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COOL Racing kicks off its2023 season! 

COOL Racing kicks off its
2023 season! 

by | May 2, 2023 | Asian LMS, European LMS, Le Mans 24H, Le Mans Cup

COOL Racing / CLX Motorsport is about to launch its 2023 programme, embarking on what promises to be an exciting season. The team will line up its ORECA 07s and Ligier JS P320s as part of the Asian Le Mans Series (this week on the Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina circuits), the European Le Mans Series as well as the Michelin Le Mans Cup. The team will also take part in the 100th edition of the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans in Sarthe.

 

2023: stepping up its game again…

Since its foundation in late 2020, COOL Racing / CLX Motorsport has moved up a gear every single season, not only in terms of expanding its own programmes but also regarding results – two European LMP3 titles last year. This 2023 season will be no exception as the team will be entering a new championship (Asian Le Mans Series), while lining-up more LMP2 crews in both the European Le Mans Series and the Michelin Le Mans Cup.

 

Great ambitions in the European Le Mans Series!

The team’s ELMS programme has shifted. Three cars will be lined up still, yet it will be two LMP2 ORECA 07s and one LMP3 Ligier JS P320.

After several podium finishes, COOL Racing / CLX Motorsport has decided to set the bar higher in the LMP2 class, with a trio led by Pechito Lopez on the #47. The Argentinian driver – two-time FIA World Endurance Champion and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner – will be joined by two promising young drivers: Reshad De Gerus, who will be embarking on his second endurance racing season, and Vladislav Lomko, who will be making his debut in the discipline. In the LMP2 Pro/Am class, with the #37, Alexandre Coigny will be returning to competition and teamed up with Nicolas Lapierre and Malthe Jakobsen. It made sense for the Danish driver, who was sensational last year, having notched up six poles in six qualifying sessions, plus the LMP3 title, to move up to the main class.

In LMP3, the #17 car will now be entrusted to Mexican driver Alex Garcia, who has been racing in single-seater so far, alongside Marcos Siebert (Argentina) and Adrien Chila (France). This trio, combining speed, skills, and LMP3 experience, will be in charge of defending the 2022 title.

 

Two cars, two sets of objectives in Michelin Le Mans Cup

COOL Racing / CLX Motorsport has decided to line up a second car in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, with several objectives in mind. Luis Sanjuan and David Droux, both experts of this series, will join the team, looking to clinch the title, while Cédric Oltramare will take his career to another level, making his first steps in this competition with Adrien Chila as teammate.

 

Season’s kick-off at the Asian Le Mans Series!

The season kicks off this week in the Middle East, with two four-hour races in Dubai, followed by two others at the Yas Marina circuit. Alexandre Coigny, Nicolas Lapierre, and Malthe Jakobsen will share the wheel of the LMP2 #37 ORECA 07. Adrien Chila, Marcos Siebert, and Cédric Oltramare will take turns aboard the LMP3 #17 Ligier JS P320. Those races will launch the team’s 2023 programme, with great challenges expected there and ahead.

 

Team Principal Nicolas Lapierre: “It’s a particularly important season for our team. We’ve worked hard to keep on developing and to put together competitive crews in all of the championships, across the various categories. It’s also all worked out thanks to our partners’ support.

In LMP2, our aim is definitely to race at the front, despite the strong competition. We’ve got what it takes for it. Winning a title isn’t easy, defending it is even more difficult, but we’ve devised our EMLS LMP3 programme according to this objective, also looking to shine with our two cars in the Michelin Le Mans Cup.

I’m happy with the drivers we’ve managed to bring together. We’re combining experience with youth. It’s a very important aspect for us to have drivers who aren’t even twenty, yet have showed great potential. We fully trust them. We’re giving them an opportunity to shine and some great responsibilities too. We’ve got people from all around the world in our crew, it just shows how much the team’s currently growing.”

Simon Pagenaud will join COOL Racing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans!

Simon Pagenaud will join COOL Racing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans!

by | May 2, 2023 | Le Mans 24H

COOL Racing / CLX Motorsport is proud to line up two LMP2 ORECA 07s at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 10-11). For the 100 years edition of the legendary race, the team will be able to count on the skills and talents of Simon Pagenaud! Indeed the French driver and Indianapolis 500 winner will share the wheel of the #47 car with Reshad De Gérus and Vladislav Lomko. As for the #37 car, it will compete in the Pro/Am class – just like in the European Le Mans Series – with trio Alexandre Coigny, Nicolas Lapierre, and Malthe Jakobsen.

Simon Pagenaud returns to Le Mans!

