Benoît Tréluyer

Benoît Tréluyer

Tréluyer in 2013
Nationality	French
Born	(1976-12-07) 7 December 1976 (age 45) Alençon, Orne, France
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	2002, 2004, 2007 –
Teams	Equipe de France FFSA Pescarolo Sport Audi Sport Team Joest
Best finish	1st (2011, 2012, 2014)
Class wins	3 (2011, 2012, 2014 )

Benoît Tréluyer (French pronunciation: ​[bənwa tʁelyje]; born 7 December 1976) is a French professional racing driver.

Early career[]

Beginning his motorsport career in motocross and karting, Alençon-born Tréluyer switched to single-seaters in Formula Renault Campus for 1995. He was a race winner in the French Formula Renault championship in 1996, finishing sixth overall in 1997 before moving up to domestic F3 for ‘98. He would go on to finish ninth overall in his rookie season and third the following year, and also claimed the European Formula Three Cup at the Pau Circuit in 1999.

Formula Nippon and Super GT[]

Tréluyer relocated to Asia to contest the Japanese F3 category in 2000, a title he would win in 2001 title with 15 wins and 13 pole positions from 19 races. He also finished second in the blue riband Macau GP and third in the F3 World Cup in Korea.

In 2002 he graduated from F3 to Formula Nippon, only racing in 5 rounds. He finished second overall the following season and finally claiming the title in 2006 with 4 wins from 9 races. He would take two more runner-up finishes in the championship (2007 and 2009) before calling time on his single-seater career to focus on sportscar competition.

Tréluyer driving the Nissan GT-R GT500 for Nismo at the .

Throughout his time in Nippon Tréluyer also competed in Japan's GT category having debuted in the series during the 2001 season aboard a Dome Project Honda NSX. From next year, he drove for Nissan-backed teams for ten years. He would win the title in 2008 alongside co-driver Satoshi Motoyama and also finished as runner-up in 2011, his final year in Japan before making the factory Audi squad his sole racing priority.

Endurance racing and Le Mans[]

Tréluyer made his Le Mans 24 Hours debut in 2002, claiming a GT class podium in the Chrysler Viper he shared with fellow countrymen Jonathan Cochet and Jean-Philippe Belloc. He would return to the race in 2004 to contest the premier LMP1 class with legendary French outfit Pescarolo Sport, taking a best finish of fourth overall. During the 2009 race Tréluyer was involved in a frightening accident that saw him transported to the infield care centre at the Circuit de la Sarthe. He was treated and released without serious injury.

Tréluyer with André Lotterer and Marcel Fässler at the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers' parade

In 2010 he joined the factory Audi squad alongside André Lotterer and Marcel Fässler. The trio took second position in their maiden 24 Hours together before triumphing in the 2011 race, holding off the charging Peugeot cars as their fellow Audis both exited in terrifying accidents. They would retain their crown in 2012 piloting the first hybrid-powered car to claim victory at La Sarthe. Tréluyer fell ill on the morning of the race, forcing him to swap shifts with Fässler, but recovered to play his part in the triumph.

Tréluyer driving the Audi R18 R18 e-tron quattro at the 2012 6 Hours of Fuji

Further wins in Great Britain and Bahrain, as well as podiums in Brazil, Japan and China, saw the trio go on to claim the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship drivers' title, becoming the first recipients of an officially sanctioned world sportscar title in two decades. Afterwards Tréluyer revealed that he was "very proud to finish ahead of Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish who are fantastic drivers."

In March 2013 Tréluyer, along with Audi team-mates Fässler and Oliver Jarvis, took victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring. The Frenchman will defend his world title in the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship alongside regular partners Lotterer and Fässler.

Career highlights[]

• 3-times winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours (2011, 2012, 2014)
• FIA World Endurance Champion (2012)
• Winner of 8 other FIA World Endurance races from 2012 to 2015.
• 12 Hours of Sebring winner (2013)
• Japanese Super GT Champion (2008)
• Formula Nippon Champion (2006)
• Japanese Formula Three Champion (2001)
• Pau Grand Prix winner (1999)

Racing record[]

Complete JGTC/Super GT results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Nippon results[]

24 Hours of Le Mans results[]

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2002	Equipe de France FFSA Oreca	Jonathan Cochet Jean-Philippe Belloc	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	GTS	326	14th	3rd
2004	Pescarolo Sport	Soheil Ayari Érik Comas	Pescarolo C60-Judd	LMP1	361	4th	4th
2007	Pescarolo Sport	Harold Primat Christophe Tinseau	Pescarolo 01-Judd	LMP1	325	13th	6th
2008	Pescarolo Sport	Christophe Tinseau Harold Primat	Pescarolo 01-Judd	LMP1	362	7th	7th
2009	Pescarolo Sport	Simon Pagenaud Jean-Christophe Boullion	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	LMP1	210	DNF	DNF
2010	Audi Sport Team Joest	André Lotterer Marcel Fässler	Audi R15 TDI plus	LMP1	396	2nd	2nd
2011	Audi Sport Team Joest	André Lotterer Marcel Fässler	Audi R18 TDI	LMP1	355	1st	1st
2012	Audi Sport Team Joest	André Lotterer Marcel Fässler	Audi R18 e-tron quattro	LMP1	378	1st	1st
2013	Audi Sport Team Joest	André Lotterer Marcel Fässler	Audi R18 e-tron quattro	LMP1	338	5th	5th
2014	Audi Sport Team Joest	André Lotterer Marcel Fässler	Audi R18 e-tron quattro	LMP1-H	379	1st	1st
2015	Audi Sport Team Joest	André Lotterer Marcel Fässler	Audi R18 e-tron quattro	LMP1	393	3rd	3rd
2016	Audi Sport Team Joest	Marcel Fässler André Lotterer	Audi R18	LMP1	367	4th	4th

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Benoît Tréluyer.

• Benoît Tréluyer official website
• Benoît Tréluyer career summary at DriverDB.com