Stéphane Sarrazin stands out as one of modern-day motorsport’s true all-rounders, and his successful career has taken him from karting to Formula 1, prototype and GT racing, not to mention world rallying.
Today, just months after founding Sarrazin Motorsport, in April, 2017, with a view to running cars in rallies across Europe, the Frenchman has taken on a fresh challenge with the creation of « Sarrazin Motorsport Endurance » in a bid to notch up top results in international endurance racing.
An academy for endurance racers
Far from being just another racing team, « Sarrazin Motorsport Endurance » will primarily seek to scout, groom and guide promising young drivers within the framework of a professional endurance racing academy, providing them with a golden opportunity to make names for themselves in a discipline whose public popularity and media profile have grown consistently in recent years.
« For me, it was vital to be able to pass on the benefit of my experience in endurance racing to others » explains Stéphane Sarrazin. « Thanks to my extensive knowledge of the discipline and my spells competing for some of the most prestigious teams in the sport such as Oreca, Aston Martin, Peugeot and now Toyota, this new venture will be an ideal educational, technical and sporting platform for drivers from all over the world. Systems like this tend to target talented youngsters who are looking to work their way up the single-seater racing ladder. In our case, however, we want to offer an alternative to that career path, with the focus on endurance racing in association with both gentleman drivers and the sport’s stars of the future. »
Participation in different championships
In addition to its driver grooming role, « Sarrazin Motorsport Endurance » plans to compete in some of the discipline’s top championships around the globe, with entries already planned for the Asian Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series and World Endurance Championship for this young, ambitious team.
« We have ordered our first Ligier JSP3 and we are keen to run it later this season in the Asian Le Mans Series [four rounds, beginning October 29, 2017] before stepping up to European competition in 2018 » announces Stéphane Sarrazin. « This will enable our drivers to take full advantage of the most comprehensive programme possible, from management support to carefully personalised coaching during testing and, of course, at races. At the same time, we plan to offer our services to non-hybrid LMP1 and LMP2 teams, which will allow them access to a raft of both human and logistical resources, aimed at helping them to progress and obtain better results. In every case, and irrespective of the challenges we face along the way, our watchwords will be professionalism, determination and performance. »
Targeting the top step of the podium
To achieve these objectives, Stéphane Sarrazin has joined forces with Philippe Charissoux, who will oversee this forward-looking initiative in addition to leading an international technical team to support the young driver academy. He will also act as Team Manager at races.
Says Philippe Charissoux: « Alongside my responsibilities in developing KCMG Composites, I am delighted that Stéphane and I have taken our fruitful collaboration to the next level. We have set our sights high and time is of the essence. We now need to finalise our young driver academy line-up for the Ligier JSP3 in the Asian Le Mans Series, while doing our utmost to challenge for PLM2 glory with an Oreca 05… »
It promises to be a busy summer indeed for « Sarrazin Motorsport Endurance! »
