Nicolas Lapierre
Nicolas Lapierre is a French professional racing driver. He raced with Toyota and with Alpine Racing in the past seasons of the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is a two-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring, with overall victories in 2011 and 2018, and scored four LMP2 class victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019.
Career history
Early career
Born in Thonon-les-Bains, Lapierre started his career in 1993 in karting, finishing 3rd in the French championship in 1996, 6th in the European Championships in 1997 and reaching the finals of the European Junior Championship in 1998 before moving to French Formula Renault in 1999. He stayed there for 2000 and 2001, 2001 also seeing two races in Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup. He again raced in French Formula Renault in 2002, also driving a full season of 2000 Eurocup and some races of French Formula Three.2003 saw Lapierre move to Formula Three Euroseries with the Signature team and earn a win in the Macau Grand Prix. He stayed in the Euroseries for 2004, also driving two races of British Formula 3.
With his reputation increasing and his talent proven, Lapierre was rewarded for his Euroseries performances with a drive in GP2 Series for current champions Arden Motorsport. He partnered with Heikki Kovalainen.
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GP2 & A1GP
During 2005 Lapierre drove for A1 Team France in the A1 Grand Prix series helping the team win the championship and therefore the World Cup of Motorsport. Lapierre won both the sprint and main race events in Germany and Australia, the main race in Dubai and the sprint in Indonesia.During 2006 he continued with the Arden team in GP2, however his season was interrupted by a spectacular first corner crash in Monaco in which he was a victim of someone else's accident. Lapierre received two compressed vertebrae in the crash and missed the British round of the series. Despite this, his points score was higher than the previous season's tally.
Lapierre was dropped at the end of 2006 and has since signed to participate in a 3rd season of GP2 for the DAMS team, which finished 10th overall in the constructors' standings and runs the French A1 GP team, which won the first season of A1 Grand Prix.
Touring Cars
Lapierre was announced as a LADA driver for the remainder of the 2015 World Touring Car Championship in August 2015, replacing Jaap van Lagen at the Russian team.Racing record
Career results
Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | Fast laps | Points | Pos. |
2009 | Le Mans Series | Team Oreca | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5th |
2009 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Team Oreca | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 5th |
2008 | Le Mans Series | Team Oreca | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 12th |
2007-08 | A1 Grand Prix | A1 Team France | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4th |
2007 | GP2 Series | DAMS | 20 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 12th |
2007 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Team Oreca | - | no | no | no | - | 9th |
2006-07 | A1 Grand Prix | A1 Team France | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 4th |
2006 | GP2 Series | Arden International | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 9th |
2005-06 | A1 Grand Prix | A1 Team France | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 76 | 1st |
2005 | GP2 Series | Arden International | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 12th |
2004 | Formula 3 Euroseries | Signature Plus | 20 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 85 | 3rd |
2004 | British Formula 3 | Signature Plus | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
2003 | Formula 3 Euroseries | Signature Plus | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 11th |
2002 | French Formula 3 | Signature Plus | 4 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 13th | |
2002 | Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup | Graff Racing | 8 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 120 | 3rd |
2002 | French Formula Renault 2000 | 24 | 9th | |||||
