Racing Spirit of Léman
French-Swiss sports car racing team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Racing Spirit of Léman is a French-Swiss sports car racing team that currently competes in the LMGT3 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The team was founded in 2019 by Patrick Barbier.[1][2]
| |
| Founded | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Patrick Barbier Herminie Barbier |
| Base | La Roche-sur-Foron, Haute-Savoie, France |
| Current series | FIA World Endurance Championship European Le Mans Series Le Mans Cup Ultimate Cup Series GT4 European Series |
| Former series | FFSA GT Championship Prototype Winter Series |
| Current drivers | FIA World Endurance Championship 10.  Eduardo Barrichello Derek DeBoer Valentin Hasse-ClotEuropean Le Mans Series: 31. Marius Fossard Jean-Ludovic Foubert Jacques Wolff59. Erwan Bastard Valentin Hasse-Clot Clément MateuLe Mans Cup: 10.  Sebastian Schmitt Dominik Schraml |
| Teams' Championships | 2022 LMC LMP3, 2023 LMC GT3, 2024 French GT4 Silver |
| Drivers' Championships | 2022 LMC LMP3, 2023 LMC GT3, 2024 French GT4 Silver |
Notable accolades include the 2022 and 2023 Le Mans Cup drivers' and teams' championships in the LMP3 and GT3 categories respectively.[3][4]
Contrary to popular belief the teams' name has no relation to the headline WEC event of Le Mans, but comes from the French name for Lake Geneva, 'Lac Léman', which the team is based near in La Roche-sur-Foron, France.[5]
History
Originally, Racing Spirit of Léman ran the operations for Cool Racing (now CLX Motorsport). In late 2020, after Nicolas Lapierre became a majority shareholder in Cool Racing, he decided to split from Racing Spirit of Léman and take the operation of the team in house.[6][7] The team formed an alliance with Aston Martin and entered into the 2022 GT4 European Series with two Aston Martin Vantage GT4s.[8]
FIA World Endurance Championship
2019–20
The 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship season started strong with a win for the #42 Cool Racing entry at the 2019 4 Hours of Silverstone.[9] They would win as a pair, Antonin Borga and Nicolas Lapierre, due to an injury Alexandre Coigny sustained during the European Le Mans Series race the day prior.[10] Four further point finishes and a second podium at the 6 Hours Spa-Francorchamps saw the Racing Spirit of Léman run, Cool Racing entry finish sixth in the LMP2 class.[11][12]
2025
On November 22, 2024, the team announced they would be entering the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship as one of the two Aston Martin LMGT3 teams.[13] Drivers for the season were French Aston Martin factory driver, Valentin Hasse-Clot, American Derek DeBoer and Brazilian Eduardo Barrichello, son of former Formula One driver Rubens Barrichello.[14]
European Le Mans Series
2023
In 2023, following the LMP3 double championship in the Le Mans Cup, the team entered into the LMP3 class with a Ligier JS P320. Drivers for the season were Antoine Doquin, Jacques Wolff, Fabien Michal and Jean-Ludovic Foubert.[15][16] The team would finish on the podium on their debut in the series at the 4 Hours of Barcelona.[17] They then followed that up with a win at the 4 Hours of Le Castellet.[18] At the end of the season, the team would finish fifth in the LMP3 class.
2024
Racing Spirit of Léman expanded to the LMGT3 class with an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo with drivers Derek DeBoer, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Casper Stevenson, while continuing to operate a Ligier JS P320 in the LMP3 class.[19][20] The team secured their first LMGT3 class podium at Le Castellet, en route to a third place finish in the championship,[21][22] while the LMP3 entry finished in 7th.[23]
2025
In 2025, the team again entered one car in LMP3 and LMGT3, with Marius Fossard, Jean-Ludovic Foubert and Jacques Wolff in a new Ligier JS P325 in LMP3 and Erwan Bastard, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Clément Mateu in an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo.[24] Both entries finished on the podium once throughout the season, the No. 31 LMP3 finished 2nd at Imola while the No. 59 LMGT3 won at Spa-Francorchamps.
Racing record
FIA World Endurance Championship
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | No. | Chassis | Engine | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–20 |  Cool Racing |
LMP2 | 42 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | Antonin Borga Nicolas Lapierre Alexandre Coigny |
SIL 1 |
FUJ 5 |
SHA Ret |
BHR 6 |
COA 4 |
SPA 2 |
LMS 4 |
BHR | 6th | 103 |
| 2025 | Racing Spirit of Léman |
LMGT3 | 10 | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo | Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Turbo V8 | Eduardo Barrichello Derek DeBoer Valentin Hasse-Clot (rounds 1–4, 6) Anthony McIntosh (rounds 5, 7–8) |
QAT 9 |
IMO 11 |
SPA 6 |
LMS 9 |
SÃO 3 |
COA 11 |
FUJ 17 |
BHR 14 |
15th | 32 |
| Source:[25] | ||||||||||||||||
* Season still in progress.
24 Hours of Le Mans results
| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Drivers | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Cool Racing[26] |
42 | Oreca 07-Gibson | Antonin Borga Alexandre Coigny Nicolas Lapierre |
LMP2 | 365 | 12th | 8th |
| 2025 | Racing Spirit of Léman |
10 | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo | Eduardo Barrichello Derek DeBoer Valentin Hasse-Clot |
LMGT3 | 336 | 45th | 13th |
| 2026 | Racing Spirit of Léman |
59 | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo | Marius Fossard Valentin Hasse-Clot Clément Mateu |
LMGT3 | 332 | 43rd | 11th |
European Le Mans Series
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | No. | Chassis | Engine | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Racing Spirit of Léman |
LMP3 | 31 | Ligier JS P320 | Nissan VK56DE 5.6 L V8 | Antoine Doquin Jacques Wolff Fabien Michal (round 1) Jean-Ludovic Foubert (rounds 2–6) |
CAT 3 |
LEC 1 |
ARA Ret |
SPA 8 |
POR 8 |
ALG 7 |
5th | 54 |
| 2024 | Racing Spirit of Léman |
LMP3 | 31 | Ligier JS P320 | Nissan VK56DE 5.6 L V8 | Antoine Doquin Jean-Ludovic Foubert Jacques Wolff |
CAT 7 |
LEC 6 |
IMO Ret |
SPA 2 |
MUG 4 |
POR Ret |
7th | 44 |
| LMGT3 | 59 | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo | Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Turbo V8 | Derek DeBoer Valentin Hasse-Clot Casper Stevenson |
CAT 6 |
LEC 3 |
IMO 2 |
SPA 4 |
MUG 5 |
POR 9 |
3rd | 66 | ||
| 2025 | Racing Spirit of Léman |
LMP3 | 31 | Ligier JS P325 | Toyota V35A-FTS 3.5 L Turbo V6 | Marius Fossard Jean-Ludovic Foubert Jacques Wolff |
CAT 7 |
LEC 7 |
IMO 2 |
SPA 9 |
SIL 8 |
POR 10 |
9th | 37 |
| LMGT3 | 59 | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo | Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Turbo V8 | Erwan Bastard Valentin Hasse-Clot Clément Mateu |
CAT 7 |
LEC 6 |
IMO 7 |
SPA 1 |
SIL 6 |
POR 5 |
3rd | 64 | ||
| Source:[27][28][29] | ||||||||||||||