Like another ORECA driver, Olivier Panis, who set up his own team (Panis-Barthez Compétition), Stéphane Sarrazin decided to launch his own outfit, Sarrazin Motorsport, but while Panis set his sights on endurance racing, for now Sarrazin prefers to focus on rally, a discipline in which he became Champion of France in 2004.

The official Toyota driver, whose program remains Stéphane Sarrazin's priority in 2017, will only compete in the second and third rounds of the World Endurance Championshiop (FIA WEC) - the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the 24 Hours of Le Mans - this year with the Japanese manufacturer since he is also involved in Formula E, the electric car championship created by the FIA.

The French driver will also be at the start of the Tour of Corsica in the WRC2 class in two days with a Skoda Fabia R5 representing the Sarrazin Motorsport team. Though he has chosen rally for the forseeable future with the goal of helping young drivers, Stéphane Sarrazin has not excluded the possibility of hitting the track: "Of course I wondered about racing on track vs rallying. It made more sense to go for rallying, as that's where I feel the most prepared and that completes my entries on track very well. Sarrazin Motorsport will have the expertise required, I've got great people around me and strong partners. This will allow us to support young drivers in their development and quest for victories. Yet we don't exclude racing on track at some point in the future. We're open to all options and clearly we want to develop and improve in time. We're going to grow one step at a time, wisely but with great ambitions."

Will the Sarrazin Motorsport team one day take the start at the 24 Hours of Le Mans? Perhaps, but one thing is certain, Stéphane Sarrazin will definitely be on the starting grid June 17th.

Quotation from Sarrazin Motorsport press release.

Photo: Stéphane Sarrazin claimed the second step on the podium at the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans with Toyota.