• 2 days ago
Transcript
00:00All right, we're here with Zachary Robichon getting ready for this weekend's, next weekend's
00:04Rolex 24 here at Daytona.
00:06Zach, you're back at Harder Racing.
00:08It's a growing program to say the least here with Harder Racing.
00:12So how excited are you to be back at Daytona for one and be back with a really exciting
00:17team here heading into 24-85?
00:18It seems like there are a lot of exciting parts coming.
00:21Yeah, 100%.
00:22You know, last year was my first time kind of dipping my toes with the Harder Racing.
00:27I did a few races with them and then going into 2025 now, basically all in in the sense
00:33that I'll be doing a lot more racing with the team and basically the 99% of my racing
00:39this year will be with them in one way or another and the beginning of the year is super
00:43busy.
00:44I started off with 24 Hours of Dubai last week and then we're here in Daytona looking
00:48for another victory.
00:51I won, not with them, and then they won the year after, not with me.
00:54So then maybe if we could win together, that'd be fantastic, obviously.
00:57So many things are unknown going into the race, but it's an exciting time.
01:02Exciting also changes in IMSA with the implementation of the torque sensors, so that'll be a whole
01:06new ballgame for everybody, but really looking forward to it.
01:11Yeah, what are you expecting from the torque sensors?
01:13I mean, what do you think is going to be the biggest challenge in terms of learning that?
01:16Because that is kind of a big unknown right now.
01:18We have no idea what that's going to bring to the table in terms of the GTD class.
01:22100%.
01:23The biggest difference anything in WEC last year is that the teams that can be in a situation
01:30where they're not talking about it are probably going to be in a good spot.
01:34It's definitely adds a different level of, I would say, a different level of complexity
01:43to the strategy, but a lot of it falls on the engineers.
01:47The drivers, what happens basically, we get told a couple of things, but ultimately from
01:51the car, we don't have the information they have, so I think a lot more falls on the teams
01:56on this one, and we're just happy that we have a good, prepared team, and the Aston
02:01Martin team, they've got experience with it, so I think it'll be interesting.
02:08How nice was it to be able to get that 24-hour race under your belt?
02:12Leading up to the Rolex 24, I know as a driver, you never sleep.
02:16You always are doing something in terms of going out on the track, so how beneficial
02:20is it to run those 24-hour races prior to a race like this, where each 24-hour race
02:26is huge, but the Rolex 24 is one of the epicenters, if you will, one of the big races, gems, if
02:31you will, of the season.
02:32So just talk about how important it is to get that time in the seat prior to a race
02:35like this.
02:36It definitely doesn't help with your sleep schedule, but it gets you back into that race
02:43mode of you can't really practice for how you're going to feel during a 24-hour race.
02:50As much as we all train and we do all these different types of training exercises, very
02:55little compares to waking up at 5 a.m. after having sleeping 30 minutes and already spending
03:01three, four hours in the car and having to get back in.
03:03So kind of doing it in a, let's call it a little bit more of a less stressful environment
03:10like in 24 Hours of Dubai, and it also takes a little bit of stress off of it, because
03:15you're always worried, like, how am I going to respond to it, is my body not going to
03:18be ready for it?
03:19So to kind of do it and sort of just be like, okay, you know what, it's never as bad as
03:24you think it's going to be, honestly, because your adrenaline just takes over, but having
03:28kind of that very recent memory of knowing that my body's going to be able to handle
03:32it, definitely takes a little bit of that stress going into race week off.
03:37Part of racing is expanding, as I mentioned, you got the GTD class with you guys, and then
03:43GTP is coming in Sebring.
03:46So obviously for this week and next week, you guys will have the two GTD cars, but once
03:50you get into Sebring, you guys are going to be the only GT car that's racing the GTD class.
03:56So how beneficial is it to allow, have the team have more focus, at least in terms of
04:01that side of things, you know, be kind of more of the focus in terms of the GT, because
04:04you had two cars prior to that, so now you guys can focus more on that side of the program.
04:09Yeah, I think it'll be, you know, it's a great project for the team, and it's a huge investment
04:14in a massive expansion of the program, and I think it can only help everybody, because
04:20you don't have a choice but to be more focused, and what's going to happen is a lot of the
04:25dedicated team members aren't necessarily going to be shared between the two.