2023 will see Simon Pagenaud returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Pagenaud has been attending the event from a very young age (only 4 years’ old), before taking to the track for the first time in 2008 with Team ORECA, and achieving a second-place finish in 2011, 13 seconds away only from victory. The Poitiers-born driver is fast and experienced. Throughout his successful career, not only he has managed to triumph at the Indianapolis 500 and to clinch a title in IndyCar, but has also won the 24 Hours of Daytona twice! Pagenaud and his teammate on the sister car Nicolas Lapierre (COOL Racing co-founder) have crossed paths before, in Formula Renault as well as within Team ORECA.

Simon Pagenaud: “I’m back to Le Mans! I’m so delighted that the stars have finally aligned for this to happen. This 2023 season is going to be amazing. The 24 Hours of Daytona, Indianapolis 500, and Le Mans are the number one motorsport events and I’m going to take part in all three of them the same year. I love that! I’m looking forward to this great experience. COOL Racing / CLX Motorsport is a young team yet they manage to race at the front in a very competitive class, that’s exciting!

“What a great story between Nicolas Lapierre and I, given that we used to be wheel to wheel in Formula Renault when we were younger. I have great respect for him and his career. I’m going to bring all of the experience I’ve gained throughout the years and I hope that both the team and my teammates will benefit from it.

“I’d like to thank the ACO for the tremendous work and effort they’ve continuously put in so that the 24 Hours of Le Mans remain the amazing and legendary race it’s always been. With the new regulations, for sure it’ll continue to be a fantastic event in the years to come. I’m really looking forward to taking part in this 100th edition and to racing in France again! Being on that starting grid will be very special for me.”

 Ambitious crews!

Simon Pagenaud will be sharing the wheel of the #47 ORECA 07 with two drivers who race for the team in the ELMS alongside Jose Maria Lopez: Reshad De Gerus and Vladislav Lomko, respectively 20 and 19 years’ old. With all of their skills combined, Pagenaud and the two youngsters will make a talented trio. They will try to sneak in front of the pack, among a class that is particularly competitive this year.

Aboard the #37 ORECA 07, Alexandre Coigny will be teamed up with Malthe Jakobsen. Together they have won the 4 Hours of Yas Marina and finished runner-up in the Asian Le Mans Series this year. The Swiss driver will be returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, while the young Danish driver, 2022 ELMS LMP3 champion, will be taking part in the twice around the clock for the first time. Just like in the ELMS programme, the crew will be completed by Nicolas Lapierre, who has won four titles in class and has taken part in the event 15 times. The three of them will do their best to achieve a convincing result in the LMP2 Pro/Am standings.

Team Manager Anthony Megevand: “COOL Racing / CLX Motorsport took part in the event for the first time last year. For this edition, the team’s clearly moving up a gear, lining up two LMP2 ORECA 07s. It’s both an honour and a great responsibility: we’ll have to be on it and up to Le Mans standard, in the most competitive and jam-packed class! But we’ve devised our programme and composed our crews with this in mind. Simon will be of great support to our team on many levels. He’s technical, experienced, and fast. We know him and we want to write a beautiful story together. With Reshad and Vladislav, the #47 car will be a strong contender. Same for the #37 in Pro/Am. We know we’ve set the bar high. It’s also going to be a great human adventure: Alexandre will be returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Nicolas will be back with the team (he raced in the Hypercar class last year), and Malthe will continue to step up his game. It just reflects what we are: a young, passionate, and ambitious team. It’s also in line with the changes we’ve made in the off-season.”

COOL Racing approaches the 2023 Michelin Le Mans Cup with enthusiasm and determination!

COOL Racing approaches the 2023 Michelin Le Mans Cup with enthusiasm and determination!

by | May 2, 2023 | Le Mans Cup

COOL Racing / CLX Motorsport plans on entering two Ligier JS P320 in the Michelin Le Mans Cup and has put together a new driver line-up, embarking on the 2023 season with high expectations. Experienced LMP3 drivers Luis Sanjuan and David Droux will be looking to be at the top of the standings, while, for his debut in the championship, Cédric Oltramare will be joined by Adrien Chila who knows the LMP3 class well.

Besides taking part in the Asian Le Mans Series and the European Le Mans Series, COOL Racing / CLX Motorsport has also submitted two entry applications to compete in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, in which the team has taken part every single year since its creation. In 2023, two new duos will take to the track. Indeed Luis Sanjuan and David Droux (winners in Spa last year) will be joining the team, looking to win the title. They are used to be teammates and are particularly familiar with the LMP3 class, having clinched multiple successes before. While Sanjuan is a top bronze driver, Droux has also experience in LMP2 ; he finished at the top of the Pro-Am standings in the 2022 Asian Le Mans Series.

