After a welcome summer break, the IDEC Sport Racing team is straight back into work with three dates in a row, in Le Castellet for the European Le Mans Series, in Barcelona in the 24-Hour Series and at the Mugello circuit in the VdeV championship. And they have high ambitions everywhere.
European Le Mans Series: Hoping to make progress
It’s back to work from 26th to 28th August for the Le Castellet 4-Hour race, the fourth leg of the European Le Mans Series. Seventh at the start of the season at Silverstone in mid-April, forced to retire a month later at Imola and absent from the Red Bull Ring in mid-July due to a clash in the calendar, the drivers of the Ligier Judd in the colours of IDEC Sport Racing fully intend to prove that they have their place in the circuit, which should allow them to take part in the Le Mans 24-Hour Race in 2017. Patrice and Paul Lafargue, accompanied by Dimitri Enjalbert are not hiding their ambition this season in their debut in this demanding circuit, and wish to gain experience, even if there are nasty surprises like coming off the track at Imola. “This year is one for learning. When things go wrong, you learn a lot. We’re acquiring experience and by the end of the year, we’ll be doing well. We are doing what we have to do to achieve that. The most important thing is that we are all up for it and we don’t like to fail,” commented Patrice Lafargue after Imola. So they are eager to go for it as they head back to the Paul-Ricard circuit with a taste for revenge after their last time there in July in the 24-Hour Series (see below)…
24 Hour Series: No room for mistakes
After the summer break, Patrice and Paul Lafargue, Dimitri Enjalbert and Gabriel Abergel were ranked in fourth place in the A6-Am category at the Paul Ricard 24-Hour race, a result below their expectations, which came after a series of technical problems, which kept them off the podium. The results obtained by their rivals enabled them to get ahead in the overall rankings in the Championship after five events out of seven in the 24-Hour Series (the team only took part in four), IDEC Sport Racing was third overall with 62 points, behind the leader Hofor Racing (93) and Car Collection Motorsport (71).In other words to defend their title, Patrice Lafargue’s team has no room for any mistakes on the Barcelona circuit, which hosts a 24-Hour event on 3rd and 4th September, and at Brno, in mid-October for the final event of the season. “Considering that the Brno event has changed going from 12 to 24 hours, and has a higher rating, we have a better chance of catching up in the championship, but to do that we need to do better than in Barcelona,” explained Patrice Lafargue after the Paul Ricard 24-Hour Race. The new AMG GT3 Mercedes showed what she could do in the first two events and now needs to confirm that performance by succeeding out on the track and achieving a victory, which is the team’s goal in Catalonia.
VdeV: A question of prestige
After Le Castellet and Barcelona, it is on the Mugello circuit that IDEC Sport Racing will continue its busy schedule with the fifth of seven legs in the VdeV championship. The Ligier JS53 n°15 driven by father and son Da Rocha will compete in the 6-Hour race in the Endurance Prototype category with a clear goal. They want to do at least as well as last time (in the absence of Nicolas Da Rocha, Gwenaël Delomier was alongside Frédéric Da Rocha), when they got fourth place overall and second in the Prestige class, which means they are still in with every chance of winning the Championship in this category. To do that, they have to confirm their results on the Mugello circuit, but also in Magny-Cours and Estoril, which host the final two events of the season in October and November. The new AMG GT3 Mercedes and the Porsche Cup will be back together on the start line … In short, the IDEC Sport Racing team has some high ambitions as they tackle the final third of the season, so there will be plenty to watch…
