IDEC Sport announced their 2019 racing plans yesterday, with their priority on the European Le Mans Series again. The French team of Patrice Lafargue will once again compete with two cars in the LMP2 class: an Oreca with a top grade line-up and a Ligier reserved for gentlemen drivers.
The trio of Oreca drivers remains unchanged with Paul Lafargue, Paul-Loup Chatin and Memo Rojas. An unchanged driver line-up for the #28 car, building onto their experience from last season in which they finished third in the championship. Expectations are high for the team in 2019, striving to do even better. “I’m really pleased that the three of us can continue. Our trio worked well last year and we really built up something. Things are really coming together,” says Paul Lafargue. “I hope we will perform as well as last year, or even better, and that we will once again be aiming for a great result at the end of the season. We are feeling confident.”
In the Ligier, Patrice Lafargue and Erik Maris will be joined by Stéphane Adler, an IDEC SPORT driver in the Porsche 991 Cup, who will be making his debut in LMP2. “Patrice (Lafargue) has been talking to me about the P2 for a while. It took time for the idea to grow and then, I took the decision. These are cars we dream of. Even if I spent six or seven years with the CN prototype, I still feel apprehensive. But I’m there to enjoy myself and we’re all here to have fun,” explained Stéphane Adler. “I started to prepare myself with tests in LMP3 in Barcelona and Portimao. It is something new for me to be in a closed prototype, which is as heavy as this and with so much power. But it is enjoyable to drive. And when I think that it is going to be even faster in LMP2… We have four days of private trials planned at Le Castellet before the start of the season. It’s a huge challenge to be in such a competitive championship. I love that.”
While the main effort remains the ELMS, the pinnacle of the season will of course be the 87th edition of the Le Mans 24-Hour Race. Patrice Lafargue’s goal is to see both cars lining up at the start of the 24 hour race on 15th and 16th June, and to be sharing the enjoyment in Le Mans once again with his son, but this time with each of them in their own car. “IDEC SPORT got off to a humble start in the ELMS without registering for the Le Mans 24-Hour Race. We entered with one car in 2017 and got an excellent result. We stepped up our performance in 2018, once again with one car and I think that the ACO feels confident about IDEC SPORT. I think that should be noticed,” stressed Paul-Loup Chatin, the LMP2 driver in pole position in the 2018 Le Mans 24-Hour Race.