| Thomas Laurent | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Laurent in 2016 | |
| Nationality |  French |
| Born | (1998-04-05)5 April 1998 (age 26) La Roche-sur-Yon, France |
| FIA World Endurance Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2017 |
| Current team | Signatech Alpine Elf |
| Racing licence |  FIA Bronze(2015–2016)[1] FIA Silver(2017)[2] FIA Gold(2018–) |
| 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) in2017,2018–19 |
| 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)[3] is a French racing driver who currently competes in theFIA World Endurance Championship for French teamSignatechAlpine Matmut and in theEuropean Le Mans Series withGraff Racing. He finished second in the2017 24 Hours of Le Mans and third in the2018 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Born inLa Roche-sur-Yon to go-kart racing mechanic Jean-Pascal Laurent and his wife Nathalie Laurent, he begankarting at age three in a small custom-built go kart on an adapted circuit constructed by his father and began competing competitively from the age of seven.[4][5] He aimed to be in endurance racing from the age of either 11 or 12 and was an enthusiast of the24 Hours of Le Mans.[6] Laurent finished ninth at the 2012 World Karting Championship held inPortimão, Portugal.[7] He won the French Karting Championship every year from 2012 to 2014 and the World Karting Championship in 2015.[8]
He stepped out of karting aged 17 in late 2015 and had twice tested aFormula 4 car but he was unhappy with the amount of money he required to progress to the category.[9] He competed in 3 of the 4 rounds2015–16 Asian Le Mans Series withJackie Chan DC Racing alongsideHo-Pin Tung andDavid 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.[citation needed]
Laurent raced in the 2016 European Le Mans Championship in LMP3 for YMR in aLigier JS P3 alongsideAlexandre Cougnaud andYann Ehrlacher. He finished 8th in the championship despite three retirements, and took a dominant win in the final round at Estoril.[10] 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.[11]
Laurent returned to theAsian Le Mans Series for the2016–17 season. He raced in LMP2, again for DC Racing alongside Tung andGustavo Menezes. He missed the first round (which Tung and Menezes won in his absence) before they came second and first atFuji andBuriram respectively. This left the No. 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.[12]
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In 2017 it was announced that Laurent would race in theWorld Endurance Championship in the LMP2 class. He drove forJackie Chan DC Racing in aJota Sport runOreca07 alongside Tung andOliver Jarvis.[13]
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 theNurburgring, but then finished ninth in class inMexico due to a clutch issue. More successful races followed at theCircuit Of The Americas and Fuji with fourth and third-placed finishes respectively.[citation needed]
It was announced that Laurent was awarded an opportunity to drive a Toyota LMP1 car in the Bahrain post-season test.[14]
Laurent has a contract dispute with DC Racing, because he signed withRebellion Racing.[15] Despite this he withHarrison Newey andStéphane Richelmi took the2017–18 Asian Le Mans Series title in the LMP2 category.[16] He got a green light to race for Rebellion in2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship, competing behind the wheel ofRebellion R13 car withMathias Beche andGustavo Menezes.[17] He finished his first LMP1 race on podium behind two hybrid Toyotas.[18] He joined the Signatech Alpine team the following season, finishing 8th in the standings with two podiums. In November 2018, Laurent tested aDallara F2 2018 car forArden International at theFIA Formula 2 Championship post-season rookie test session at theYas Marina Circuit.[19]
† As Laurent was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
| 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 | |
| 2022 | Mühlner Motorsport | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | LEC 9 | IMO 11 | MNZ 3 | CAT 9 | SPA Ret | ALG Ret | 15th | 19 |
| 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 | |
| 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 BerthonGustavo Menezes | Rebellion R13-Gibson | LMP1 | 370 | 5th | 5th |
| 2020 | Signatech Alpine Elf |  André NegrãoPierre Ragues | Alpine A470-Gibson | LMP2 | 367 | 8th | 4th |
| 2021 | IDEC Sport | Ryan DalzielDwight Merriman | Oreca 07-Gibson | LMP2 Pro-Am | 0 | WD | WD |
Source:[22] | |||||||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Andrea Roda | Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 Champion 2017–18 With:Harrison Newey &Stéphane Richelmi | Succeeded by |