Luis Sanjuan: “The upcoming season promises to be an exciting one and I’m looking forward to racing for COOL Racing. Alexandre Coigny and Nicolas Lapierre have put everything in place for strong performances to be delivered across all aspects and it’s an enticing programme. We raced against each other last year, so we’re aware of each other’s strengths. Just like the team itself, David and I are very motivated. He’s proven how fast he can go.”

David Droux: “I’m really looking forward to this 2023 season! Luis and I make a great duo, so I’m happy to be his teammate again and really glad to embark on this new adventure with COOL Racing. The team has shown good qualities in endurance racing in just two seasons. So we’ve got what it takes to deliver great performances. It won’t be an easy task given how competitive the grid’s going to be, but we know what we want to achieve. It’s also nice to join a Swiss team.”

The second Ligier JS P320 will be entrusted to Cédric Oltramare and Adrien Chila. The two men will first take to the track in February as part of the Asian Le Mans Series, together with Marcos Siebert. While Oltramare will be making his debut in the class, following on two seasons in the Ligier European Series, Chila will bring his LMP3 experience to the table. He will be part of two programmes as he’s lined up in both the Michelin Le Mans Cup and the European Le Mans Series, sharing the wheel with Alex Garcia and Marcos Siebert in the latter.

Team Principal Nicolas Lapierre: “Following on our LMP3 title in the European Le Mans Series, we’re now opening a new chapter with this upcoming season. The duos we’ve put together are perfectly in line with the team’s philosophy, that is to say crews that combine experience, speed and youth. Luis and David are first-class recruits and we’ve got high expectations. This is something we clearly wanted when we devised our programme. With Cédric and Adrien, it’s a different approach. It’s a natural step in Cédric’s career and Adrien has the perfect profile to support him. The idea is to pick up on momentum as the season goes on. That class is really competitive, so we’ll have to deliver flawless performances in order to be at the top. We’ve got a solid base to work from. We’ll be able to rely on a sense of continuity since some of the drivers will be competing with the team as part of different championships; it’s actually the same with our technical staff too.”

COOL Racing add Adrien Chila and Marcos Siebert to its LMP3 lineup in the Asian le Mans Series

COOL Racing add Adrien Chila and Marcos Siebert to its LMP3 lineup in the Asian le Mans Series

by | May 2, 2023 | Asian LMS

COOL Racing / CLX Motorsport’s 2023 season will kick off with the Asian Le Mans Series. For this new challenge, the team will be relying on several of its regular drivers. Indeed, while Alexandre Coigny, Nicolas Lapierre and Malthe Jakobsen will be sharing the wheel of the ORECA 07 entered in LMP2, Adrien Chila and Marcos Siebert will join Cédric Oltramare on board the Ligier JS P320 in LMP3.

For COOL Racing / CLX Motorsport, it will be a first in the Asian Le Mans Series. Having clinched several podiums in LMP2 as part of the 2022 European Le Mans Series, the team will make its debut on the Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina Circuit (Abu Dhabi), entrusting the #37 ORECA 07 to its regular drivers. Returning to competition, Alexandre Coigny will be teamed up with Nicolas Lapierre, with whom he has raced before in both the ELMS and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Reigning ELMS LMP3 champion Malthe Jakobsen, who clinched six poles in six qualifying sessions last year, will be joining them for his debut in the LMP2 class.

As for Cédric Oltramare, who was a Ligier European Series driver in the past two seasons (winner in Monza), he will take part in his first LMP3 race. For his debut, the young Swiss driver will be supported by two drivers who joined COOL Racing / CLX Motorsport during the offseason: Adrien Chila and Marcos Siebert. The Frenchman and Argentinean drivers have also been confirmed for the European Le Mans Series LMP3 programme, they will be teamed up with Alex Garcia.

With a record 48-car grid, the team’s two prototypes will try to kick off the season on a high note, with four 4-hour races in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, in February.

Team Co-founder, Alexandre Coigny: “The Asian Le Mans Series is a great way to start the year. Though we’re very familiar with both the LMP2 and LMP3 classes, it’ll be a first for us on these tracks and new drivers will be joining us. Of course, it’ll be a good opportunity to prepare for our 2023 programmes, nonetheless we remain ambitious. Personally, I’m delighted to return to the track with Nico and to be Malthe’s teammate. After his tests with the LMP2, I can’t wait to see him racing. Our crews combine youth and experience. We’ve got what it takes to deliver some solid performances. The LMP2 class’s going to be super competitive, but we’re serious contenders too. In the LMP3 class, Adrien and Marcos will be bringing experience and speed to Cédric, who will thus be able to make his debut under the best conditions.”