IDEC SPORT is crossing the Channel for the fourth leg of the European Le Mans Series of the season with both of the LMP2 cars, with the Oreca #28 driven by Paul Lafargue, Paul-Loup Chatin and Memo Rojas, and the Ligier #27 by Patrice Lafargue, Stéphane Adler and William Cavailhes. The French team is arriving in Britain in second place in the championship and hopes to score some valuable points.
IDEC SPORT will be competing in the Silverstone 4-Hour Race on Saturday 31st August for the fourth leg of the 2019 European Le Mans Series. IDEC SPORT is starting the second half of the season in second place in the championship after making it to the podium twice and getting one pole position in the three races that have taken place this year.
As in the rest of the championship, IDEC SPORT will be lining up with two LMP2 cars. Paul Lafargue, Paul-Loup Chatin and Memo Rojas will be driving the Oreca #28 and attempting to reach the top of the podium. Patrice Lafargue, Stéphane Adler and William Cavailhes will be at the wheel of #27, one of the four Ligiers competing, as Panis Barthez Compétition and United Autosports have decided to race with Orecas. William Cavailhes is replacing Erik Maris, who is unavailable for this event. In all, 39 cars are expected to race around the legendary 5.891 km track in England. The ELMS is visiting the fourth F1 circuit in a row.
“In terms of preparation, we had a week of work after Barcelona. The cars were cleaned up. The whole team went off on holiday during the summer break. We are ready to tackle the second half of the season. We’re in second place in the championship and even if we had hoped for better than fifth place in Barcelona, we know that in this type of race things can change quickly and we can get back up there again,” explained Nicolas Minassian, the team’s race director. “They’ll be watching us in Silverstone. It’s a track that is complicated with all the other cars, as there are a lot of bends and quick changes. We are setting off with our usual outlook. We’ll be fighting it out for a place on the podium or for victory. We’re not far off. And if we want to move up the table, we’re going to have to go out there and do that.”
“In the Ligier, Patrice (Lafargue) is back behind the wheel, and Stéphane (Adler) will continue what has been a fine season. He really settled in to the LMP2. William (Cavailhes) will be back after racing in Barcelona. We have made a lot of progress with this car. We are managing to deal with tyre wear. The track is hard on the left front tyre and with the new surface it is going to offer even more grip. Our experience in Barcelona will help us. It would be good to get the bronze trophy at the end of the race. So we have two good goals to aim for with the two cars.”
Because of the first WEC race of the season, the ELMS will take place over two days. This short format is an extra challenge, as Frédéric Ducastel, the team leader tells us: “The timing is tighter, as there is less time between the various sessions. You have to react quickly and avoid any problems with the cars. If we need to change the set-up, it is more complicated, but it is the same for everyone. We’ll be trying to avoid any burst tyres this time, even if there’s not a lot you can do about that. In comparison to Barcelona, we’ll give ourselves a wider margin with the driving times to adapt our strategy. We hope too that this time the other cars in the pack will respect any blue flags, because we lost around twenty seconds in Barcelona because of that.”
The cars will be set up during the two trial sessions lasting 90 minutes on Friday 30th August. The 18 LMP2 cars will have ten minutes on Saturday morning to try to get the best position possible on the starting grid. The 108 drivers will set off at the start of the Silverstone 4-Hour Race at 2.30 p.m. on Saturday 31st August (1330hrs CET).
Don’t miss any of the action from this fourth meeting in the ELMS season thanks to the IDEC SPORT social networks – our Facebook page: IDEC SPORT Racing, Twitter feed: @IDECSportRacing and Instagram: idecsport_racing_officiel17 or via the Android app: IDEC SPORT.
