For the 2012 season, Chatin remained in the Eurocup with Tech 1.[12] He improved to sixth in the championship, but failed to achieve a victory during the campaign. He defended his third position in Formula Renault 2.0 Alps, losing the title fight to Daniil Kvyat and Nato.[13]
Sports car career
First endurance titles & WEC success (2013–17)
In 2013, Chatin decided to switch to sports car racing, joining Team Endurance Challenge in the LMPC category of the European Le Mans Series.[14] In a class with just two full-time entries, Chatin and teammate Gary Hirsch won the series title thanks to three wins at Imola, Spielberg and the Hungaroring. He won the award for being the series' Revelation of the Year.[15]
For the 2014 ELMS season, the Frenchman moved to the LMP2 category, joining the Signatech Alpine squad alongside Nelson Panciatici and Oliver Webb. The team were victorious at Spielberg, where Chatin's performance was described as "disciplined and strategic", and scored another two podiums. on their way to the championship title.[16][17][18][19] A fifth place at Estoril was enough to clinch the title for Alpine.[20] Chatin and his teammates also contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In spite of a suspension issue that struck whilst Chatin was second on Sunday, the team finished third in LMP2.[21][22] After the season concluded, Chatin was named the ELMS's LMP2 Driver of the Year.[15]
Remaining with Signatech Alpine, Chatin progressed to the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2015.[23] In spite of retirements at Silverstone and Le Mans, the campaign proved to be a success, as the team finished second at Fuji and won at Shanghai on their way to fourth in the standings.
Chatin returned to the ELMS in 2016, partnering Timothé Buret and former French football goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.[24] The team struggled despite Chatin's speed, proven by a fastest lap at Silverstone and a pole position in Imola, scoring a best result of seventh four times to finish eighth overall. The following year, Chatin sat out a lot of the season because of his studies, though he made two appearances in the ELMS, driving the final two races for IDEC Sport Racing.[25][26]
IDEC Sport tenure, third ELMS title, IMSA LMP2 title (2018–23)
2018 saw the beginning of the full-time partnership between Chatin and IDEC Sport, with the Frenchman being fielded in the ELMS alongside Memo Rojas and Paul Lafargue, the silver-ranked son of team owner Patrice Lafargue.[27] Chatin led the outfit to a pair of third places, their first podiums in the series, as well as scoring the team's maiden pole positions at Le Castellet and Spielberg.[28][29][30] These performances contributed to a third-placed finish at the end of the year. Additionally, Chatin and his teammates competed at Le Mans, where the Frenchman scored pole in qualifying.[31]
The IDEC Sport car that delivered Chatin his third ELMS title in 2019.
Reunited with Lafargue, Rojas, and IDEC Sport for the 2019 season, Chatin would start the year off with two runner-up finishes, before taking a pole position at Barcelona.[32] At round 4 in Silvertsone, the team benefited from a late fuel-related pit stop for rivals G-Drive Racing to take its first win in the ELMS.[33] At the following round in Spa, a crash for Chatin at Raidillon during practice forced IDEC to miss qualifying, though thanks to the sourcing of a new chassis the team recovered to sixth on Sunday.[34][35] Chatin redeemed himself during the season finale in Portugal, charging through to take the lead from Phil Hanson before holding on to win the race and, by extension, the championship.[36]
The pandemic-affected2020 campaign proved to be challenging for Chatin, who was joined by Lafargue as well as Richard Bradley for the year.[37] The trio managed a highest finish of seventh place and ended the season ninth in the teams' championship, with Chatin missing a race after contracting COVID-19.[38] In 2021, Chatin and Lafargue partnered Patrick Pilet in the ELMS.[39] In a quiet season, IDEC Sport ended up ninth in the teams' standings. That year did not fail to yield success for Chatin however, as he won the 24 Hours of Daytona in class for Era Motorsport.[40]
In 2022, the trio of French drivers remained at IDEC, which reverted to a one-car operation.[41] During the first half of the season, Chatin and his teammates took three successive top 5 finishes, with the highlight being an imposing late stint by the French driver at Monza which brought victory back to the team.[42] After this, the season brought disappointment, as IDEC fell back to fifth place by the end of the year.