2001 | Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup | Tech 1 Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 26th | |
2001 | French Formula Renault 2000 | 65 | 8th | |||||
2000 | Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup | 12 | 20th |
Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points |
2003 | Signature Plus | Dallara F302/043 | Sodemo | HOC 1 5 | HOC 2 Ret | ADR 1 6 | ADR 2 11 | PAU 1 DSQ | PAU 2 15 | NOR 1 6 | NOR 2 6 | LMS 1 13 | LMS 2 5 | NÜR 1 11 | NÜR 2 Ret | A1R 1 16 | A1R 2 10 | ZAN 1 9 | ZAN 2 9 | HOC 1 3 | HOC 2 7 | MAG 1 5 | MAG 2 6 | 11th | 33 |
2004 | Opel Team Signature-Plus | Dallara F304/004 | Spiess-Opel | HOC 1 8 | HOC 2 Ret | EST 1 3 | EST 2 3 | ADR 1 14 | ADR 1 4 | PAU 1 2 | PAU 2 1 | NOR 1 15 | NOR 1 5 | MAG 1 8 | MAG 2 4 | NÜR 1 8 | NÜR 2 6 | ZAN 1 2 | ZAN 2 4 | BRN 1 9 | BRN 2 Ret | HOC 1 1 | HOC 2 1 | 3rd | 85 |
Complete A1 Grand Prix results
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Points |
2005–06 | France | GBR SPR | GBR FEA | GER SPR 1 | GER FEA 1 | POR SPR | POR FEA | AUS SPR 1 | AUS FEA 1 | MYS SPR | MYS FEA | UAE SPR 7 | UAE FEA 1 | RSA SPR | RSA FEA | IDN SPR 1 | IDN FEA 8 | MEX SPR | MEX FEA | USA SPR 2 | USA FEA Ret | CHN SPR | CHN FEA 6 | 1st | 172 |
2006–07 | France | NED SPR 3 | NED FEA Ret | CZE SPR 3 | CZE FEA Ret | CHN SPR 17 | CHN FEA 4 | MYS SPR 6 | MYS FEA 3 | IDN SPR 7 | IDN FEA 3 | NZL SPR | NZL FEA | AUS SPR | AUS FEA | RSA SPR | RSA FEA | MEX SPR | MEX FEA | CHN SPR | CHN FEA | GBR SPR | GBR SPR | 4th | 67 |
2007–08 | France | NED SPR | NED FEA | CZE SPR 6 | CZE FEA 5 | MYS SPR | MYS FEA | CHN SPR | CHN FEA | NZL SPR | NZL FEA | AUS SPR | AUS FEA | RSA SPR | RSA FEA | MEX SPR | MEX FEA | CHN SPR | CHN FEA | GBR SPR | GBR FEA | 4th | 118 |
Complete GP2 Series results
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | DC | Points |
2005 | Arden International | IMO FEA DNS | IMO SPR Ret | CAT FEA 11 | CAT SPR 9 | MON FEA Ret | NÜR FEA 12 | NÜR SPR Ret | MAG FEA 3 | MAG SPR 5 | SIL FEA 10 | SIL SPR Ret | HOC FEA 9 | HOC SPR 7 | HUN FEA 12 | HUN SPR 6 | IST FEA Ret | IST SPR 13 | MNZ FEA 4 | MNZ SPR Ret | SPA FEA Ret | SPA SPR 23 | BHR FEA 6 | BHR SPR 20 | 12th | 21 |
2006 | Arden International | VAL FEA 4 | VAL SPR 3 | IMO FEA 3 | IMO SPR 7 | NÜR FEA 5 | NÜR SPR 2 | CAT FEA Ret | CAT SPR Ret | MON FEA Ret | SIL FEA | SIL SPR | MAG FEA | MAG SPR | HOC FEA 20 | HOC SPR 7 | HUN FEA Ret | HUN SPR Ret | IST FEA 14 | IST SPR 6 | MNZ FEA 6 | MNZ SPR 4 | 9th | 32 | ||
2007 | DAMS | BHR FEA 7 | BHR SPR 1 | CAT FEA Ret | CAT SPR DNS | MON FEA Ret | MAG FEA 8 | MAG SPR Ret | SIL FEA Ret | SIL SPR DNS | NÜR FEA 9 | NÜR SPR Ret | HUN FEA Ret | HUN SPR 14 | IST FEA 15 | IST SPR Ret | MNZ FEA 10 | MNZ SPR 17 | SPA FEA 1 | SPA SPR 21 | VAL FEA Ret | VAL SPR 21 | 12th | 23 |
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
* Season still in progress.Complete World Touring Car Championship results
Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | DC | Points |
2015 | Lada Sport Rosneft | Lada Vesta WTCC | ARG 1 | ARG 2 | MAR 1 | MAR 2 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | GER 1 | GER 2 | RUS 1 | RUS 2 | SVK 1 | SVK 2 | FRA 1 | FRA 2 | POR 1 | POR 2 | JPN 1 11 | JPN 2 8 | CHN 1 DSQ | CHN 2 9 | THA 1 Ret | THA 2 DNS | QAT 1 10 | QAT 2 10 | 16th | 8 |
Complete European Le Mans Series results
‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.* Season still in progress.
Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results
Year | Entrant | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Rank | Points |
2016 | DragonSpeed | P | Oreca 05 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | DAY | SEB 4 | LBH | LGA | DET | WGL | MOS | ELK | COA | PET | 26th | 29 |
2017 | DragonSpeed | P | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | DAY 10 | SEB | LBH | COA | DET | WGL | MOS | ROA | LAG | PET | 39th | 21 |
2018 | Tequila Patrón ESM | P | Nissan Onroak DPi | Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6 | DAY 18 | SEB 1 | LBH | MDO | DET | WGL 16 | MOS | ELK | LGA | PET | 32nd | 63 |
2019 | DragonSpeed | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | DAY 3 | SEB | MDO | WGL | MOS | ELK | LGA | PET | 13th | 30 | ||
2020 | Tower Motorsport By Starworks | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | DAY 4 | SEB | MDO | WGL | ELK | LGA | PET | * | * |
* Season still in progress.