The final event of the season in the European Le Mans Series was a good one for IDEC Sport Racing, which finished in a good sixth place in the Estoril 4-Hour Race. This was the best result of the season for Patrice Lafargue’s team, which is now going to focus on the 2017 season, aiming for the Le Mans 24-Hour Race.
There were smiles all round on Sunday afternoon on the IDEC Sport Racing stand and for good reason. For the final race of the season in the European Le Mans Series, the team led by Patrice Lafargue got their best result, finishing sixth in the LMP2 category at the Estoril 4-Hour Race. The weekend got off to a good start with the official trials on Saturday, in spite of the dull weather. Dimitri Enjalbert got off to a fantastic start on the track in Portugal getting the sixth best time, enabling the Ligier Judd n°28 to line up in the third row on the grid the following day. “This was our best qualification, which is reassuring and a pleasure for the whole team to find themselves in front. This track is not easy. The grip isn’t the same everywhere, as there are different road surfaces. We fought with the car and I tried several different trajectories,” he explained after getting out of the car.
On Sunday on a greasy and wet track, the start was handed to Paul Lafargue, who did really well managing to avoid any of the traps in the traffic… before skidding after the second lap, but fortunately no damage was done, when he tried to avoid a rival. In spite of that, he carried out two relays and did well to move up the pack to find himself in 8th place, when he handed over to Patrice Lafargue. “It was a tricky start. I managed to get through in the first two laps, until I made slight mistake trying to avoid another car, which forced me to push harder to the finish of my relay,” commented Paul Lafargue in the pit, while his father continued to drive IDEC Sport Racing up to sixth place, when he handed over the wheel to Dimitri Enjalbert for the final relay.
The latter managed to remain in that place to the finish, in spite of a few drops of rain late in the race. The Ligier was driven around 141 laps, and the race was truly enjoyed by the whole team and in particular Patrice Lafargue, who was happy with this great climax to the end for the season. “It was a fantastic weekend. I’m really pleased for the whole team; 6th place is our best result of the season. It’s wonderful to finish the season like that. In particular, because it was a result that we got calmly without any pain or risks. The team kept cool and in control. Dimitri had a great qualifier on Saturday and Paul, in spite of his skid, did well to get back up the rankings. We can see that experience is paying off, which is very promising for next season. This year of training ends on a good note.”
Inded, a great end to the ELMS season with a highly promising result for the 2017 season, which will give IDEC Sport Racing the opportunity to climb the ladder, as while remaining present in the three circuits, in which they competed in 2016 (ELMS, 24 Hr Series, VdeV), they are planning to line up in June in the Le Mans 24-Hour Race, the big one in terms of endurance racing. After a final outing in the VdeV in a fortnight from now (4th-6th November), once again in Estoril, there is a busy winter ahead with the aim of getting in as much driving as possible to get used to the Ligier Judd, until they get their new prototype in early 2017. While the season starts in January in Dubai in the 24-Hour Series (12th-14th January), the start for the new Ligier is scheduled for late March (27th-29th) for the official ELMS trials in Monza, two weeks before the season opener at Silverstone (15th April).