Chatin remained in the ELMS for his sixth full season at IDEC Sport in 2023, partnering Lafargue and German LMP3 graduate Laurents Hörr.[43] Though the squad failed to win a race, Chatin was able to lead IDEC to fifth in the standings with two LMP2 Pro class podiums and a pole position at the final event in Portimão. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans meanwhile, Chatin took LMP2 pole for the second time in his career, before putting the team in contention for a class podium — the chances of which were reduced to zero due to a late puncture.[44] The 2023 season also saw Chatin compete in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports alongside gentleman driver Ben Keating.[45] Joined by silver-ranked rookie Alex Quinn at the endurance events, the duo took four podiums from seven races, including a win at Road America, and clinched the LMP2 class title with a runner-up result at Petit Le Mans.[46][47]
Step-up to Hypercar (2024–present)
Ahead of the 2024 season, Chatin was announced to be joining the Alpine Endurance Team as a factory driver.[48] As a result, he was chosen as one of the team's drivers in the Le Mans Hypercar category of the WEC, where he, Charles Milesi, and Ferdinand Habsburg would drive the No. 35 Alpine A424.[49][50] Their season started well with a seventh place in the opening round at Qatar. Following a testing crash for Habsburg before the Imola race, Chatin replaced him at Cool Racing for the first two rounds of the ELMS season, before replacing Ritomo Miyata ahead of round three.[51][52] In the WEC meanwhile, the next points finish came at Spa with a ninth place. Chatin qualified the No. 35 sixth at Le Mans, but the team retired early on with an engine failure.[53][54] A standout result of fifth was achieved in Austin, though Chatin did not score points as he did not complete his minimum drive time.[55] After sitting out the penultimate round in Fuji, Chatin returned at Bahrain and led the team to fourth with a charging final stint.[56][57] This helped the team to finish fourth in the manufacturers' standings.[58]
In 2025, Chatin returned to Alpine's No. 35 WEC lineup alongside Milesi and Habsburg.[61] In addition, Chatin rejoined IDEC Sport in the ELMS, partnering Job van Uitert and former teammate Paul Lafargue.[62] The WEC season started discretely, as the No. 35 only scored its first points result at the third round in Spa with an eighth place — having been forced to pit from fourth late on to get a splash of fuel.[63] At Le Mans, Chatin got involved in an incident with Loïc Duval during the evening, resulting in a drive-through penalty.[64][65] Despite this, the No. 35 ended up ninth overall.[66] Chatin and his teammates failed to score points in São Paulo and Austin, before having a standout day in Fuji: Chatin got to the front with a well-timed pit stop and remained there until Milesi stepped in; the latter then managed to take the lead with an inspired strategy of leaving two old tyres on at the last pit stop.[67] The team held on to the lead and scored Alpine's first victory with the A424, as well as the first overall WEC victory for a fully gold-rated driver lineup.[68][69] Chatin left Alpine following the final round, as the No. 35 crew outscored the No. 36 by one point in the drivers' standings.[70][71]
Following his maiden LMP2 season in 2014, Chatin was praised for his "well-judged" overtaking manoeuvres and described as a clean driver.[73] Chatin is also notable for his speed in qualifying, exemplified by multiple ELMS pole positions as well as two LMP2 class poles at Le Mans (in 2018 and 2023).[31][74] Longtime IDEC Sport teammate Paul Lafargue has talked about how Chatin "pulls [him] up" with his pace.[75]
Ahead of his Hypercar debut in 2024, online newspaperDailysportscar described Chatin as "one of the most highly rated of the LMP2 pack" who "correctly [got] a Hypercar shot".[76]
↑Allen, Peter (20 September 2011). "PaddockScout Weekend Roundup: 17–18 September". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 3 November 2014. Paul-Loup Chatin scored a home victory in the first race from pole position, his maiden win in the series.
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