| Nicolas Lapierre | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Driver Details | ||
| Nationality |  French
| |
| Date of Birth | 2 April 1984 | |
| Experience | FIA GP2 Series World Endurance Championship | |
| Formula E Career | ||
| Tests | 2 | |
| Début |  2015 Donington Test
| |
| Teams | Team Aguri DS Techeetah
| |
Nicolas Lapierre (born 2 April 1984 in Thonon-les-Bains, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France) is a French racing driver, who has served as a test and development driver for several teams in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.[1] A renowned sportscar driver, Lapierre would appear at the 2015 Donington Test for Team Aguri, as well as the 2020 Rookie Test for DS Techeetah before becoming a development driver for Nissan e.Dams ahead of the 2020/21 season.[2]
Background[]
Lapierre's career began in typical fashion, the Frenchman karting in his youth through to making his single-seater debut in 1999 when he took part in part of the French Formula Renault championship.[3] In 2000 Lapierre would secure a full campaign in the French Formula Renault championship, while also making several appearances in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup.[3] A repeat schedule for Lapierre would follow in 2001, with the Frenchman scoring eighth in FR France, and 28th in the Eurocup, having called an end to his campaign in the latter prematurely.[3]
Grand Prix Ambitions: 2002 - 2007[]
In 2002 Lapierre would mix up his schedule, with a run to third in the Eurocup his main focus alongside races in two classes of French FR, and a handful of appearances in Formula 3 France.[3] In 2003 Lapierre followed the merger of French F3 with German F3 to form the Formula 3 Euro Series, finishing eleventh in the inaugural season.[3] Lapierre would also claim a debut victory in the non-Championship Macau Grand Prix, with appearances in the Masters and Korean Super Prix as well.[3]
For 2004 Lapierre would again focus in the Euro Series, finishing third after duelling with Alexandre Prémat for second late in the season.[3] The Frenchman would also make appearances in British F3, the European Cup and the Masters, but would not have success in those particular events.[3] In 2005 Lapierre moved up to claim a seat in the inaugural GP2 Series, and would have the distinction of becoming the first driver to secure pole position in the Series, although he would only claim twelfth in the Series.[3]
Retained for 2006, Lapierre started the season as a favourite for the title, although a run of retirements and a mid-season injury saw the Frenchman finish the season in ninth.[3] A move to DAMS would follow for Lapierre in 2007, with the Frenchman finally claiming his first GP2 Series victories, although the Frenchman would only manage to claim twelfth in the final standings.[3] Alongside his GP2 commitments, Lapierre would compete in the A1 Grand Prix series in 2005/06, sweeping to the inaugural Championship for Team France despite only appearing in half of the seasons' races.[3] He would again campaign in A1 Grand Prix in 2006/07, although only for a handful of races, while also making his 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GT1 class in 2007.[3]
Endurance Epiphany: 2009 - 2021[]
After ending his single-seater career at the end of 2007, Lapierre secured a seat in the LMP1 class of the Le Mans Series, finishing third in the 2009 season.[3] In 2010 Lapierre led the Oreca team to second in the Le Mans Series, after they secured an ex-factory Peugeot 908 to race for the campaign as well as Le Mans itself.[3] A further season with Oreca followed, before Lapierre signed up to the new factory Toyota team, which would enter the equally new FIA World Endurance Championship in 2012.[3] The Frenchman went on to claim third in the WEC alongside Alexander Wurz, with those two also claiming the first win for Toyota in the WEC.[3]
Lapierre remained as a factory driver for Toyota through to the 2014 season, when the Frenchman was relegated to their third, partial season, entry.[3] For 2015 Lapierre moved down to the LMP2 class, joining KCMG, and would duly lead that squad to their maiden 24 Hours of Le Mans class victory during the campaign.[3] 2016 saw Lapierre move to Signatech-Alpine, with the Frenchman winning the LMP2 Class in the WEC and Le Mans alongside Gustavo Menezes and Stéphane Richelmi.[3]
For 2017 Lapierre would return to the factory Toyota squad temporarily, replacing an injured José María López in the squad, while also running in the European Le Mans Series.[3] Otherwise, the Frenchman would spend 2017 and the 2018-19 Super Season with Signatech-Alpine in LMP2, claiming two more class victories at Le Mans, as well as the Super Season LMP2 title.[3] For 2019-20 Lapierre moved to Cool Racing, finishing ninth in the LMP2 class of the WEC.[3]
Formula E History[]
Lapierre would get his first taste of an FIA Formula E Championship car at the 2015 Donington Test, when Team Aguri offered the Frenchman a day in two of their cars during the six-day collective test.[4] After missing out on a seat, Lapierre would return to his sportscar duties, before getting another run-out in a public FE test at the 2020 Rookie Test for DS Techeetah.[1] After that, Lapierre would conduct some private tests for Nissan e.Dams, helping to develop their 2020/21 powertrain ahead of its debut at the 2021 Monaco E-Prix.[2]
Full Formula E Record[]
Shown below are a series of tables outlining Nicolas Lapierre's career in Formula E in statistical form:
| Nicolas Lapierre's Formula E Test Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Role |
| 2015/16 | Team Aguri[4]
|
55 | Spark-Renault SRT_01E | Test Driver |
| 2019/20 | DS Techeetah[1]
|
25 | DS E-Tense FE 20 | Test Driver |
References[]
Videos and Images:
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Rachit Thukral, 'Lapierre replaces Rossiter for Marrakesh Formula E rookie test', motorsport.com, (Motorsport Network, 29/02/2020), https://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/news/lapierre-marrakesh-test-techeetah-vergne/4703394/, (Accessed 01/03/2020)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sam Smith, 'DELAYED NEW NISSAN CLEARED FOR MONACO DEBUT AFTER FINAL TEST', the-race.com, (The Race, 27/04/2021), https://the-race.com/formula-e/delayed-new-nissan-cleared-for-monaco-debut-after-final-test/, (Accessed 01/05/2021)
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 'Nicolas Lapierre', driverdb.com, (Driver Database, 2021), https://www.driverdb.com/drivers/nicolas-lapierre/, (Accessed 10/02/2021)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 'Entry list confirmed for days three and four at Donington', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 17/08/2015), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2015/august/entry-list-confirmed-for-days-three-and-four-at-donington.aspx, (Accessed 17/08/2015)