It is also a major milestone on the roadmap charted by Sausset’s driving academy, known as La Filière Frédéric Sausset by SRT41, with the ultimate aim of entering a team of disabled drivers in the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Road To Le Mans races are scheduled for 13 and 15 June as a curtain-raiser to the 87th 24 Hours of Le Mans. After racing at Le Mans himself in 2016, Sausset now manages his own team, which will be fielding the #84 Ligier JSP3-Nissan with Takuma Aoki (Japan), Snoussi Ben Moussa (France) and Nigel Bailly (Belgium) sharing driving duties.
Road To Le Mans comprises two 55-minute races on the iconic 13.626-km circuit and will thus provide valuable training for Sausset’s team as they work towards their 2020 goal.
Frédéric Sausset : “High-level motor racing is increasingly taking on-board our differences. In fact, it is one of the rare sports in which people with disabilities compete against non-disabled people. I’m really proud to be leading the first outfit in the world that lets top-notch drivers with disabilities take part in these events, alongside some of the best competitors on the planet. With La Filière Frédéric Sausset by SRT41, we are pursuing the goal set after our 2016 exploit and I’d particularly like to thank Pierre Fillon, Vincent Beaumesnil and Gérard Neveu for believing in us. We have no intentions of letting them down, so we’ll see you at Le Mans with our #84!”
Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest : “The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the ideal testing ground for every kind of automotive and mobility innovation. For us at the ACO, it was a real honour to welcome and assist Frédéric Sausset in his Le Mans challenge in 2016. After that highly successful Garage 56 initiative, which remained outside official classification, we will see a racing team and drivers with disabilities competing on a par with the rest of the field in the Road To Le Mans races in June. They have come a long way and we have to congratulate Frédéric Sausset and his team. They can be sure of ACO support. It is vital that we make motorsport accessible to absolutely everyone.”
(*) The car's latest modifications have been submitted for final approval in the homologation process.
Photo : Pascal Aunai