Mathias Beche | |
---|---|
Nationality | Swiss |
Born | Geneva, Switzerland | 28 June 1986
European Le Mans Series career | |
Debut season | 2010 |
Current team | Richard Mille by TDS Racing |
Racing licence | FIA Gold |
Car number | 29 |
Former teams | Hope Polevision Racing Applewood Seven Matech Competition Inter Europol Competition TDS Racing x Vaillante Nielsen Racing |
Starts | 42 |
Wins | 11 |
Poles | 10 |
Fastest laps | 2 |
Best finish | 1st in 2012 |
Previous series | |
2011 2010 2009 2008 2008 2007–2008 | FIA GT1 World Championship European GT3 Formula Le Mans Formula Asia 2.0 Formula V6 Asia Asian Formula Renault |
Championship titles | |
2014 2012 | FIA WEC (LMP1-L) European Le Mans Series (LMP2) |
Mathias Beche Aussel (born 28 June 1986 in Geneva) is a Swiss-French professional racing driver who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series for Richard Mille by TDS. He is a former ELMS champion in the LMP2 class, as well as an LMP1-L champion and overall race winner in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Rebellion Racing.
After starting in karting, Beche began racing in single-seaters in Asia in 2007 when he contested the Asian Formula Renault Challenge, finishing fifth overall with one win. [1] The following year he took part in Formula Asia 2.0 where he ended up runner-up to Felix Rosenqvist.
2009 saw Beche switch to sportscar racing, finishing third in Formula Le Mans. In 2010 he contested four Le Mans Series rounds; three in the FLM class and one in GT1 in a Ford GT. He then entered the last two rounds of the FIA GT3 European Championship, also in a Ford.
In 2011 Beche competed in the full Le Mans Series season in an LMP2 Oreca 03 for TDS Racing with Pierre Thiriet and Jody Firth. The trio won the rounds at Spa and Estoril and finished fourth in the final drivers' standings. Beche also drove in the FIA GT1 World Championship round at Zolder in a Ford.
For 2012, LMP2 became the top class of the renamed European Le Mans Series. Partnering Thiriet at TDS, Beche won the opening round of the season at Paul Ricard and the season finale at Road Atlanta, securing his first major championship victory. For that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans they were joined by Christophe Tinseau, finishing second in class.
Beche remained in the ELMS with Thiriet by TDS in 2013, though he would also progress to drive in the FIA WEC's top class, piloting a Lola B12/60 for Rebellion Racing. [2] [3] Despite missing the opening ELMS round, the Swiss driver took two victories alongside Thiriet, leading the team towards second place in the standings. In the WEC, Beche scored two podium finishes on his way to fifth in the championship.
Rebellion's LMP1 programme would become the permanent home for Beche during the next two seasons, which started with an LMP1-L class win (for non-hybrid powered teams) at the 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside Nico Prost and Nick Heidfeld and the eventual LMP1-L title in 2014. [4] [5] The team withdrew from the opening two races of the 2015 season to finalise work on their new Rebellion R-One, but once they entered, Beche and Prost took two privateer class wins to become champions. [6] At the end of the year, Beche was part of a shootout for a reserve seat at Toyota Gazoo Racing, though that seat eventually went to Kamui Kobayashi. [7]
In 2016, Beche returned to the ELMS with Thiriet by TDS, driving an Oreca 05 alongside Pierre Thiriet and Ryō Hirakawa. [8] He took pole for the opening race at Silverstone, though an early crash by Thiriet forced the team out of the race. [9] [10] The trio bounced back by winning a weather-affected event at Imola, before Thiriet/TDS won again at the Red Bull Ring. [11] [12] Beche then took a convincing pole at Le Castellet, paving the way for the outfit's third successive victory. [13] [14] Another podium finish at Spa was not enough to win the title, as Beche and the team suffered electrical troubles in the final race, which was won by eventual champions G-Drive Racing. [15]
Beche returned to Rebellion on a full-time basis in 2017, competing in the LMP2 class of the WEC. [16] His #13 entry was hampered by disqualifications at Le Mans, where a miraculous overall podium (and second place in class) was taken away by the team's "unnecessary modification of approved bodywork", and Fuji, which saw a heated battle between Beche and Jean-Éric Vergne come to a head before Rebellion were excluded for a drive time violation. [17] [18] Despite taking three podiums from the final four races, the Swiss driver and his teammates finished fourth in the teams' standings, whereas the sister #31 entry won the LMP2 title. [19]
For the 2018–19 WEC "Super Season", Beche and Rebellion returned to LMP1 with the R13, with the Swiss driver partnering Thomas Laurent and Gustavo Menezes. [20] The team started off with two third places, including a class podium at Le Mans, before a disqualification for both Toyotas earned Beche and his teammates victory at Silverstone. [21] [22] However, Beche moved to the sister car for the round at Sebring and left the team with two races to go, meaning that he finished sixth in the championship — three places behind Menezes and Laurent.
