Starworks signs Stephane Sarrazin

Stephane Sarrazin

Starworks Motorsport has been given a massive boost by clinching the signing of French superstar Stephane Sarrazin. The former Peugeot works driver will complete the line-up for the Fort Lauderdale-based team’s FIA World Endurance Championship campaign in the Honda Performance Development LMP2 car.

Vastly-experienced Stephane will join Orlando-based Ryan Dalziel, who is originally from Lanarkshire in Scotland, and Venezuelan Enzo Potolicchio for the new series which kicks off at Sebring in Florida on March 16. The move is a major coup for the Starworks team as they set their sights on the LMP2 world title. Stephane won the Le Mans Series in 2007 and 2010 and was Intercontinental Le Mans Cup champ in 2010 and 2011. He has twice been runner up in the Le Mans 24 Hour race as well as taking pole position three times. He has raced Formula One for Minardi and also taken part in World Rally Championship and Intercontinental Rally Challenge rounds in a long and successful career. Now he is ready for a new chapter.

THE QUOTES: driver Stephane Sarrazin: “I am very happy to be joining the team. I spent a long time as a factory driver with Peugeot, but they decided to stop two weeks ago and I was lost without a program. So I was very happy when Peter called me. I am sure it is a great opportunity for me with the team and this car. I believe that we can get some very good results. The team had an excellent result in Daytona and that gives me confidence for the season. I am also very excited to be doing the World Endurance Championship. It is a very high level. I know nearly all of the tracks. I have competed on them for the past five seasons. We will go forward together. I am looking forward to getting into the car and getting started."

Team owner Peter Baron: “The high downforce prototypes are a bit new to us, so it was crucial to get someone with experience of these types of cars and of the tracks that we will be visiting. It was unfortunate that the Peugeot program ended the way it did but that created an opportunity for Starworks and it was an easy decision for us once we knew that Stephane was available. We were very impressed with him from the very first talks. He was very excited about coming on board and is very motivated about what we are trying to do. We are convinced that Ryan, Enzo and Stephane will be one of the strongest and most competitive line-ups in the World Endurance Championship and we are delighted to have got our man."

THE FACTS: The inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship will begin at Sebring, Florida, on Saturday, March 17, before eight rounds across the globe. The 60th Anniversary Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring fuelled by Fresh from Florida, will be shown live on ESPN3 at 10.30am (ET).