IDEC Sport Racing, more commonly referred to as IDEC Sport, is a French sports car racing outfit. Born from the ashes of Ruffier Racing in 2015, the team began racing GT3 cars in the 24H Series before moving on to sports prototypes.[1][2] Spearheaded by LMP2 ace Paul-Loup Chatin for much of its history, IDEC won the 2019 European Le Mans Series title and has twice set class pole position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in 2018 and 2023.[3][4][5] Although IDEC's corporate colour is red, it has most recently borne the colours of classic French brands Delage and Matra.[6] It is currently active in both the ELMS in LMP2 and the Michelin Le Mans Cup in LMP3.

France IDEC Sport Racing
Founded2015
Founder(s)Patrice Lafargue
BaseFontenay-Trésigny, France
Team principal(s)
Current seriesEuropean Le Mans Series
Le Mans Cup
Former seriesV de V Challenge
24H Series
IMSA SportsCar Championship
Current driversEuropean Le Mans Series:
28.
France Reshad de Gerus
France Paul Lafargue
Netherlands Job van Uitert
Le Mans Cup:
17.
France Patrice Lafargue
France Dino Lunardi
Websitehttps://www.idecsport.com/en/category/car-racing/

The team is led by Patrice Lafargue, founder and CEO of the IDEC Group, a real estate construction company also known for its sponsorship of sailing trimarans.[7][8][9] Former Peugeot factory driver Nicolas Minassian joined him in 2018 as sporting director.[10]

IDEC Sport at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2019, the year the team won the European Le Mans Series.
IDEC Sport's Delage-backed Oreca 07 at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Racing record edit

European Le Mans Series edit

Year Entrant Class No Chassis Engine Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pos. Pts
2016   IDEC Sport Racing LMP2 28 Ligier JS P2 Judd HK 3.6 L V8   Dimitri Enjalbert
  Patrice Lafargue
  Paul Lafargue
SIL
7
IMO
Ret
RBR LEC
10
SPA
8
EST
6
10th 19
2017   IDEC Sport Racing LMP2 28 Ligier JS P217 Gibson GK428 4.2L V8   Patrice Lafargue
  Paul Lafargue
  David Zollinger (round 1)
  Olivier Pla (rounds 2–4)
  Paul-Loup Chatin (rounds 5–6)
SIL
8
MNZ
9
RBR
Ret
LEC
11
SPA
10
ALG
9
12th 8.5
2018   IDEC Sport LMP2 27 Ligier JS P217 Gibson GK428 4.2L V8   Erik Maris (rounds 1–3, 5)
  Patrice Lafargue (rounds 1–3)
  William Cavailhes (rounds 1–2)
  Nicolas Minassian (rounds 3, 5)
  Aurélien Panis (round 5)
LEC
Ret
MNZ
12
RBR
16
SIL SPA
14‡
ALG 19th 1.25
28 Oreca 07   Paul-Loup Chatin
  Memo Rojas
  Paul Lafargue (rounds 1–4)
  Gabriel Aubry (rounds 5–6)
LEC
7
MNZ
3
RBR
4
SIL
3
SPA
4‡
ALG
6
3rd 64
2019   IDEC Sport LMP2 27 Ligier JS P217 Gibson GK428 4.2L V8   Stéphane Adler
  Erik Maris (rounds 1–2, 5)
  Patrice Lafargue (rounds 1–2, 4, 6)
  Nicolas Minassian (round 3)
  William Cavailhes (rounds 3–6)
LEC
Ret
MNZ
16
CAT
14
SIL
13
SPA
Ret
ALG
13
18th 2
28 Oreca 07   Paul-Loup Chatin
  Paul Lafargue
  Memo Rojas
LEC
2
MNZ
2
CAT
5
SIL
1
SPA
6
ALG
1
1st 105
2020   IDEC Sport LMP2 28 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2L V8   Richard Bradley
  Paul Lafargue
  Paul-Loup Chatin (rounds 1–3, 5)
  Nicolas Minassian (round 4)
LEC
Ret
SPA
7
LEC
7
MNZ
6
ALG
10
9th 21
2021   IDEC Sport LMP2 17 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2L V8   Dwight Merriman
  Kyle Tilley
  Ryan Dalziel (rounds 1–2, 4)
  Gabriel Aubry (round 3)
CAT
12
RBR
11
LEC
15
MNZ
15
SPA ALG 15th 2
28   Paul-Loup Chatin
  Paul Lafargue
  Patrick Pilet (rounds 1–2, 4–6)
  Jean-Éric Vergne (round 3)
CAT
8
RBR
6
LEC
9
MNZ
9
SPA
6
ALG
6
7th 32
2022   IDEC Sport LMP2 28 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2L V8   Paul-Loup Chatin
  Paul Lafargue
  Patrick Pilet
LEC
4
IMO
5
MNZ
1
CAT
13
SPA
Ret
ALG
7
5th 53
2023   IDEC Sport LMP2 28 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2L V8   Paul-Loup Chatin
  Laurents Hörr
  Paul Lafargue
CAT
3
LEC
5
ARA
2
SPA
4
POR
7
ALG
6
5th 72
2024   IDEC Sport LMP2 28 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2L V8   Reshad de Gerus
  Paul Lafargue
  Job van Uitert
CAT
4
LEC IMO SPA MUG ALG 4th* 12*

