24h Le Mans
Two up-and-coming British drivers will have a chance to showcase their talent at the 2025 FIA WEC Rookie Test. Ollie Gray will take the wheel of the championship-winning Hypercar while Tom Fleming will climb aboard the Champagne-popping LMGT3. A golden opportunity for the two hopefuls.
Every season, the FIA World Endurance Championship concludes with the Rookie Test – a tremendous opportunity for promising youngsters to show off their potential at the wheel of the best cars on the international endurance scene. The 2025 edition, held in Bahrain on the day after the final round of the season, will spotlight two rising stars: former Formula racing driver Ollie Gray, now a mainstay of the European Le Mans Series grid, and Tom Fleming, a GT specialist whose career has really taken off.
Twenty-year-old Gray has quickly worked his way up from promotion formulas to the European Le Mans Series. Runner-up in the British F4 Championship in 2022, he has enjoyed a remarkable ELMS season with VDS Panis Racing, winning the Imola and Spa-Francorchamps rounds, before putting in a bright performance on his 24 Hours of Le Mans début.
The young Englishman cannot wait to get behind the wheel of the World Championship-winning Hypercar. “I’m over-the-moon to be selected for this year’s Rookie Test,” he enthused. "The opportunity to drive the winning Hypercar is amazing, and it’s a step forward in my career as that’s where I want to be in the future (...) My long-term objective is to race in the top class in FIA WEC, so hopefully I can show what I’m made of in Bahrain and take a step closer to that goal!”
Fleming (23) caught the eye as soon as he began racing, finishing runner-up in the 2023 Ferrari Challenge Europe. He has competed in this season’s ELMS, notching up two podiums at the wheel of a Ferrari 296 LMGT3 for GR Racing. A varied campaign comprising the GT World Challenge and the Michelin Le Mans Cup has given Fleming precious experience before this first outing outside Europe.
Bahrain will be a major landmark in his burgeoning career. “I’m honoured to be selected for the FIA WEC Rookie Test,” he said. “To be part of such an exclusive and prestigious event is an incredible privilege and an opportunity I’m looking forward to making the most of. I’ve enjoyed an extremely busy, fruitful and diverse racing programme this year. (...) The Rookie Test will be the cherry on the cake to conclude what has been a successful 2025. Over the years, I’ve seen many FIA WEC and Formula One races take place at the [Bahrain] circuit, so it’s simply surreal to think I will be heading there myself.”
Since it was created in 2015, the FIA WEC Rookie Test has provided a platform for many talented drivers including Julien Andlauer, Norman Nato and Mathieu Jaminet, to take their first crucial steps towards the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Hypercar class. In Gray and Fleming, two new faces will hope to line up alongside them very soon.
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