of them made a very impressive start at the opening race in Qatar last month.
Erwan Bastard is in his first season of WEC with the D’Station Aston Martin GT3 squad and he started positively with teammates Marco Sorensen and Clement Mateu as they took a debut podium with third position.
A native of Loiret in central France, Bastard acquitted himself well to the demands of the most competitive sportscar endurance championship in the world to build a strong platform for round two at Imola this weekend.
Bastard has come from predominantly GT4 racing in his homeland and in Europe having taken the French GT4 title in 2022 and a fourth place finish in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with a GT3 Audi last season.
“I come from GT4, where I did four or five seasons and then last year was my first year in GT3, so now I'm already in WEC and let’s say it's a quick progression,” Bastard told fiawec.com
“This is my dream since I was a kid and this was my goal and really very happy to be here and able to do the full season in WEC which is the peak of endurance for sure.”
Bastard wouldn’t be drawn on precise predications and aims for his maiden WEC season but did say that “really, my objective for the season is to obviously learn as much as possible because everything is new and this is a new car.
“We are driving with Hypercars, so we have to manage the traffic, which is pretty difficult to be honest.”
Bastard’s one season of GT3 competition in 2023 has put him in good range for getting in to a quick rhythm, specially some other drivers are getting used to the challenge of ABS braking.
“I don't know if that's an advantage because some pro driver will get used to it quite fast,” rationalised Bastard.
“But most of the silver (categorised) guys come from GT3 racing, so I think it's not really an advantage.
But I'm used to be braking for a few years now and it's quite easy to use eventually It's much easier to come from no ABS to ABS than the opposite. It will be equal for everyone quite quickly.
One aspect of his first WEC season that Bastard is enjoying is forming a strong partnership with highly decorated Danish ace Marco Sorensen.
“It's a new relationship, let's say, so we are discovering each other now and how we like to work,” said Bastard. B
“It’s cool and crazy to drive with someone who has won that many championships and Le Mans especially. I'm learning from him all the time in terms of pace, how to set up the car, and to feel the car because the Aston Martin is really different from what I was used to with the Audi.
“He has a lot of experience so we will see what we can do together but the start we have had as a trio with Clement (Mateu) too has been really good.”
