Endurance Racing is very much a team sport and many factors contribute to the success of the team. One of those factors is the speed of the non professional driver. In the ELMS there are several drivers who are classified as bronze but are more than able to hold their own against their professional counterparts. One of those drivers is reigning ELMS LMP2 Pro/Am Champion François Perrodo.
CLICK HERE TO READ THIS INTERVIEW IN THE EVENT PROGRAMME
The 47-year-old French driver has been instrumental in five championship titles, four in the FIA World Endurance Championship (three LMGTE Am and one LMP2 Pro/Am) and one in the ELMS with AF Corse.He has also stood on the top step of the LMGTE Am podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2021. And he has done this while juggling his racing with his day job, running an international business, and spending time with his family.
François Perrodo, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Alessio Rovera got the 2024 season off to a great start in Spain last month with a win in LMP2 Pro/Am at the 4 Hours of Barcelona.
We caught up with François as he prepares for his home race here in Le Castellet.
Q: You have enjoyed a lot of success in endurance racing, with five titles since 2016 in LMGTE and LMP2 Pro/Am in the FIA WEC and ELMS and three podiums at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, including taking victory in LMGTE Am in 2021 at La Sarthe. What is the secret to your success and what is it that keeps you wanting to compete?
François Perrodo: “The secret is simple, cohesion. The team wins, not the driver, a perfect example was last weekend in Barcelona, possibly one of my worst performances of the last couple of years. Yet Alessio was stellar and the boys did an amazing job in the pit stops.
“That’s the beauty of Endurance racing, most people see the drivers, but a race can also be won (or lost) with poor pit stops or a mistake by the strategist.
“It’s very much a team sport, yes the drivers shine but we’re nothing without the team.
“And so back to my secret, my five titles have been won with AF Corse. Since 2015, I have the same engineer, Luca Volta,and amongst the mechanics, quite a few a still around working for car 83!!
“People see the five titles, but we’ve also had some shocking moments and that’s what makes us stronger, tears of pain and tears of joy.
“As for the motivation, I love the competition, this is more on a personal level, every year there are faster bronze drivers than me and every year the mountain to climb is huge. In the past, there has been PDL, Ben Keating, Salih, this year Salih’s silver (thank god for that) but there are still some top amateurs in the series, Georgio, John, Rodrigo, they’re all faster than me and my goal is to challenge them every race and as a team, beat them.
“Winning races is epic but nothing comes close to winning a title, whether it’s a world title or a European title, the level is so high, the WEC and ELMS are truly going through a golden era.”
Q: If you had to pick one moment during those five championship winning seasons, what would be your favourite memory?
FP: “That’s like asking which one is your favourite child!
“Each title was amazing, always won on the last race, and sometimes with a fair amount of luck (or mistake of our competitors).
“But I will pick 2021, GTE Am WEC champion with Alessio and Nicklas. The fight with Ben Keating and TF was biblical, we had won LM (just!) and the title was down to the wire in the last race.
“Luca Volta won that race, he worked out that if I saved fuel beyond a ridiculous level, we’d save one pit stop, it was crazy and hugely counter intuitive, I had to fight other cars on the track but at the same time do lift and coast to a whole new level, it worked and we won that race one lap ahead of our competitor, all Alessio and Nicklas had to do was bring her home!
“This title is special to me because it was won against a car that was faster than us and the killer blow didn’t come from a driver.”
Q: You got your LMP2 Pro/Am title defence off to a great start with victory in Barcelona last month, how do you sum up that first race of the season?
FP: “Like I said, for me, a complicated race, following a couple of difficult weeks. I had a big shunt during the official Goodyear pre season tests and I was literally cleared to race two days before the prologue! Thankfully the rest of the team did the job and handed out an absolutely perfect race.”
Q: Le Castellet is a different track to Barcelona but last year you finished on the podium with Matt and Ben Barnicoat.What are your thoughts on the track at Le Castellet and which part of the circuit is your favourite?
FP: “I will be brutally honest with you, I don’t like Le Castellet, it’s too flat, huge run offs, difficult to see where you are on the track at times, very technical and just not a lot of fun.
“Yes we managed to clinch a podium last year but we were way off the pace compared to TF who absolutely destroyed us.
“My Favourite part of the track? The boxes! There are huge, clean, a nice glass window to see what’s going on around the car from the engineer’s desk, super nice facilities.
“To be honest, I cannot wait for the Castellet race to be done because Barcelona and Le Castellet are amongst my least favourite tracks, but afterwards, it’s going to be absolutely epic!
“Imola, Spa, Mugello and Portimao!!! I kid you not, I think these four tracks are amongst my top five (the fifth is Silverstone).
“The Nordschleife is amazing but it’s not a conventional track where you can race in an LMP. Same goes for Le Mans, it’s mythical but it’s not a conventional track either.”
Q: Tell us a bit about Francois Perrodo when you are not racing.
FP: “One word: Busy! Professionally, I chair our family business.
“Aside from racing, I also have a passion for anything related to the mountain, whether it’s ski touring in the winter or in the summer, rock climbing, cycling, mountain biking, mountaineering, one of my dreams is to climb the Matterhorn one day…
“I also happen to be a huge petrolhead, I’m lucky to own some very special machines but it’s not always easy to make the time to drive them.
“And of course family, the monsters are 11, 8 and 4 and spending time with them and sharing special moments is absolutely priceless.
“As you can imagine, the boss is very patient and every year, the negotiations to continue racing are getting harder and harder. Fingers crossed, long may it continue, racing is just too good.”
