Q&A

Tell us about your background Karim?

I was born in Geneva and grew up and went to school in Switzerland as my mother is Swiss, but my father is from Damascus, Syria and I was brought up in both cultures. I’m hugely proud of my Syrian roots and race under the Syrian flag as I feel so closely connected with my roots there. I am trying to promote the country because it’s not well perceived in certain circles and anything I can do to help that will be a good thing.

And you’re the first Syrian driver to compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours?

Yes and that’s a huge honour for me. To race under the Syrian flag at the world’s most famous motor race is extraordinary. If it can open doors for the country I would be very happy. I recently met some of the representatives from the organisers the ACO and they told me I would be the first Syrian driver at Le Mans and they too were excited.

Tell us how you first became involved in motorsport?

I started doing some karting when I was about 13, not competitively but for fun, and really enjoyed it. To be honest though, at that time I was more interested in rallying. When I passed my driving test I realised how much I actually enjoyed driving and looked around to see if I could learn more and take it to the next level. I enrolled at the Winfield Racing School at Paul Ricard in France in 1998 and quickly became addicted! We drove Formula Renault 1.6 single-seater cars and at the end of my three day course I was invited back to try out for the finals. I did two more days and although I didn’t make the final, it was fantastic to be asked back and from there I’d well and truly caught the racing bug.

What was the next step?

I did the challenge Volant in France and did quite well and I stayed in contact with the promoter who was also involved in Formula France. At that time I had no contacts at all in motorsport and I though the best way to get started would be to join a championship like Formula France were all the cars are run centrally by the organiser rather than by individual teams. I did three races and did quite well and met with some guys who ran a French Formula Ford team. In 1999 I did a few races and then joined Maubray Competition for 2000.

How did it go?

Well 2000 was a learning year and I was racing a ’96 Mygale chassis. It was a very important experience and I progressed a lot. In 2001 I moved up to a year-old Mygale and finished sixth in the overall championship and fourth in the ‘B’ class for older cars. I stayed with the team for 2002 and had a number of podiums. I was on pole position at the Le Mans Bugatti circuit that year and led every lap until four laps from home when my battery died and I retired. That was really disappointing but it showed the progress I’d made.

You then stepped up to Formula Renault in ‘03

Yes I joined the Pole Service Team in the Formula Renault France championship, but it was a difficult year and a steep learning curve. I was 22 by then and I was racing against 16 and 17 year olds with a lot of karting experience and the standard was extremely high. Again I learned a lot though as that was the first time I’d driven a car with proper aerodynamics.

Why did you go back to Formula Ford in 2004?

Because I had no budget to continue in Formula Renault! I rejoined Maubray Competition for another season of the French Formula Ford championship, but that proved to be my last season in single-seaters.

You then turned to sportscars?

I did three races with Paul Belmondo Racing in the Le Mans Endurance Series, as it was called back in 2005. I did the Monza, Nurburgring and Silverstone 1000kms and got my first taste of sportscar racing in a GT1 Dodge Viper. To be honest it was a bit of a culture shock driving a GT car and I didn’t enjoy it that much. It was very different from what I was used to.

A year off in 2006 was followed by a move into the VdeV championship?

Yeah, again I didn’t have any budget to race in 2006, but during that year myself and Dario Garcia decided we wanted to race together and started looking for options. I first met Dario at the Winfield Racing School and then we were team-mates together at Maubray Competition in Formula Ford and became great friends. We decided to do VdeV and we shared a Ligier run by Gemo-Sport. I loved driving the car and we scored a podium in our second race at Val de Vienne. The field was really strong, sometimes with 45 cars on the grid, and every time we finished we came in the top five. Unfortunately at the end of the season the team abandoned their prototype campaign to concentrate more on their GT programme and so I decided to take a year out in 2008.

Why was that?

By then my focus was on the Le Mans Series and I wanted to spend the year trying to get a good drive for 2009. I was also looking after my father’s business at the time. I made contact with a number of teams and worked hard physically to make sure I was 100% ready.

That’s when you contacted OAK Racing?

Yes, another friend of mine, Harold Primat who races for Aston Martin, told me to speak with (OAK Racing Team Manager) Francois Sicard. I got in touch and then went to Le Mans as a spectator and we spoke again. We agreed to do a test at the end of the season and in October I went to Magny-Cours with the team. Matthieu Lahaye came too to give me some coaching on driving the car and I did more than 80 laps. There was a lot to learn as everything was new to me. Racing the Ligier was good preparation, but I’d never driven with things like Traction Control, Carbon Brakes and such high aerodynamic grip before. Things went really well though and everyone seemed really enthusiastic.

Is that where you agreed your 2009 drive?

Not immediately because the team were planning to use the same driver line-up as ’08 with Matthieu and Pierre Ragues. But Pierre got the chance to step up to LMP1 and left the team and the seat became available and I got my chance.

Finally, what’s your objective for the season?

To learn as quickly as possible and try to take in and process as much information as possible. I’m working hard with Matthieu and with the engineers to improve. We haven’t set ourselves any targets as such and there is no specific objectives, but I believe that if I work hard then we can achieve good results.