Hexis Racing is an

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

team based in

Lédenon Lédenon (; oc, Ledenon) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Gard department This is a list of the 351 communes of the Gard department of France. The communes cooperate in the fo ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Hexis Racing was founded by Michel Mateu, CEO of Hexis S.A. in 2001, initially for participation in the

French Formula Renault Championship The Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup (WEC) was a Formula Renault 2.0 championship that replaced the Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 as of 2008,grand tourer A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with either ...

racing in 2005, participating in the

FFSA GT Championship The FFSA GT Championship (''Championnat de France FFSA GT'') is a French Grand Touring-style sports car racing series that began in 1997. It is the main event of the ''Championnat de France des Circuits'' (formerly called ''Super Série FFSA'' and ...

before joining the

FIA GT3 European Championship The FIA GT3 European Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a championship derived from the international FIA ...

in 2007. Hexis Racing has further expanded, now supporting

Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Racing is a British auto racing team established in 2004 as a partnership between automobile manufacturer Aston Martin and engineering group Prodrive. The partnership was initially created for the purpose of returning Aston ...

in the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship season. The team is currently managed by Clément Mateu and Philippe Dumas.

History

Hexis Racing began as an expansion of Michel Mateu's interests in auto racing, with Mateu using his Hexis brand to help support and finance the team's involvement in the French Formula Renault Championship. Mateu gave the leadership concerns of the team to Philippe Dumas while Clément Mateu held communication and development management. Hexis Racing was able to climb the ranks in Formula Renault and recorded their first race wins in 2003. By the end of 2005 the team had achieved their best placing, third, in the Teams Championship. In the same year, Hexis Racing also expanded their racing effort to include the FFSA GT Championship, choosing to enter a

Porsche 996 The Porsche 996 is the internal designation for the 911 model manufactured by the German automaker Porsche from 1997 until 2006. It was replaced by the 997 in 2004, but the high performance Turbo S, GT2 and GT3 variants remained in production un ...

Cup for Manuel and Julien Rodrigues, later earning second in the category in 2006 after five race victories. Hexis Racing abandoned their involvement in Formula Renault and concentrated their efforts solely on grand tourer racing in 2007, moving to a trio of

Aston Martin DBRS9 The Aston Martin DBRS9 was a racing car built by Aston Martin Racing to be a cheaper alternative to the Aston Martin DBR9, both of which are based on the Aston Martin DB9. The DBRS9 was introduced in 2005 and has since been replaced with the ...

s for not only FFSA GT, but also the FIA GT3 European Championship. Hexis finished third in the FFSA GT Teams Championship while also earning a podium finish in their debut season in FIA GT3. Hexis DBRS9

For 2008 Hexis remained in the FIA GT3 series but moved their DBRS9s from FFSA GT to the German ADAC GT Masters series. Their GT Masters effort netted them third in the series' championship while they were runners-up in FIA GT after earning their first series win. Further changes were made for the 2009 season, although the team retained their involvement in FIA GT3. Instead of the GT Masters series, Hexis Racing campaigned a partial season of the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

with a GT2 category Aston Martin V8 Vantage as part of an effort supported by Aston Martin Racing. Although the GT2 effort only came to fruition for two events, the team's GT3 effort saw three race wins and their earning of the Teams Championship title. The team's pairing of Julien Rodrigues and Thomas Accary also earned second in the FIA GT3 Drivers Championship. In 2011, Hexis Racing experienced a hectic season running

Aston Martin DBR9 The Aston Martin DBR9 is a racing car built by Aston Martin Racing, debuting in 2005 and racing actively in international sportscar racing until the end of GT1 category in 2011. The name DBR9 is derived from the original 24 Hours of Le Mans-winn ...

s in the

FIA GT1 World Championship The FIA GT1 World Championship was a world championship sports car racing series, developed by the SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), that was held from 2010 to 2012. It featured multiple grand to ...

. The team took a handful of early victories but then struggled to make it to the podium. However, consistent points finishes for both cars and a final podium at the San Luis round allowed Hexis Racing to barely swing past

JRM Racing Sumo Power is a British car tuning company based in Rye, East Sussex, England. Founded in 2002, Sumo Power specializes in custom tuning Japanese imports, including the Nissan Skyline GT-R and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, as well as the impo ...

to take the team's championship. The drivers of the #3 car also came in 3rd in the driver's championship. In 2013 Hexis Racing took part in the

Blancpain Endurance Series The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by SRO Motorsports Gr ...

, again with a Mclaren MP4-12C GT3. At the end of the season the team announced its plans to retire from motor racing after the team made it clear earlier in the year it would close its doors if no additional financial backing was secured, after title sponsor Hexis decided to focus its budgets on different matters.

Current plans

Following the 2011 GT1 season where Hexis took the team's Championship at the last round, Hexis selected Mclaren MP4-12C GT3s as their car of choice to run in the 2012 GT1 season (due to the mandatory switch to GT3 cars).

Stef Dusseldorp Stef Dusseldorp (born 27 September 1989 in Winterswijk, Gelderland) is a Dutch racing driver. He started a career in formula cars in 2007, having competed in series such as Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup (5th in 2008) and the German F ...

returns with Hexis while

Frédéric Makowiecki Frédéric Makowiecki (born 22 November 1980) is a French professional racing driver, currently competing as a factory driver for Porsche Motorsport in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM class. Career After competing in karting, Arra ...

arrives from Marc VDS Racing; there are also GT1 newcomers

Grégoire Demoustier Grégoire Demoustier (born 26 January 1991 in Villeneuve-d'Ascq) is a French racing driver, who competes in the World Touring Car Championship for Sébastien Loeb Racing. Career Demoustier began his career in 2008, competing in the THP Spider Cup ...

and Mclaren factory driver

Álvaro Parente Álvaro Parente (born 4 October 1984) is a Portuguese professional racing driver. Career Early career After winning the Karting European Junior Championship in 1998, Porto-born Parente made his debut in auto racing in 2001 at the age of 16, ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hexis Racing French auto racing teams FIA GT Championship teams FIA GT1 World Championship teams Formula Renault Eurocup teams ADAC GT Masters teams Blancpain Endurance Series teams Auto racing teams established in 2001 2001 establishments in France Auto racing teams disestablished in 2013