#17 Ligier JS P217 – Gibson (LM P2)

Owner: Patrice Lafargue
Team Manager: Jean Noël Le Gall
Race Engineer: Jérôme Plassard
Location: Fontenay-Trésigny (France)
Website: www.idecsport-racing.com

2016 ELMS classification:10th in LM P2 (19 points)

2017 ELMS results

4 Hours of Silverstone: 8th, Lafargue/Lafargue/Zollinger (FRA/FRA/FRA), Ligier JS P217 – Gibson

4 Hours of Monza: 9th, Lafargue/Lafargue/Pla (FRA/FRA/FRA), Ligier JS P217 – Gibson

IDEC Group chairman Patrice Lafargue is at home on the ocean waves, competing in offshore races since 2002 with skipper Francis Joyon, as he is on the race track. In 2015, he created a new structure, IDEC Sport, to bring these two worlds together under the same banner with a common goal – winning!

Lafargue’s first appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans dates back to 2011 when he joined up with Frédéric Da Rocha and Andrea Barlesi in an OAK Pescarolo Judd (#35). The three men ended the race in 25th place overall (7th in LM P2). Lafargue had also been driving for more than ten years for Ruffier Racing when he took over the structure from his friend Jean-Claude Ruffier in 2015, and renamed it IDEC Sport Racing.

That year, IDEC Sport Racing entered the Endurance GT championship of the V de V series with a Porsche 911GT3-R for Lafargue, his son Paul, and Dimitri Enjalbert, and a Porsche Cup for Gabriel Abergel and Da Rocha. The team also contested the V de V Endurance Proto championship with two Ligier JS53 Evo2s for the two Lafargues and Enjalbert, and for Da Rocha and his son Nicolas, and William Cavailhès. IDEC Sport Racing secured three GT wins and two Prototype victories, and finished the season in second place in both championships. The team also entered the 24-Hour Series, including the 24 Hours of Barcelona and Dubai. By the end of the campaign, it had claimed three class wins and took the title with a Porsche 997. The Classic Endurance Racing series (CER) also featured on the French outfit’s 2015 schedule. 

IDEC Sport Racing took on another dimension in 2016 by entering no fewer than four championships – 23 races in 52 weeks! In V de V first of all, where the Ligier JS53 Evo2 of Lafargue/Lafargue/Enjalbert ended the Prototype championship season in sixth place and Da Rocha/Da Rocha/Delomier took second place. Once again, the team competed in the 24-Hour Series with Lafargue/Lafargue/Enjalbert in a Mercedes AMG GT3 (A6 Am class). The father and son combination scored a fine win at the 12 Hours of Mugello (Italy) and finished fourth in the championship. The Lafargues took the wheel of the same car in the 2016 Road To Le Mans, finishing 23rd. Meanwhile, the team fielded a Lola T270 in the CER Series (Classic Endurance Racing). And last but certainly not least, IDEC Sport Racing moved up a gear by entering the European Le Mans Series with a Ligier JS P2 entrusted to the Lafargues and Enjalbert. As their results indicate, the three men improved as the season progressed, signing off with a sixth place at the 4 Hours of Estoril. The final ELMS Teams’ Championship rankings showed IDEC Sport Racing in tenth place. 

The team has planned a “lighter” schedule for 2017. However, it still includes the 24-Hour Series with the Mercedes AMG GT3 and the same driver line-up as in 2016. The ELMS is the other cornerstone of the team’s season. This year, it is relying on a Ligier JS P217 – Gibson (#28) and Enjalbert has given way to Olivier Pla in the core line-up. At Silverstone, however, with Pla committed to Ford in the FIA WEC, David Zollinger stepped in. The #28 car could do no better than eighth in LM P2. Pla, who worked on the development of the Ligier JS P217 at the end of the 2016 season, was back for the second round in Monza. Unfortunately, the car was slowed by a lack of fuel towards the end of the race which it concluded in ninth place.

IDEC Sport Racing will be making its 24 Hours of Le Mans début with its Silverstone line-up. With Pla driving the #66 Ford GT of Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK in LM GTE-Pro, Zollinger will again be joining Patrice and Paul Lafargue. Zollinger, a four-time V de V champion, has already one appearance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans to his credit, in 2010 for Pegasus Racing (DNF).

Photo: PASCAL SAIVET / VISION SPORT AGENCY