Losing all four limbs to infection hasn’t stopped Frédéric Sausset from racing at Le Mans this year

One of the cooler things about the 24 Hours of Le Mans is called Garage 56. The name dates to 2012, when Le Mans only had room for 55 cars in its pitlane, but the ACO (the race organizers) added one extra spot for a car which, according to the ACO's Sporting Director Vincent Beaumesnil, "explores the automobile technology of tomorrow and beyond." In the past, Garage 56 entries have gone to cars that have been pushing the envelope on fuel saving (the Deltawing) or electrification (the ZEOD RC), but this year the focus is rather different.

In 2012, a French businessman called Frédéric Sausset scratched his finger while on vacation in the southwest of France. Tragically, the scratch rapidly led to a life-threatening infection (necrotizing fasciitis) which left Sausset a quadruple amputee. At the point where many of us might just give up and wallow in depression, Sausset instead decided he wasn't going to let the lack of hands or feet get in the way of a life-long ambition—racing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And this coming weekend, he's going to do just that.

Sausset's team, SRT41, had a tricky job. A 24-hour race like Le Mans isn't a solo effort—each car has three drivers who split the race between them, swapping in and out during pitstops. The team had to convert its Morgan-Nissan LMP2 car (the slower of the two prototype classes at Le Mans, intended for pro-am teams) so that Sausset could drive it, without compromising the ability of his two able-bodied teammates Jean Bernard Bouvet and Christophe Tinseau from being able to do the same.

The accelerator and brake were relatively simple. Sausset's seat insert has a paddle for each thigh; levers connect these two paddles to the pedals. During a driver change the team also remove the Morgan-Nissan's usual multifunction steering wheel and replace it with a special adapter that connects to a prosthetic Sausset wears on his right arm. Despite the high steering loads you'd expect of a downforce-generating LMP car, he's adapted well to the task, telling Dailysportscar.com that "We have reached a point now where my driving sensations are as good as those I had before my medical problem."

The challenge of converting the car didn't end there, either. Racing can be dangerous, and the rules state that a driver must be able to unbelt themselves and exit the car in seven seconds or less. Having spent a fair amount of time strapped into a race car, I can tell you that's no simple task even with all four limbs to help. SRT41's solution is an ejector seat of sorts, developed and refined in consultation with the Le Mans safety team. (If you don't mind watching a video in French, this will show you how it works.)

As with the specially converted Project SAM Corvette we told you about in April, SRT41's program to get Sausset into the big race is one of the more heartwarming stories in automotive technology right now. If you want to follow the race, it starts at 3pm CET on Saturday June 18 (that's 9am EDT here on the east coast, and 2pm BST over in dear old Blighty). In the US, the race is being shown on Fox Sports. Europeans can also find it on Eurosport. But perhaps the easiest way to watch is via the iOS and Android apps (there's a Web stream as well), although it does cost $11.25/£7.93/€9.99.

I don't know about you, but I can't wait for Saturday morning!

Listing image by Pascal Aunai | pascalphotos.net