PANIS BARTHEZ COMPETITION (FRA)

 

Owner : Olivier Panis et Fabien Barthez

Team Manager : Olivier Panis

Sports Manager : Renaud Derlot

www.panisbarthezcompetition.com

 

 

ELMS 2016 results:
4 Hours of Silverstone: #23 Barthez/Buret/Chatin (FRA/FRA/FRA) Ligier JS P2 - Nissan 9th

4 Hours of Imola : #23 Barthez/Buret/Chatin (FRA/FRA/FRA) Ligier JS P2 - Nissan 7th.

 

     Two world class sports stars, racing driver Olivier Panis and footballer Fabien Barthez have joined forces to form Panis-Barthez Compétition. The team is running a Ligier JS P2 - Nissan and a Ligier JS P3 in the European Le Mans Series this year and their application to race the 24 Hours of Le Mans was accepted.

     Barthez will be taking the wheel but ex-Formula One and Le Mans driver Panis will remain in the wings as team manager. The aim of Panis-Barthez Compétition is to give a leg-up to the young talents handpicked by former driver and manager Renaud Derlot.

Panis-Barthez Compétition will be relying on Tech 1 Racing for vehicle operation and technical aspects. Simon and Sarah Abadie’s outfit has a remarkable record in launching careers in single-seaters. The late Jules Bianchi and Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo both started out with them. Panis’ son Aurélien is currently racing in Formula Renault 3.5 with Tech 1 Racing and hoping to make a name for himself.

Barthez will not be giving up his seat for anyone and will surely enjoy stepping up from a GT to a prototype. The former goalkeeper for France raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2014 and finished ninth in LM GTE Am with a Ferrari 458 Italia. He is not entirely unfamiliar with prototypes, having driven a Formula Le Mans at the Le Mans 24 Hours Test Day in 2012.

      The team’s three-year plan intends experienced sportsmen, starting with Eric Debard in LM P3 and Barthez in LM P2, to act as mentors for budding French drivers. Barthez will be teamed with Timothé Buret. The Montpellier-born driver is not totally new to endurance racing, having taken part in several championships, including the VdeV Endurance Series. To further his career, he had no qualms about crossing the Atlantic last year to contest the Pro Mazda, which is to the IndyCar Series what the GP3 Series is to Formula One. He won a race on the legendary Indianapolis circuit and finished the season in fifth place.

It will be Buret’s first Le Mans 24 Hours, but Paul-Loup Chatin has already sampled the delights of a podium at Le Mans. His Signatech Alpine crew came third in LM P2 in 2014. Chatin was ELMS champion of LM P2 with Signatech Alpine that same year, having won LM PC the previous year. The young driver, who is studying political science, won the Jean Rondeau prize for best rookie at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

     Panis-Barthez Compétition has had a shaky start to the season and so far the results do not reflect the team’s potential. At Silverstone, an electrical fault relegated the #23 Ligier JS P2 to ninth place after a good start and at Imola, the disastrous weather conditions sent the car off and prevented the drivers from cashing in on their P2 qualification. The Ligier finished seventh behind the safety car. With Buret making his Le Mans début, Barthez taking his first steps in LM P2 at Le Mans and Chatin’s gravel trap finish last year, Panis-Barthez Compétition remains an outsider in this year’s race.