The IDEC Sport Racing team got together on Thursday evening on the banks of the Seine for the official presentation of the IDEC Sport team, which brings together under one entity, car racing and sailing. A great evening during which Patrice Lafargue and his men were able to celebrate the excellent weekend they just had at the Aragon Motorland, with a win for the GT and a second place for the Prototype in the VdeV Championship.
In scorching sunshine on Thursday evening on a barge moored close to the Eiffel Tower, the IDEC Sport team was officially presented. This new entity brings together IDEC Sport Sailing which is accompanying Francis Joyon around the world and car racing with IDEC Sport Racing, created earlier this year by Patrice Lafargue. “This is a huge day for us, as it’s not easy bringing together two sports, which mechanically are very close, but have their differences too, with sailing being a sport associated with nature, while car racing isn’t exactly the most environmentally friendly sport. But in both fields, there are great stories of human endeavour, which interests and I want to get close to that,” explained the Head of the IDEC Group.
That has now been achieved and the many guests of the company at the presentation ceremony on then banks of the Seine were able to admire the Ligier JS53 Evo2, as well as the Porsche 911 GT3-R and 911 Cup, on which Patrice Lafargue and his son, Paul are racing this season in the VdeV Endurance Series and the 24-Hour Series. And quite successfully, as since the start of the season, the IDEC Sport Racing team has won four of the seven races in which they have competed, including last weekend in the GT in the Spanish leg of the VdeV at the Aragon Motorland. The icing on the cake rise is that for this event, Patrice and his son Paul Lafargue, accompanied by Matthieu Lahaye, took second place in the 6-Hour Prototype event, which means that after three meetings, they are at the top of the overall rankings in both the GT and Proto categories. “It’s obvious doing better than we were hoping for,” smiled Patrice Lafargue talking about these results. In the GT, as we won the championship last year, we hope to continue in the same vein in the Prototype, but we had a lot to catch up there, as last year we hardly existed. To find ourselves at the top of the rankings after three races, in spite of a disappointing result at the Mugello (retired), it’s beyond our wildest hopes!”
“Paul really took up the challenge”
Last Saturday, the Motorland 6-Hour race was dealt with perfectly by the trio of Patrice Lafargue-Paul Lafargue-Matthieu Lahaye, in fifth place on the starting grid. In spite of the showers, they managed to claw their way back up hour by hour and the JS53 Evo2 finished hot on the heels of Team TFT’s Norma 20 FC. “There was only twenty seconds in it; And that’s not much in a six-hour race. We could easily have won, but we made a few mistakes,” commented Patrice Lafargue, who in general was nevertheless pleased with second place: “Those we are up against in the Championship are behind us and these are valuable points for what lies ahead this season.”
In the GT, Patrice and Paul Lafargue were out in front. Third on the starting grid, first at the finish after four hours of racing. “We decided to change our strategy. Usually I start the race, but this time it was Paul, who took off. From the outset he got the speed up and then did some great driving to get ahead and we managed to keep our lead, in spite of the intense heat. In fact, we were lucky to be able to take advantage of other close competitors suffering problems.” At the finish, with a second win for the GT this season, after winning in Barcelona in March, this was a great way to bounce back after the Mugello meeting ended in late April with two cars retiring. “In Italy, we were on our way to getting some very good results, but we experienced some mechanical problems, so we couldn’t wait to put that behind us. We had a fantastic weekend.” The next event in the VdV Endurance Series will take place on 26th -27th – 28th June in Dijon, with a 3-Hour event for the GT, and a 4-Hour race for the Prototype…
