Jean-Felix Bazelin, Director of Operations, Dunlop Motorsport Europe, and a very familiar face in endurance racing paddocks worldwide has announced that he will be leaving the organisation to pursue new opportunities at the end of 2017.
Jean-Felix joined Dunlop in 1985, holding Original Equipment, Quality Process and Product Management roles before becoming Manager of several manufacturing locations.
In 2004 until 2012 he headed Dunlop’s Motorsport activities as General Manager, before taking his current role in 2013.
Xavier Fraipont, Managing Director, Motorcycle and Motorsport, EMEA, paid tribute to Jean-Felix’s contribution to Dunlop Motorsport: During Jean-Felix’s time in our motorsport team his contribution to the success of Dunlop has been significant. During his tenure, Dunlop car racing customers won their class 8 times in the Le Mans 24 hours and motorcycle customers have scored 11 FIM Endurance World Championships. Jean-Felix helped continue and build the Dunlop legacy in international motorsport thanks to his passion, commitment and dedication. He has built a strong platform, supported by a highly regarded team, to launch the next stage of growth for our motorsport business.
Jean-Felix added: “It has been a privilege of working with many exceptional people, whether customers or the experts inside our organisation. We have built a truly talented team, evidenced by Dunlop’s success in 2017 where our customers won all six open tyre competition 24 hour races : Le Mans car GTE, LMP2 and moto, Bol d’Or and Barcelona Moto and the Nurburgring 24h.
“This ‘Grand Slam’ of six 24 hour race wins marks 2017 as one of Dunlop’s most successful years. Whilst I now look forward to my next challenge, I’m confident that Goodyear Dunlop’s motorsport activities will continue to grow and I proudly move on from an organisation that is managed by a strong and highly capable team.”
“Over the coming days we will meet with customers and stakeholders to explain how Jean-Felix’s responsibilities will be allocated across our leadership team. The wins of 2017 have proven the strength of our team, particularly in how we work closely with demanding customers in an agile manner. We are now planning the next steps to grow our motorsport business. Our growth plans will support the company’s vision and strategy to win in the premium ultra high performance tyre sector and build successful programmes with car and motorcycle manufacturers that share our ambition ,” added Xavier Fraipont.
From 1st January 2018, Jean-Felix’s direct reports (Mathias Kipp, EMEA Sales Manager; Alexander Kuehn, EMEA Product Manager and Tony Duffy, Operations Manager) will report to Xavier Fraipont.
All at DSC would like to wish Jean-Felix the very best for whatever comes next.