04:29You know, sometimes with the 23 and the 27, inherently you end up sharing a lot of the
04:34stuff, now it's going to be full focused on basically two separate programs.
04:38They're essentially going to be two programs, independent programs, running side by side,
04:42because of the inherent nature of what comes with running a GTP car.
04:45So that definitely, there's going to be some gains, excuse me, there's going to be some
04:51gains because our team will be fully focused on it, but also a little bit of loss of cooperation,
04:56so that, you know, that was always nice to have that with the two cars.
04:59So there's some good and some bad, but either way, it's super exciting times.
05:02The GTD class is looking really strong this year, I mean, not only in the quantity of
05:08cars, but also the quality of the drivers that are coming into the series, when you
05:11look at that GTD class and the amount of talent that's coming in, I mean, it's going
05:16to be a stacked field this year, for sure, for the GTD class.
05:19A hundred percent, and I think the GTD field for the last few years has been extremely
05:24strong.
05:25If you look, you know, in the year that I won the championship, you know, we had no
05:30more GTLM then, so a lot of the GTLM drivers had moved into GTD, and I feel like that's
05:35sort of a similar situation now.
05:38Obviously, a lot of guys are moving into the GTP ranks, but with that added sort of excitement
05:44surrounding sports car racing, because of what GTP and LMDH has brought, I think it's
05:48just increased the talent pool everywhere.
05:51After year one of the Evo for the Aston Martin, how nice is it to have that first year under
05:57your belt, get to learn the car a little bit more, and learn what it brings to the table,
06:00and now you're headed into year two.
06:01Do you feel more comfortable now with the evolution of the car, in terms of going into
06:04that Evo era, if you will?
06:06Yeah, definitely.
06:07There's, you know, last year was my first year with the car, so I didn't have anything
06:10to compare it to, but what you notice is there's, every time you have a new car, there's tips
06:17and there's tricks and there's, you know, there's always little things to get the maximum
06:21out of it, and now we're going into our second year, we have the torque sensors to worry
06:26about, but now I think we have a better understanding of the car and what it needs.
06:30For sure, coming here last year, we weren't exactly sure how to extract the maximum speed
06:33out of it, so now I think from that side of things, we're in a slightly better situation,
06:37and then obviously, just kind of getting comfortable with that torque sensor and getting the whole
06:42team kind of charging forward.
06:44These, obviously, you mentioned these next couple weeks are going to be crazy for you,
06:48with, yeah, the Abu Dhabi a week or two ago, now you're here at Rolex, you'll have Bathurst
06:54coming up here.
06:55That's going to be nice when you get to go to that 12-hour race, get a little bit, maybe
07:00some more sleep, if you will, that's probably going to be nice for you coming to Bathurst.
07:03Yeah, it's funny to think that a 12-hour race is going to seem short, but I think at the
07:09end of this four-week stretch, I think it'll be a welcome change of a slightly different
07:15race, and that's one that I'm super excited for, definitely been on the bucket list for
07:18a while, never been to Australia, never been to Mayo Panorama, so that'll be a good way
07:24to end a very busy start to 2025.
07:27Absolutely, and then you mentioned, too, just having more of a permanent home here at Harvard
07:30Racing, how important is that, to be able to have more of a permanent home and be able
07:34to focus on that, your line of work, if you will.
07:38Yeah, 100%.
07:41It's nice to kind of have consistency, that was something that last year, jumping between
07:48brands, between teams, wasn't the easiest thing, just because you kind of always, you
07:54never feel as though you're 100% in, because the next weekend you're racing against those
08:00people, so your same teammates now, the week after, are your competition, so to be able
08:05to kind of be fully integrated with one team, one brand with Aston, I think can only help,
08:12and for me, I'm getting old, it's having to change every week, and I was getting confused
08:17between the buttons on the steering wheel, so I don't want to have to worry about that
08:20anymore.
08:21Well, you're a young-looking guy, you're going to get through, my friend, but no, Zach, thanks
08:25so much for the time, appreciate it, and obviously good luck these next two weeks.
08:28Thank you very much.