24 Facts About Nicolas Lapierre

Nicolas Lapierre was born on 2 April 1984 and is a retired French professional racing driver and team principal.

Notable for winning the LMP2 class four times at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Lapierre was a factory driver at Toyota during the early days of the WEC before becoming a staple of the Alpine team until his retirement in 2024.

Nicolas Lapierre is a two-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 2003 champion at the Macau Grand Prix.

Nicolas Lapierre stayed there for 2000 and 2001,2001 seeing two races in Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup.

Nicolas Lapierre again raced in French Formula Renault in 2002, driving a full season of 2000 Eurocup and some races of French Formula Three.

Nicolas Lapierre stayed in the Euroseries for 2004, driving for Signature.

Nicolas Lapierre scored the first pole position of the championship's history but was unable to start the race.

Nicolas Lapierre continued driving for Arden in 2006, starting the season off well by taking three podium finishes in the opening three rounds.

However, a crash caused by a competitor at Monaco resulted in two compressed vertebrae for Nicolas Lapierre, who was forced to miss two rounds.

Nicolas Lapierre returned for the final four events, though his three points results would only bring him to ninth overall by the end of the year.

Nicolas Lapierre drove at Le Mans that year, finishing fifth alongside Panis and Soheil Ayari.

Nicolas Lapierre finished second in the drivers' championship of the Le Mans Series, having won from pole at the Algarve.

Nicolas Lapierre entered his final year with Oreca-Matmut in 2011, this time focusing on the new Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.

Alongside his 2010 Le Mans teammates, Nicolas Lapierre beat the Peugeot works entry by winning the opening race at Sebring, a result which helped the team, which only entered four of the season's eight events, to finish fourth in the standings.

Nicolas Lapierre was initially confirmed as one of their drivers for the 2015 season, but lost his race seat in January of that year.

Nicolas Lapierre finished all three races on the class podium, highlighted by a victory at Le Mans where, despite a late off from Lapierre that required marshal assistance to get the car going, KCMG took a controlling victory.

Nicolas Lapierre made LMP2 his home for the 2016 season, driving for Signatech Alpine in the WEC and with DragonSpeed in the ELMS.

Nicolas Lapierre returned to Alpine for the 2017 WEC season, though he would be driving the third Toyota entry for the races at Spa and Le Mans.

Once he returned to Alpine, Nicolas Lapierre was able to improve their fortunes, scoring five successive podiums and winning the race in Austin.

Additionally, Nicolas Lapierre re-joined DragonSpeed in the ELMS in 2017, though his three pole positions could not prevent the team from finishing eighth in the standings.

Nicolas Lapierre entered the Le Mans Hypercar class of the WEC with Alpine in 2021, driving the grandfathered Alpine A480 together with Matthieu Vaxiviere and Andre Negrao.

Nicolas Lapierre would announce his retirement on 2 October 2024 prior to the conclusion of the 2024 WEC season in Bahrain.

Nicolas Lapierre stated that he would turn his focus towards his team principal role at COOL Racing.

Two days later, Nicolas Lapierre was named Sporting Director for Alpine's endurance team in 2025, working under team principal Philippe Sinault.