Three-time Le Mans winner Marco Werner is supporting young Belgian Maxim Dirickx, who made his Prototype Cup Germany debut last year. Werner believes the LMP3 series is the best choice, particularly for ambitious young drivers.

Marco Werner is one of the most successful sports car drivers to come out of Germany and was a regular at Prototype Cup Germany races last season. There was a good reason for Werner’s interest in the prestigious series: he is helping Maxim Dirickx to develop his career in motor racing. “I have known Maxim’s mother for a long time. Like me, she is an instructor at the Audi Driving Experience. When Maxim wanted to move away from karting and into automobile racing, she asked for my advice,” says Werner, explaining his relationship with the Dirickx family. “My advice to her was very simple: Formula racing is as good as gone here in Germany, and it is barely affordable internationally. The number of works seats available in touring cars is decreasing all the time. It is a similar story on the GT scene. However, LMP racing is enjoying a boom. There are loads of works teams getting involved, which means there are also opportunities for talented youngsters to lay claim to one of the seats. I believe prototypes are the best choice right now – particularly as the budget is still affordable, as you can share the car with another driver. And you get a thoroughbred race car for your money; the ratio between budget and fun factor is also very good. In my opinion, that is another argument for why the Prototype Cup Germany is an attractive option for Bronze drivers.”

Another aspect is the learning factor. “You can learn an awful lot in the LMP3 racers, which, from a technical point of view, are actually Formula cars with roofs. Under certain circumstances, minimal adjustments to the set-up can make a big difference. As a driver, this means that you learn very quickly to pay attention to details. And you learn how to deal with data. The many figures and turns recorded by the car during every session allow you to improve far, far quicker than in my early days, when data recording was still in its infancy. However, you still have to be able to interpret it correctly and draw the right conclusions for yourself. You also learn how to work with engineers and the full schedule for a race weekend. These are all aspects you have to be ready for as a works driver. And they are also ways, in which you can stand out if you are given a test with a works team. In my opinion, an LMP3 car allows you to prepare very well for future challenges.”

Marco Werner knows what he is talking about. He came through the Formula school at the end of the 80s and early 90s, scoring a number of notable successes in the process. For example, he won the prestigious Formula 3 race in Monaco in 1992. He also finished runner-up in a high-class field in the German Formula 3 Championship in 1991 and 1992. Now 58 years old, Werner was even more successful in prototypes, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times, the 12 Hours of Sebring on three occasions, and the 24 Hours of Daytona once. That makes him one of only seven racing drivers in the world to have won all three sports car classics. He was also crowned champion of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) three times with different partners. As such, Werner knows exactly what qualities you need to be a fast prototype driver, and his is now passing that knowledge on to his protégé Maxim Dirickx. Together with Jacob Erlbacher, the 20-year-old, who only started out in karting at the age of 16, narrowly missed out on his first podium last year, when he finished fourth in Zandvoort.