Photo : Pascal SAIVET - VSA

 

It was in 2007, with the French team Oreca, that Nicolas Lapierre experienced the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with an immediate checkered flag (16th) at the wheel of a Saleen. Then he moved to prototypes two years later, finishing fifth with an Oreca AIM prototype. With Loïc Duval and Olivier Panis, two seasons followed during which the trio was among the leaders in endurance, with as highlight a superb victory at the 2011 12 Hours of Sebring with the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP of Team Oreca Matmut.

Since 2012, Nicolas Lapierre has helped spearhead the return of Toyota in endurance. Among the Japanese manufacturer's six current drivers (with Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson, Kazuki Nakajima, Stéphane Sarrazin and Alex Wurz), he is today the most victorious, with six wins at the wheel of Toyota TS030 and TS040 Hybrid prototypes. On the eve of the 2014 24 Hours, the trio Lapierre-Buemi-Davidson is undefeated after the two first rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and largely makes up the top of the driver standings. Nicolas Lapierre will therefore be one of the favourites in La Sarthe in the pursuit of his and Toyota's first proper win. A well-deserved achievement that would allow him to join Romain Dumas, Benoît Tréluyer and his former teammate Loïc Duval as winners at Le Mans. This generation of drivers has known how to thrive in endurance, a discipline that remains the most conducive to the development of French motorsports talent.

More on Nicolas Lapierre at Facebook and Twitter.

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: FRANCORCHAMPS (BELGIUM), WEC 6 HOURS OF SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, FRIDAY MAY 2 2014, FREE PRACTICES AND QUALIFYING SESSIONS; will TS040 Hybrid give Nicolas Lapierre and Toyota their first victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans? Answer under the checkered flag on Sunday, June 15.

INFORMATION
24 HOURS OF LE MANS - June 14 & 15, 2014

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