Sausset grew up in Blois, France, and earned a Brevet de technicien supérieur in 1991. He then worked as a car salesman. In 1998, Sausset and his wife Frédérique began managing textile stores in Blois, as well as in Vendôme and Châteaudun. Sausset also served as the president of the Blois Federation of Commerce for three years. He was also the vice-president of commerce for the Loir-et-Cher Chamber of Commerce and Industry between 2011 and 2012.
In July of 2012, Sausset contracted a rapidly progressing bacterial toxin during a family vacation. This led to necrotizing septicemia, an extremely rare infection. Sausset fell into a coma and was treated at the Bayonne and Tours University Hospitals. Doctors were forced to amputate his arms and legs. He woke from his coma towards the end of August. On October 17, 2012, Sausset began his rehabilitation process at La Membrolle-sur-Choisille, undergoing several surgeries until May 2013.
In the winter of 2012, Sausset set the goal to become the first quadriplegic driver to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This led to the establishment of Sausset Racing Team 41 the following year. With support from his insurance company Axa, Sausset began testing a modified Ligier JS53 Evo in early 2014 for Onroak Automotive. The car was fitted with two long rods connecting to the pedals with two plates under his thighs. His right arm stump was fitted into a prosthesis, attached to the steering wheel by a removable ankle. The car also featured an automatic gearbox and an eject button.
Sausset made his competitive racing debut in 2015 in the V de V Challenge Endurance Proto for his own team. He raced five times, with his races characterized by the disparity in duration of his driver changes. It took him nearly four minutes to get in the car, compared to 30 seconds for an able-bodied driver.
In 2016, Sausset made a one-off appearance in the European Le Mans Series with a modified Morgan LMP2 at Silverstone for OAK Racing. He also made select appearances in the V de V Endurance Series with the same team. That year, Sausset achieved his goal by racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Garage 56 entry alongside Jean-Bernard Bouvet and Christophe Tinseau. They finished 38th overall after a clutch issue cost the team one and a half hours in the pits. At the end of the year, Sausset received the Pioneering and Innovation Award at the Autosport Awards in London.
After stepping back from racing, Sausset launched the Frédéric Sausset by SRT41 programme. This program promotes drivers with disabilities and aims to take them to the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans. His SRT41 team returned to action two years later in VdeV with disabled trio Takuma Aoki, Snoussi Ben Moussa, and Nigel Bailly. They went on to race at the 2019 Road to Le Mans in LMP3. The Covid-19 pandemic halted plans in early 2020, leading to the withdrawal of the entry to the French enduro and a delay until 2021. In 2021, SRT41 made select starts in the European Le Mans Series with a modified Oreca 07. Professional driver Pierre Sancinéna took the place of Moussa, who withdrew on personal grounds. For the 24 Hours of Le Mans, François Hériau was set to be the third driver but was replaced by Matthieu Lahaye after picking up an injury. Five years after Sausset's appearance as a driver, his team finished 32nd overall in its last competitive appearance to date.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.