After a scattergun racing programme in 2019 and 2020, where the Swiss made his Super GT debut for arto Ping An Team Thailand, Beche returned to the rostrum in 2021, winning the final race of the Le Mans Cup as well as the LMP2 Pro-Am class at the 8 Hours of Portimão with Realteam Racing. [23] [24] [25]
Beche would make the LMP2 Pro-Am category his home in 2022, driving for TDS Racing x Vaillante alongside rookie Tijmen van der Helm and amateur driver Philippe Cimadomo in the ELMS. [26] He took two overall pole positions during the year, though this was only enough for fourth in the Pro-Am standings. [27] The team also finished fourth at the Le Mans 24 Hours, where a pre-race exclusion for Cimadomo for insufficient driving standards forced the team up to compete as a Pro entrant with new driver Nyck de Vries. [28] Beche switched to Nielsen Racing for the 2023 ELMS season, where he, Ben Hanley and Rodrigo Sales finished fourth in the Pro-Am classification with three class podiums. [29] At Le Mans, the trio retired early when Sales crashed at Dunlop corner. [30]
Going into 2024, Beche teamed up with LMP2 rookie Grégoire Saucy and the returning Sales at Richard Mille by TDS in the ELMS. [31]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | Asia Racing Team | ZHU1 1 6 | ZHU1 2 6 | SEP 1 4 | SEP 2 5 | BEI1 1 2 | BEI1 2 2 | SHA1 1 5 | SHA1 2 Ret | ZHU2 1 15 | ZHU2 2 11 | BEI2 1 4 | BEI2 2 Ret | SHA2 1 4 | SHA2 2 1 | 5th | 190 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | Champ Motorsport | SEP1 1 1 | SEP1 2 2 | SEP1 3 2 | SEP2 1 4 | SEP2 2 5 | BIR1 1 3 | BIR1 2 3 | BIR2 1 5 | BIR2 2 4 | 2nd | 190 | ||||||
Asia Racing Team | SHA1 1 1 | SHA1 2 2 | SHA2 1 Ret | SHA2 2 3 | SHA2 3 2 | SHA2 4 2 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Hope Polevision Racing | SPA 1 3 | SPA 2 2 | LMS 2 | PRT 1 4 | PRT 2 2 | NÜR 1 2 | NÜR 2 8 | SIL 1 2 | SIL 2 1 | MAG 1 | 3rd | 146 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Non World Endurance Championship entries are ineligible to score points.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos. | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | JDC-Miller MotorSports | P | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | DAY 5 | SEB | LBH | COA | DET | WGL | MOS | ELK | LGA | 24th | 49 | |
Rebellion Racing | PET 8 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | DC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | arto Ping An Team Thailand | Lexus RC F GT3 | GT300 | FUJ | FUJ | SUZ | MOT | FUJ | SUZ 19 | MOT 23 | FUJ 26 | NC | 0 |
Nicolas Lapierre 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. He is also a two-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 2003 champion at the Macau Grand Prix.
