THIRIET BY TDS RACING (FRA)

Team manager: Xavier Combet
Technical director: Jacques Morello
Base : Vendres (FRA)
www.tdsracing.fr

2015 ELMS results
Silverstone 4 Hours: 3rd Thiriet /Badey/Gommendy (FRA/FRA/FRA), No. 46 Oreca 05-Nissan
Imola 4 Hours: 1st Thiriet /Badey/Gommendy (FRA/FRA/FRA), No. 46 Oreca 05-Nissan

     After a particularly successful season in 2011 (two wins at Spa and Estoril in the LMS) TDS Racing and Thiriet Surgelés allied themselves early in 2012 to create the Thiriet by TDS Racing team with the dual objectives of winning the European Le Mans Series, as well as taking part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. For this programme, the two main drivers were Pierre Thiriet and Mathias Beche who had done a great job clinching the first two victories with the Oreca 03-Nissan LM P2 in 2011 and finished fourth equal in the 2011 drivers’ classification. Before taking part in their first Le Mans 24 Hours, they competed in the 6 Hours of Le Castellet 6 Hours scoring a clean sweep (pole position (Beche), fastest lap (Beche) and victory! At Le Mans, Beche and Thiriet were reinforced by the experienced Christophe Tinseau back for his eleventh Le Mans 24 Hours. Overall, it was a successful first outing as they finished eighth overall and second in LM P2 after making the 2012 winners work hard for their victory! The rest of the season went off just as well and Thiriet by TDS Racing clinched the ELMS team and drivers titles (for Beche and Thiriet) with their second-place finish at Donington .

     2013 wasn’t quite so successful. The team remained among the front-runners in the ELMS and finished in third place at Silverstone with Thiriet – Hirshi. Mathias Beche returned and drove with Pierre Thiriet for the rest of the season, which put them back in the title race with two wins, but mechanical problems in the last two races dashed their hopes. At Le Mans, Thiriet was joined by BMW works driver, Maxime Martin, and Ludovic Badey who had already raced in the event twice. Their Le Mans campaign started on the wrong foot. An off-track excursion in practice gave the team a race against time to rebuild the Oreca-03 for the start of the race. Everything went well in the early stages until the 23rd hour when a thunderstorm between Arnage and the Porsche curves caught out several drivers including Ludovic Badey who hit the guard rail and retired. The decision was made during the winter to join Onroak Automotive. Thiriet by TDS Racing launched themselves into regaining their title in the European Le Mans Series from Signatech Alpine with a Morgan-Nissan, which was swapped for a new Ligier JS P2 –Nissan from the same workshops in the Technopark inside the 24 Hours circuit where constructor Onroak Automotive is installed.

     2014 started with a bang at Silverstone with a victory gained in part by the daring of Tristan Gommendy from Alpine Signatech who joined the team for the season. A good result looked on the cards at Imola in the second round of the ELMS before a broken brake disc stymied the progress of the Morgan-Nissan, replaced on the Test Day by a Ligier JS P2 for which the team based in Vendres near Béziers had high hopes. Ludovic Badey was taken on for the rest of the season by the Thiriet team.
The run-up to the 24 Hours went off well as Gommendy set pole in qualifying after a stunning lap. The team put on an excellent performance in the race in which it finished second in LM P2 and sixth overall. The French squad didn’t continue its attack in the ELMS and didn’t take part in the final events swapping to the Blancpain Endurance Series.

     For 2015 Thiriet by TDS Racing had a new car, preferring the latest weapon from Oreca, the 05-Nissan, to the Ligier. It retained the same driver line-up: Gommendy, Thiriet and Badey. They looked on course for victory at Silverstone until an incident in the final corner dropped Gommendy back to third. At Imola they took their revenge scoring a relatively comfortable win. A few weeks later, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the trio banked the sixth best time in the qualifying session, but had to rush to repair the car after a track incident. After a race against the clock to get the car ready, it was time for the real race. The #46 Oreca 05-Nissan was in the top three from the start. But Gommendy was hit by an LM GTE in the early hours of the morning. Back at the pits, the damage was judged too severe to repair and the team retired. In ELMS, the team now based in Saint Aunès, near Montpellier, took second place at the Red Bull Ring in July but ran into problems at Le Castellet. For the last round in Portugal, Gommendy handed his seat to Nicolas Lapierre, who helped the crew win the race, but not the championship. They came second, just two points short of the winners.

     In 2016, the car remains but the rest of the set-up has changed with the return of Mathias Beche. Beche and Thiriet now share the Oreca with Ryo Hirakawa, an up-and-coming Japanese driver who is part of a Toyota talent-spotting programme. The opening round of the ELMS at Silverstone did not go well. Despite Beche securing pole position, Thiriet ran into mechanical problems and had to pull out. At Imola, all was well into a storm broke with an hour left to race but it couldn’t prevent Thiriet by TDS Racing from taking victory. This success, along with the French squad’s solid background, makes it one of the favourites in the LM P2 class at Le Mans.

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