2007 British GT Champion and 2018 European Radical Masters Champion Alex Mortimer has been competing in the Michelin Le Mans Cup for Grainmarket Racing since 2019 alongside fellow Brit Mark Crader and will be competing this weekend in Italy in the no20 Duqueine-Nissan.
We caught up with Alex as the team prepare for Round 3 of the 2021 season at the high speed Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy.
AM: “It was OK this morning; Mark had a really good run out at the start of the session.I drove from the one hour to the one-and-a-half-hour mark.Unfortunately, there were two red flags so I didn’t really get any clear running, but I think we will be there or there abouts, so it was OK.”
AM: “Mark started racing late, he was north of 50 when he started racing and is a genuine bronze.
“I met him in 2016 back in the UK racing Radicals and I’ve worked with him since then.He has done all sorts of different levels of Radical racing; he’s had a couple of GT outings but LMP3 was the best natural fit.It’s a nice level, with European events that are bronze driver friendly.
“He’s developed really well, and we’ve had some nice results, with a couple of fourth place finishes in the Michelin Le Mans Cup.We haven’t been there this year so hopefully we’ll get back to that.”
AM: “I think it is great, it’s steeped with history, and you can’t help but love coming to Monza.If this was in England, you can’t but think this would’ve been closed down years ago, so I think the way the culture here embraces it is fantastic and there is something really special being in Monza.
“The track itself is fun and it’s all about atmosphere here for me.”
AM: “In Barcelona we had solid pace and we were quite happy with that. We just had some absolute pitstop disasters.In Le Castellet we went completely the wrong way on the set up, which really didn’t work for us in the race.We’ve not had fantastic results so far this year, but we’ve probably got ourselves to blame for that.
“For here in Monza, if we can get ourselves into the top ten, that would be a nice solid result for us.There are some incredibly fast pairing combinations out there with some bronze drivers who are quicker than you might expect.
“The grid is fantastic in the Michelin Le Mans Cup.We could go and race in some lower-level championship and come home with a podium every weekend with some trophies.When we come here and we get a good result, where you get yourself up into the top six, top seven, you know you’ve had a good run and I think it is better to have this level of competition; it’s a great championship.”
Round 3 of the 2021 Michelin Le Mans Cup will take place at Monza with Free Practice on Friday 9 July and qualifying and the 2-hour race on Saturday 10 July.