Julien Antoine Jules Canal is a French racing driver. Having won his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2010, 2011 and 2012 whilst driving GT cars, Canal became a staple of the LMP2 category, winning the WEC class title in 2015 and 2017.
Louis Charles Hubert Delétraz is a Swiss racing driver currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series for Prema Orlen Team and in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Tower Motorsport. He also competes in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup with Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport.
Matthieu Vaxivière is a French racing driver from Limoges, who currently drives for Alpine in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Paul-Loup Chatin is a French professional racing driver. He has had notable successes within the LMP2 class, winning the European Le Mans Series in 2014 and 2019, as well as pole positions at the 2018 and 2023 iterations of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Other achievements include a class victory at the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona and the LMP2 title in the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Ryan Cullen is an Irish racing driver currently competing in the European Le Mans Series for Vector Sport.
Mikkel Jensen is a Danish racing driver. He is a Peugeot Sport factory driver currently competing in the World Endurance Championship, having previously been a factory driver for BMW.
Gustavo Soiblemann Menezes is an American-Brazilian racing driver, currently racing for Peugeot Sport in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship was the sixth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series co-organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The series is open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-style racing cars divided into four categories. The season began at the Silverstone Circuit in April and will end at the Bahrain International Circuit in November, and include the 85th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. World championship titles will be awarded to the leading prototype drivers and manufacturers, while for the first time in the World Endurance Championship the leading grand touring drivers and manufacturers will also be awarded a world championship.
Ahmet Salih Yoluç is a Turkish racing driver. As a bronze-ranked competitor, Yoluç has taken notable accolades in sportscar racing, including the 2020 LMGTE Am class victory at Le Mans, the Pro-Am title in the 2019 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, as well as the 2022 European Le Mans Series and 2023 Asian Le Mans Series championships in the LMP2 category.
TDS Racing is a French racing team, currently competing in the European Le Mans Series, FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Charlie Eastwood is a racing driver from Northern Ireland who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for TF Sport. Having been an Aston Martin factory driver, Eastwood was signed by Corvette Racing in 2023.
The 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship was the seventh season of the FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series co-organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The series is open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-style racing cars divided into four categories. The season marked the first move to a winter schedule for the championship, with the season starting at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in May 2018 and concluding at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June 2019. World championship titles were awarded for LMP drivers, GTE drivers, LMP1 teams and GTE manufacturers.
The 2018 European Le Mans Series was the fifteenth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) European Le Mans Series. The six-event season began at Circuit Paul Ricard on 15 April and finished at Algarve International Circuit on 28 October. The series is open to Le Mans Prototypes, divided into the LMP2 and LMP3 classes, and grand tourer-style racing cars in the LMGTE class.
Gabriel Aubry is a French racing driver who last competed in the World Endurance Championship for Vector Sport. He is a stalwart of the LMP2 category, having taken a runner-up spot for Jackie Chan DC Racing in the 2018–19 WEC season before competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and the European Le Mans Series.
The 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship was the eighth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series co-organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The series is open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-style racing cars divided into four categories. World Championship titles were awarded for LMP drivers, LMP1 teams, GTE drivers and GTE manufacturers. With the new winter scheduling format, the series began at Silverstone Circuit in September 2019 and ended with the 2020 8 Hours of Bahrain in November 2020.
Nicklas Ganshorn Nielsen is a Danish racing driver who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Ferrari AF Corse, driving a Ferrari 499P in the Hypercar class. He won the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans together with Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina, becoming the third Dane to win the contest.
Rui Pinto de Andrade is an Angolan-Portuguese racing driver who is currently racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for TF Sport.
Jacobus "Job" van Uitert is a racing driver from the Netherlands. He is currently racing in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series with IDEC Sport.
Tijmen van der Helm is a Dutch racing driver currently competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with JDC-Miller MotorSports in a Porsche 963.