Thomas Laurent
| Thomas Laurent | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  French |
| Born | 5 April 1998 La Roche-sur-Yon, France |
| FIA World Endurance Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2017 |
| Current team | Signatech Alpine Elf |
| Car number | 36 |
| Former teams | Jackie Chan DC Racing, Rebellion Racing |
| Starts | 24 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 2nd (LMP2) 3rd (LMP1) in 2017, 2018–19 |
| Previous series | |
| 2015–18 2016 2016 | Asian Le Mans Series European Le Mans Series Porsche Carrera Cup France |
| Championship titles | |
| 2017–18 | Asian Le Mans Series |
Thomas Laurent (born 5 April 1998)[1] is a French racing driver who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for French team Signatech Alpine Matmut and in the European Le Mans Series with Graff Racing. He finished second in the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans and third in the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Career[]
2015[]
Born in La Roche-sur-Yon, Laurent stepped out of karting aged 17 in late 2015. He competed in 3 of the 4 rounds 2015–16 Asian Le Mans Series with Jackie Chan DC Racing alongside Ho-Pin Tung and David Cheng. They won all three races, but Laurent was only ranked second in the championship as Tung and Cheng won the opening round without him, leaving Laurent with a 25-point deficit.
2016[]
Laurent raced in the 2016 European Le Mans Championship in LMP3 for YMR in a Ligier JS P3 alongside Alexandre Cougnaud and Yann Ehrlacher. He finished 8th in the championship despite three retirements, and took a dominant win in the final round at Estoril.[2] He also entered the Road To Le Mans race that year for DC racing, alongside Cougnaud. Laurent took over the car in the lead and pulled away to win the race.[3]
Laurent returned to the Asian Le Mans Series for the 2016–17 season. He raced in LMP2, again for DC Racing alongside Tung and Gustavo Menezes. He missed the first round (which Tung and Menezes won in his absence) before they came second and first at Fuji and Buriram respectively. This left the #35 car with an 18 point lead coming into the final round. However they retired after a first corner accident, and lost the title. Laurent placed seventh in the drivers title.[4]
2017[]
In 2017 it was announced that Laurent would race in the World Endurance Championship in the LMP2 class. He is driving for Jackie Chan DC Racing in a Jota Sport run Oreca 07 alongside Tung and Oliver Jarvis.[5]
After winning on his debut at Silverstone and finishing third at Spa, Laurent had an impressive run at Le Mans. After helping his team get into the LMP2 lead, Laurent inherited the overall lead due to problems with LMP1 cars. In the end he won Le Mans in the LMP2 class, finishing second on the overall podium. He added to his win count with a dominant victory at the Nurburgring, but then finished ninth in class in Mexico due to a clutch issue. More successful races followed at the Circuit Of The Americas and Fuji with fourth and third placed finishes respectively.
It was announced that Laurent was awarded an opportunity to drive a Toyota LMP1 car in the Bahrain post-season test.[6]
2018[]
Laurent has a contract dispute with DC Racing, because he signed with Rebellion Racing.[7] Despite this he with Harrison Newey and Stéphane Richelmi took the 2017–18 Asian Le Mans Series title in the LMP2 category.[8] He got a green light to race for Rebellion in 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship, competing behind the wheel of Rebellion R13 car with Mathias Beche and Gustavo Menezes.[9] He finished his first LMP1 race on podium behind two hybrid Toyotas.[10] He joined the Signatech Alpine team the following season, finishing 8th in the standings with two podiums.
Racing record[]
Complete European Le Mans Series results[]
| Year | Team | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | M.Racing - YMR | LMP3 | Ligier JS P3 | Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8 | SIL Ret |
IMO 5 |
RBR 10 |
LEC Ret |
SPA Ret |
EST 1 |
8th | 36 |
| 2020 | Graff | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | LEC 9 |
SPA 2 |
LEC 3 |
MNZ 9 |
ALG 7 |
6th | 43 |
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results[]
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Jackie Chan DC Racing | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | SIL 1 |
SPA 3 |
LMS 1 |
NÜR 1 |
MEX 9 |
COA 4 |
FUJ 3 |
SHA 4 |
BHR 2 |
2nd | 175 |
| 2018–19 | Rebellion Racing | LMP1 | Rebellion R13 | Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8 | SPA 3 |
LMS 3 |
SIL 1 |
FUJ Ret |
SHA 5 |
SEB 7 |
SPA 2 |
LMS 5 |
3rd | 114 | |
| 2019–20 | Signatech Alpine Elf | LMP2 | Alpine A470 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | SIL 2 |
FUJ 6 |
SHA 4 |
BHR 4 |
COA 6 |
SPA Ret |
LMS 3 |
BHR 5 |
8th | 109 |
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results[]
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 |  Jackie Chan DC Racing
|
Ho-Pin Tung Oliver Jarvis
|
Oreca 07-Gibson | LMP2 | 366 | 2nd | 1st |
| 2018 |  Rebellion Racing
|
Mathias Beche Gustavo Menezes
|
Rebellion R13-Gibson | LMP1 | 376 | 3rd | 3rd |
| 2019 | Rebellion Racing
|
Nathanaël Berthon Gustavo Menezes
|
Rebellion R13-Gibson | LMP1 | 370 | 5th | 5th |
| 2020 | Signatech Alpine Elf
|
 André Negrão Pierre Ragues
|
Alpine A470-Gibson | LMP2 | 367 | 8th | 4th |
References[]
- ^ "Thomas Laurent: Racedriver biography - career and success". www.speedsport-magazine.com. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
- ^ "G-Drive Wins Estoril; Steals LMP2 Title from TDS – Sportscar365". Retrieved 2017-11-06.
- ^ "DC Racing Duo Win Road To Le Mans Race – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ "Algarve Pro Wins 4H Sepang, Asian LMS Title as DC Racing Retires – Sportscar365". Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ lm@endurance-info.com. "Jackie Chan DC Racing Driver Line-Up Announced | Endurance info English spoken". www.endurance-info.com. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ "Laurent To Test With Toyota At Bahrain – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ Dagys, John. "DC Racing Disputing Laurent's Rebellion Contract". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ Kilshaw, Jake (4 February 2018). "DC Racing Sweeps Asian LMS Season; Wins Title at Sepang". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ Dagys, John (5 February 2018). "ORECA-Built Rebellion R13 Gibson Confirmed". Sportscar365. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
- ^ Dagys, John (5 May 2018). "Alonso Holds Off Conway for Toyota 1-2 at Spa". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
External links[]
- Thomas Laurent career summary at DriverDB.com
- Official website
- 1998 births
- Living people
- People from La Roche-sur-Yon
- French racing drivers
- Porsche Supercup drivers
- European Le Mans Series drivers
- Asian Le Mans Series drivers
- 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
- FIA World Endurance Championship drivers
- Sportspeople from Vendée