Malthe Jakobsen's rise in endurance racing has been outstanding. In 2022, he won the LMP3 class in the European Le Mans Series with COOL Racing after a season including six poles and two victories. His performances earned him a spot in the FIA WEC Rookie Test thanks to Peugeot where he made his mark through his approach, driving and lap times. As a result, the French constructor named Jakobsen an official Junior driver in its programme. He also took the start this year in his first 24 Hours of Le Mans, once again representing COOL Racing.

How would you describe your role as an official Junior driver for Peugeot TotalEnergies?

First of all, it's a big pleasure to be a part of the team. It's the first time for me to be part of a manufacturer team as well. My role this year as a Junior driver is to help them with the simulator and I've been testing the car as well on-track. It's super cool to be a bit, let's say, on the sidelines and to be able to get the full view of the team and to be able to learn from the experience of six other drivers racing the car. It's so great for me when I'm so young to get as much experience out of it as possible.

What did it feel like to drive the Peugeot 9X8 for the first time?

It was an amazing experience. Last time the first test was at Bahrain for the Rookie Test and it was a super cool event. To be able to be there with the full team and all the cars around us. It was a great place to do it. The car is so much different compared to an LMP2 car like I used to drive before. And even last year, I was only driving an LMP3. Going from an LMP3 to a Hypercar was quite difficult, but a great experience. I have a lot of stuff to learn, but I enjoyed it. It was the best day of my life in a race car.

You participated in your first 24 Hours of Le Mans, with COOL Racing, this year. How did your first laps of the circuit feel?

I was lucky to do the track itself, the Circuit de la Sarthe, in Road to Le Mans races in LMP3. So I knew a little bit where the track turns left and right, but for sure it's a big difference to jump in an LMP2 car compared to the LMP3 cars. One thing is the practice sessions, and everything leading up to the race, but once you jump in the actual car during the race, it's something completely different, and almost impossible to describe because it's so special, but I enjoyed every second of it.

What was your favourite part of the race?

Everything leading up to the race, even on Saturday morning when you're at the grid walk and everything before the start and the national anthem, it was all special. But, for sure, it's special to race around here at night, and there were a lot of difficult situations with rain. It was not an easy race. For sure I would have to say at night when you are going down the Mulsanne Straight at 300 kph and you can barely see anything, it's just amazing.

Were you happy with your result?

Yes, I mean for sure you always want more, you want to win the race, but we got second in LMP2 Pro/Am which is not a bad result for a debut race. The expectations were higher, we were aiming for the win. We will try to come back stronger next year. It was a great lesson and I learned a lot.

What has your journey in endurance racing been like?

I started racing very early. I started karting when I was three and I think it's because my dad used to race as well. So there's some petrol in the family blood. I had to go racing as well. I did karting for several years, and in 2018 when I was 14 years old, I started in Formula 4. I did two seasons in F4 and went into LMP3 in the European Le Mans Series. I did three seasons of the ELMS together with the Asian Le Mans Series, some races in the IMSA as well. This year, I did my first competing in LMP2. My dream since I was a kid was always to be able to make a living out of racing. Basically, to be a professional racing driver. And now, connected with Peugeot as a Junior driver, you get to the point where you can see, even though it's still far away, it's getting closer and all the hard work starts to pay off. My dream is still to have a full-time professional career and be able to live off of racing. And then, the ultimate goal would be to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans one day.