Paul Lafargue, Paul-Loup Chatin and Memo Rojas will be doing their utmost in the colours of IDEC SPORT on Saturday 18th August at the Silverstone 4-Hour Race, the fourth European Le Mans Series event of the season.
It will not matter what the weather is like in England this weekend. British fans will be out in force at Silverstone for the big weekend of racing bringing together the ELMS and the WEC. IDEC SPORT will be crossing the Channel for the Silverstone 4-Hour Race, the fourth and penultimate meeting in the 2018 European Le Mans Series. For this event, only the Oreca #28 driven by Paul-Loup Chatin, Memo Rojas and Paul Lafargue will be lining up. Currently fourth in the overall rankings, the IDEC SPORT drivers will be working hard to be up there at the front attempting to gain the three points separating them from third place.
It is going to be a huge challenge on the legendary Silverstone track, the home of motor racing in Britain, as there will be 42 competitors (16 in the LMP2 category) racing around the 5.891 kilometre track with its eighteen bends. Nicolas Minassian, the team’s race director, explains why this circuit is so special:
“This is a circuit like there was in the old days laid out on a former air base. It has kept its charm over the years thanks to fast changes in pace making it a tough one for the drivers. Copse, Becketts, Stowe… are among the most famous bends in the world and personally I love it,” the former Peugeot LMP1 driver told us. “The crowds are always there for this race. They are keen fans who know a a lot about racing in general. At Silverstone you are after all in the home of world class car racing.”
The three IDEC SPORT drivers will have to reach peak speeds to keep up with the pack, but they will also have to keep an eye on the wear of the tyres, as this will be a key element if they want to get a good result as Nicolas Minassian explains: “I stress the importance of the tyres given the new road surface, which is more abrasive, and then there are all the right-hand bends. It’s always hard with all the traffic, as there are quick changes of pace making it hard to overtake. So there are more risks than on other tracks.”
The programme
Memo Rojas, Paul Lafargue and Paul-Loup Chatin will be taking part in two trial sessions on Friday 17th in order to make the final adjustments to the Oreca for a track that requires the car to be a good all-rounder. The aim will be to get a third pole position this season in the qualifiers (Saturday from 11.40 to 11.50). “We will be attempting to continue to do well in the qualifier to be able to aim for victory afterwards. That is quite possible, as we are now not far from the top teams. It is the little details that make the difference in this top class championship. We enter the second half of the season with some high ambitions,” Minassian warned us.
The race starts on Saturday afternoon at 2.30 with four hours of racing scheduled.
You can follow the race on www.europeanlemansseries.com and the IDEC SPORT’s social networks so as not to miss what is happening to the team. On Sunday, it is the World Endurance Championship (WEC) that will be in the spotlight.
