The fourth meeting of the season in the VdeV Endurance Series last weekend in Dijon enabled Patrice and Paul Lafargue, accompanied by Dimitri Enjalbert, to finish in a fine second place in the Prototypes, while the father and son Da Rocha’s number 15 came close to the podium. In the GTs, the race ended early because of a collision caused by a competitor.
A month after doing so well at the Aragon Motorland (second place for the prototype and a win for the GT), the IDEC Sport Racing team, which celebrated their arrival on the scene in Paris on 4th June on the banks of the Seine, was back out there racing again last weekend in the VdeV Endurance Series for the fourth race in the Championship at the Dijon-Prenois circuit. In scorching sunshine, Sunday got off to a rather disappointing start, as the GT race ended early for Patrice and Paul Lafargue, the title-holders in that category. After setting off from the grid in seventh place, their Porsche 911-GT3R made it to third in the 13th lap, but was then hit by a rival, suffering from a mechanical problem, forcing the father and son out early.
However, they would soon get over their disappointment with the 4-Hour Prototype race in the afternoon, with IDEC Sport Racing lining up two Ligier JS53 Evo2 cars, with Patrice and Paul Lafargue’s number 17 joined this time by Dimitri Enjalbert, who was absent from the Spanish event due to a happy event at home (his partner gave birth to a little girl), and Fréderic and Nicolas Da Rocha’s number 15 in which they were joined by William Cavailhes. It almost turned into a fairy story, as for a long time both Ligiers were set to grab a place on the podium, with the number 15 leading the race before going off the track an hour before the chequered flag because of a mechanical problem. “It was a pity, as number 15 was well placed. I thought we were heading for a magic result, which would have been very rewarding after their strokes of bad luck since the start of the season,” said a disappointed Patrice Lafargue.
The head of the IDEC Sport Racing team would soon get over that however, as he finished second in car number 17, which, had it not been for a few minor technical problems and a delay at the pit stop, could well have finished the race in first place, as they finished just 5 seconds behind the winner, CD Sport. For Paul Lafargue this was a very pleasing result. He explained that even if the result was not as outstanding as at Motorland a month earlier, the Dijon leg was nevertheless very encouraging given the excellent race from the two Ligiers in the Prototypes: “In spite of a puncture and a pit stop, we finished second, which isn’t bad at all! We reacted very well and tried to find new solutions and the two or three problems we had, are now behind us. That will help us make progress. There is still plenty of time to go this season, and we need to think about the next race now!” That next race isn’t far off. It’s not in the VdeV circuit (where the next meeting won’t be until late August), but in the 24-Hour Series, with the Paul-Ricard 24-Hour Race from 10th to 12th July.
