You could forgive Richard Westbrook for feeling just a little tired at the moment. A busy race schedule in the second half of May saw him compete in no less than three events on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Nurburgring 24 Hours.

A very brief rest then preceded heading out once more to the USA to compete in the Grand Am series for Spirit of Daytona Racing on consecutive weekends in Detroit (Belle Isle Park on 2 June) and Mid Ohio (9 June). This week sees the British Chevy star return to Europe once more for the Le Mans 24 Hours.

 However, Richard is anything but tired – quite the opposite in fact. Coming off a fantastic second outright win of the season for Spirit of Daytona Racing last weekend at Mid Ohio, he arrives in France buoyed by that result and ready for this weekend’s fresh challenge. It’s a lifestyle he relishes.

In Detroit two weeks ago, Richard had fought his way to the front of the field from an initial 6th place with a series of decisive overtakes that are his trademark. Leading the race, he made an extremely rare mistake when overtaking a back-marking GT class car, and was out of the race on the spot. Mid Ohio therefore took on increased importance.

‘Winning in Mid Ohio was a huge relief and very satisfying’ commented Richard. ‘After I threw the win away in Detroit it was really important to get a win for the team and we are now firmly back in the Championship hunt’.

He takes that impetus to France for the Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend, where he will switch to the No. 74 Compuware Corvette C6.R alongside Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, and is in very positive mood.

‘So far preparations have gone well for Le Mans except for my journey here from Ohio!  Unfortunately we missed scrutineering because of numerous travel delays, but apart from that all is well.  The car is fast and we are concentrating on finding a compromise for the long straights and the high speed section like the Porsche curves where you need high downforce’ he said.