24 Hours of Le Mans results edit

Year Entrant No. Car Drivers Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2017   IDEC Sport Racing 17 Ligier JS P217-Gibson   Patrice Lafargue
  Paul Lafargue
  David Zollinger
LMP2 344 12th 10th
2018   IDEC Sport 48 Oreca 07-Gibson   Paul-Loup Chatin
  Paul Lafargue
  Memo Rojas
LMP2 312 DNF DNF
2019   IDEC Sport 48 Oreca 07-Gibson   Paul-Loup Chatin
  Paul Lafargue
  Memo Rojas
LMP2 364 10th 5th
2020   IDEC Sport 17 Oreca 07-Gibson   Jonathan Kennard
  Patrick Pilet[N 1]
  Kyle Tilley
LMP2 363 15th 11th
28   Richard Bradley
  Paul-Loup Chatin
  Paul Lafargue
366 10th 6th
2021   IDEC Sport 17 Oreca 07-Gibson   Ryan Dalziel
  Thomas Laurent
  Dwight Merriman
LMP2 (Pro-Am) 0 WD WD
48   Paul-Loup Chatin
  Paul Lafargue
  Patrick Pilet
LMP2 359 11th 6th
2022   IDEC Sport 48 Oreca 07-Gibson   Paul-Loup Chatin
  Paul Lafargue
  Patrick Pilet
LMP2 366 12th 8th
2023   IDEC Sport 48 Oreca 07-Gibson   Paul-Loup Chatin
  Laurents Hörr
  Paul Lafargue
LMP2 327 14th 6th

Notes edit

  1. ^ Pilet was drafted in as a late replacement for Dwight Merriman, who sustained a back injury after crashing heavily at the Porsche Curves in practice.[11]

References edit

  1. ^ "IDEC SPORT Racing". IDEC SPORT. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  2. ^ "IDEC SPORT RACING happy with 4th place on 24H SERIES return". 24H Series powered by Hankook. Creventic. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  3. ^ Fernandez, Mat; Kilbey, Stephen. "IDEC Snatches Title From G-Drive In Dramatic ELMS Finale (Updated)". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  4. ^ "The road to the championship: IDEC Sport". European Le Mans Series. Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  5. ^ "IDEC Sport (ORECA), a study in team spirit toward victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans". 24 Hours of Le Mans. Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  6. ^ Nédélec, Guillaume (30 January 2024). "24 Heures du Mans. Matra revient sur les circuits grâce à Idec Sport". Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  7. ^ "L'histoire du Groupe IDEC". Groupe IDEC (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  8. ^ Berkovicius, Christine (22 March 2023). "Immobilier d'entreprise : le groupe IDEC crée son fonds d'investissement". Les Echos (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  9. ^ "IDEC Sport ou comment gagner le titre ELMS dans la convivialité". Endurance-Info (in French). 8 November 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  10. ^ Tassel, Pierre (4 December 2017). "ELMS – Nicolas Minassian nouveau directeur sportif d'IDEC Sport Racing". AutoHebdo (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  11. ^ Goodwin, Graham (18 September 2020). "Patrick Pilet Drafted In To #17 IDEC Sport Oreca". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 30 March 2024.

External links edit