A car racing engineer with over twenty years of experience, Frédéric Ducastel is the new boss of the IDEC SPORT race team.
A former engineer with Ruffier Racing, before moving to IDEC SPORT agter the team was created in 2015, Frédéric Ducastel has more than twenty years of experience. This experience has enabled him to become the Head of the IDEC sport team. No as a temporary job, but with a full time post in Patrice Lafargue’s team. “I knew Patrice when he drove for Ruffier and we got on well. IDEC SPORT isn’t something new for me. As an engineer I have worked on practically every sort of car. This year, I worked on the Porsche GT3, the Porsche Cup, the Mercedes AMG GT3, the Ligier in LMP2, as well as the Oreca, but not in a decision making role,” explained Frédéric Ducastel.
“I f I had to explain the function of Team boss, I’d say it was a bit like a conductor in an orchestra. I take the decisions for the team, always with the approval of Patrice when we’re looking at the most important elements, of course. I have to look after each part f the team making sure that everyone understands their role. Sometimes that means keeping an eye on them, or sometimes laying down the path to follow,” added Frédéric, who will be aided by Julien Briot, one of the key figures in the IDEC Sport team. “Julien is moving to the post of technical director and I rely on him to monitor the cars. There are very precise criteria about how long parts last. There are technical decisions that need to be taken early in the year. You have to understand that the wear begins on a car before the race. You have to know how to work as a team. I completely trust those that surround me.”
Apart from looking after the team from A to Z in the ELMS with the two LMP2s, the GT with the Mercedes and any additional races, Frédéric Ducastel will be keeping a technical eye on the cars just for the fun of it.
Before the start of a new season, you have to think about finishing the current one, as the Head of the team announced. “We have taken all the cars apart. Some parts have been sent back to the manufacturer to be serviced. The cars will remain in bits during the winter.. We have taken advantage to order new parts for next year. In early January we will reassemble the cars either with new parts or parts that have been serviced, before our first private trials that we’ll carry out before the prologue in le Castellet.”
At the age of 46, Frédéric Ducastel slips into the driving seat of the IDEC SPORT team with the clear intention of continuing to progress with the team and repeat the excellent results from 2018.
