Saintéloc Racing is betting on single-seaters

FFSAGT, GT World Challenge Europe, IGTC, for almost 20 years Saintéloc has been one of the great references in the world of GT. The Saint-Etienne team is also making a place for itself in Rally where Nicolas Ciamin and Sean Johnston represent it in WRC2 in particular. But for 2022, the structure of Sébastien Chetail decided to review its plans with the creation of a new sports branch.

Starting this season, Saintéloc Racing will indeed prove itself in car thus discovering a new universe for her. To carry out this project, the boss of the French team called on Morgan Caron, former DTN of the FFSA, also formerly with the FIA.

“Sébastien Chetail had this idea of ​​adding another string to his bow for several years by launching a single-seater department within Saintéloc Racing,” Morgan Caron explained to us in Nogaro. He asked me to join him to help support him in structuring the branch and supervise this single-seater sector that we are currently setting up. This notion of leading a racing team always stuck with me and I had it in mind. When he had this idea, he contacted me and we hit it off straight away. We have the same state of mind. We have the will and the means to do well. »

Meet at Spa

The 2022 season will therefore be the big debut of Saintéloc Racing in single-seaters. With F4 France operating without teams, Sébastien Chetail's structure has decided to look at the other side of the Pyrenees where Spanish F4 is gradually gaining ground.

“We made the choice to move towards F4 Spain where we will have three cars under the colors of Saintéloc,” continues Morgan Caron. We will officially join the championship from July because registrations were already closed due to the late launch of the project. We will therefore have wild cards from the Spa-Francorchamps round (July 8-9) until the end of the season. »

A choice which can be explained by different factors and in particular by the organization of the Hispanic championship. “F4 Spain has been growing constantly in recent years and its level is very good,” underlines our interlocutor. The championship philosophy was also an important element in our decision. It is managed by the team association in addition to the Spanish Federation of course. There is this desire to make every effort to ensure that there is no deviation in the budgets proposed to the pilots. There is a very similar price list for everyone, which avoids the race to overbid. This allows us to have a healthier framework where all teams can claim final victory unlike certain championships. »

While waiting for the official debut in competition in July and the confirmation of its entire line-up, Saintéloc Racing will be able to count on Théophile Naël who has “already joined the project. »

The F4 but not only

In its desire to always do things well and play leading roles wherever it goes, the Saint-Étienne team intends to extend its project beyond F4 Spain. If in 2022 it will only be seen on the Iberian Peninsula, 2023 will mark the real launch of the project with a greater presence in the single-seater pyramid.

“From next year we will be present in the Middle East with participation in F4 UAE,” recognizes Morgan Caron. The objective is to then join FRECA. We are in discussions with Renault Alpine and the promoters to see how we will integrate into the championship.

Our desire is to be present throughout the single-seater pyramid. We are going step by step to build a very solid and serious foundation. Over the next two years, we aim to be well established in F4 and FRECA but there is a desire to go into F3 et F2 short term. »

Théophile Naël has already ridden with Saintéloc Racing in Barcelona. © Saintéloc

Building a Strong Foundation

In addition to the arrival of Morgan Caron in the ranks, Saintéloc Racing intends to put in place a new structure and intends to recruit and not draw on its resources so as not to disrupt the proper functioning of the team.

“The creation of a single-seater branch at Saintéloc is not intended to undress and destabilize what already exists,” explains the former DTN of the FFSA. It will be an entity in its own right with a technical structure made up of engineers and mechanics which will be added to the existing one. We are in an intense recruitment phase. We have already well structured the technical department with the arrival of Julien Simon-Chautemps (former engineer of Kimi Räikkönen) and engineers who already have experience in F4.

We are giving ourselves the means to succeed by surrounding ourselves with the best people for this project to show that Saintéloc is also a benchmark team in single-seaters and that we will be able to win races and championships in the long term. 2022 is a big real training session with trials and races. We will do our best to perform but we do not tell ourselves that we want to be champions immediately. »

With F2 and F3 in its sights, Saintéloc Racing does not currently have support from a single-seater manufacturer like certain teams like Prema, used to welcoming drivers. Ferrari ou Red Bull ces dernières années. While the arrival of Audi in 2026 seems to be taking shape, the support of the German manufacturer “is part of the ideas” of the Saint-Etienne team which already runs R8s in GT.

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