Matthieu Lahaye (born 23 November 1984, in

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

) is a French racing driver, competing in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

for

OAK Racing OAK Racing is an endurance racing team specialising in sports prototypes based in Le Mans, France. In 2013 it won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMP2 class and the 2013 FIA WEC World Champion drivers and teams on LMP2 class. In 2012 the team cont ...

Career

Lahaye's career began in

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

, in which he competed between 1995 and 2001. He then took part in Formula France and

French Formula Renault 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,World Series Lights The World Series Formula V8 3.5, formerly the World Series by Nissan from 1998 to 2004, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series from 2005 to 2015 and the Formula V8 3.5 in 2016 and 2017, was a motor racing series promoted by RPM Racing (1998–2004) and R ...

, finishing fifth in the standings with a win at Valenca. He moved on to the

Eurocup Mégane Trophy The Renault Eurocup Mégane Trophy was a One-Design, one-make racing series created and managed by Renault Sport. The series has raced with the Renault Mégane Renault Sport since 2005 as part of the World Series by Renault. The Renault Eurocup ...

in 2005 for

Tech 1 Racing Tech 1 Racing is a racing team based in Toulouse, France. They currently compete in the World Series by Renault and Eurocup Mégane Trophy. Tech 1 also operate the Panis Racing LMP2 entry to the European Le Mans Series and the Ultimate LMP2 Pro ...

, finishing his first season ninth overall. The following year he won three times on his way to the runner-up spot. 2007 saw him slip to fifth place with just one win. 2008 saw him switch to sportscars, driving in the

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

for

Saulnier Racing OAK Racing is an endurance racing team specialising in sports prototypes based in Le Mans, France. In 2013 it won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMP2 class and the 2013 FIA WEC World Champion drivers and teams on LMP2 class. In 2012 the team con ...

. Racing a Pescarolo- Judd with

Pierre Ragues Pierre Ragues (born 10 January 1984 in Caen) is a French racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Career Karting Debuting in karting in 1994, Ragues was second in the Monaco Kart Cup in Formula A in 2001, and third ...

, he finished fifth in the LMP2 standings. He also took part in his first

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

with the team together with Ragues and China's

Congfu Cheng Cheng "Frankie" Congfu (程丛夫; pinyin: Chéng Cóng Fū; born August 15, 1984) is a Chinese racing driver. Career Karting In 1996, Cheng raced in karting in China, winning the national championship in 1998 (junior division), 2000 and 20 ...

, finishing 18th overall and third in LMP2. In 2009 he continued with the team (now renamed OAK Racing) in the LMP2 class of the LMS, with

Karim Ajlani Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim A ...

as his teammate. They scored two podium finishes from the five races, finishing ninth in the final standings. He and Ajlani were joined at Le Mans by

Guillaume Moreau Guillaume Moreau (born 8 March 1983 in Limoges, France) is a French racing driver who is currently competing in the Le Mans Series. In 2008, Moreau shared the GT1 class championship with teammate Patrice Goueslard in the Le Mans Series driving ...

, but the car retired from the race. Lahaye did win the class in the two races at Okayama that made up the 2009 Asian Le Mans Series, partnering team owner

Jacques Nicolet Jacques Nicolet (born 5 April 1956 in Gigondas) is a French businessman and racing driver. He is the chairman of the Supervisory Board for Altarea SCA, a French real estate investment and development company, which he co-founded in 1994 with Ala ...

and Richard Hein. In 2010 he partnered Nicolet in the Le Mans Series, and finished the year third in LMP2. At Le Mans he finished seventh overall and second in LMP2, sharing with Moreau and

Jan Charouz Jan Charouz (born 17 July 1987) is a Czech motor racing driver. He won the 2009 Le Mans Series season and 2006 F3000 International Masters season, as well as taking fourth place in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2010 he was the Renault Formula ...

. In 2011 he contested the LMP1 category of the

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (shortened ILMC) was an endurance sports car racing tournament organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) started in 2010.

with OAK. However, a heavy accident in qualifying at Spa left him with two broken vertebrae, a broken hand and an injured knee, and he would miss the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2012 he is competing in the

in OAK's

Morgan LMP2 The Pescarolo 01 is the first sports prototype racing car built entirely by French team Pescarolo Sport. It is designed to meet the LMP1 and LMP2 regulations for Le Mans Prototypes in the Le Mans Series as well as at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and ...

alongside Nicolet and

Olivier Pla Olivier Pla (born 22 October 1981) is a French racing driver currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Glickenhaus Racing. His younger brother Jim is also a racing driver Career French Formula Campus and Formula Three Born ...

Racing record

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

Official website

Career statistics at Driver Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lahaye, Matthieu 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Rennes French racing drivers French Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Eurocup Mégane Trophy drivers European Le Mans Series drivers American Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers Asian Le Mans Series drivers Tech 1 Racing drivers OAK Racing drivers