“It will be interesting – worst case scenario, I’ll be driving for the 12 hours,” says the Frenchman of his challenge, on a track which he emphasises “Concentration is everything – it’s so demanding.”
The opportunity of taking on this incredible feat came about when Pilet’s Falken Porsche team-mate Lars Kern moved over to Hüber Motorsport.
Falken was left with a free berth, and so simply decided to fill the space with one of its existing drivers – a clear indication of the stock it puts in Pilet.
“It’s pretty nice from them to think about me, to have that confidence,” he says in good humour. “When they asked me I said ‘Okay, why not? Double chance of having a good result!’”
The Frenchman is joined by Jaxon Evans, Sven Müller, and Marco Seefried in the No33 car, whilst the 44 will feature Alessio Picariello, Martin Ragginger and Klaus Bachler.
The latter has completed a similar feat to the one Pilet is attempting last year, giving the enduro veteran confidence he is up to the task. That doesn’t mean the Frenchman is underestimating it though.
“For sure the Nürburgring is very challenging,” he says. “The problem is when it starts to rain and you have mixed conditions, because it asks a lot of your concentration and also your body. It can be really hard.
“Communication will be key. I will speak a lot with my engineer and say, ‘Okay, I can do this, this I cannot,’ just try to be honest with them, because it’s really important here.