Raymond Laurent Vincent Narac (born 3 March 1967) is a French racing driver who last competed for Les Deux Arbres in the JS P4 class of the Ligier European Series. He is best known for founding IMSA Performance, where he racked up consecutive ELMS titles and a pair of 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins.
Narac founded IMSA Performance in 2001 along with Patrick Rava,[1] and began his racing career three years later, racing in the FFSA GT Championship for the team, finishing third in the GT Cup standings with a win at Magny-Cours.[2] The following year, Narac remained in the series as he switched to the GT2 class, in which he took ten wins and secured the class title.[3] During 2005, Narac also raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GT2 class,[4] and won the Porsche Carrera Cup France – B title.[5]
Narac celebrating his maiden 24 Hours of Le Mans class victory in 2007.
Another title win in GT2 ensued the following year,[6] during which he also made his debut in the Le Mans Series,[7] as well as returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with his Porsche 911 GT3.[8] Joining Oreca to step up to GT1 competition in the French GT Championship,[9] Narac scored six wins and four other podiums to secure his first overall title in the series.[10] During 2007, Narac continued to race in GT2 machinery, competing for IMSA Performance in the Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the latter of which he won in class.[11]
In 2008, Narac primarily raced in the Le Mans Series, taking two class podiums to take seventh in the GT2 standings.[12] During 2008, Narac also raced in the last four rounds of the French GT Championship, winning all eight races as he secured his third GT2 title in four seasons.[13] The following year, Narac remained with his team to race in both the Le Mans Series and International GT Open.[14] In the former, Narac scored podiums at Algarve and Silverstone to finish sixth in GT2,[15] whereas in the latter, he took six wins and four other podiums to finish third in the Super GT standings.[16]
Narac driving for his IMSA Performance team at the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans.
At the start of 2010, Narac won the Dubai 24 Hour,[17] before racing in both the Le Mans Series and International GT Open for the rest of the year.[18] Scoring a lone podium at the Hungaroring and finishing fifth in GT2 in the former,[19] Narac then took four wins in the latter to end the year fourth in the Super GT standings.[20][21] During 2010, Narac also finished second in the GT2 class of the 24 Hours of Spa.[22] Continuing in the Le Mans Series for 2011,[23] Narac began the year by finishing sixth at Le Castellet, before winning the next four races to seal the LMGTE Am title.[24]
Narac sealed his second Le Mans win at the start of the FIA WEC era in 2013.
Narac's Matmut-liveried Porsche at the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Returning to the European Le Mans Series for 2014,[31] Narac scored a lone podium at Silverstone as he finished the season 10th in LMGTE.[32] In parallel, Narac returned to the FFSA GT Championship,[33] taking three wins and three other podiums to clinch his second overall title in the series.[34] Returning only to the latter for 2015,[35] Narac won at Spa and Magny-Cours and took five more podiums to seal his second consecutive and third total FFSA GT title.[36] Narac then switched to the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup the following year,[37] taking a class win at the 24 Hours of Spa, helping him end the year 11th in the Pro-Am standings.[38]
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French
FIA Silver (until 2017)
FIA Bronze (2018–)
