Thomas Neubauer (born 8 June 1999) is a French professional racing driver. He is the reigning champion of the

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup 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 Stéphane Ratel Org ...

in the Silver Cup category, having also won the

Dubai 24 Hour The Dubai 24 Hour Race is both a Sports car racing, sports car and Touring car racing, touring car automobile endurance race held annually at the Dubai Autodrome. It was inaugurated in 2006. Entrants and participants As with all races in the 24 ...

race overall, the

Nürburgring 24 Hours The Nürburgring 24 Hours is a 24-hour annual touring car and GT endurance racing event that takes place on a combination of the Nordschleife ("North Loop") and the GP-Strecke ("Grand Prix track") circuits of the Nürburgring in Rhineland-Palat ...

in class and the

Ferrari Challenge The Ferrari Challenge is a single-marque motorsport championship that was created in 1993 for owners of the 348 Berlinetta who wanted to become involved in racing. The series was proposed by Ferrari Club Nederland founder and President Hans ...

Finali Mondiali all in the same year.

Early career

Lower formulae

After making his single-seater debut at the back end of 2016, scoring a podium in the

V de V Challenge Monoplace The V de V Challenge Monoplace is a single-seater racing series active in Europe. The series was founded in 2010 set up by V de V Sports. History The series was founded in 2010 and originally divided into three sub classes. The series saw the li ...

, Neubauer took part in the

Toyota Racing Series The Formula Regional Oceania Championship is New Zealand's premier formula racing category. The series includes races for every major trophy in New Zealand circuit racing including the New Zealand Motor Cup and the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy. ...

during the winter of the following year. He ended up 17th in the standings, taking home a best finish of ninth at Taupo.

Formula Renault

His main campaign during 2017 would lie in the

Formula Renault Eurocup Formula Renault Eurocup was a Formula Renault motor racing championship. Eurocup raced only on European circuits. It served as a support series to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series as part of the World Series by Renault from 2005 to 2015. Renault ...

, where Neubauer partnered

Gabriel Aubry Gabriel Aubry (born August 30, 1976)Date of birth formerly given as January 4, 1976. is a Canadian model. Early life Born in Montreal, Quebec, to French-Canadian parents, Aubry is one of nine siblings. Modeling career He has modeled for Tommy ...

, Thomas Maxwell and Max Fewtrell at

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 ...

. The season proved to be disappointing, as the Frenchman failed to score any points, with his teammates all finishing ahead of him in the championship. For the 2018 season, Neubauer returned to the French outfit, once again competing in the Eurocup. Two top-ten finishes, which included a sixth place at Monza, were enough to place Neubauer 17th overall at the end of the campaign.

Sportscar career

2019: GT debut and first title

In 2019, Neubauer made a switch to

sportscar racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

, partnering

Nico Bastian Nico Bastian (born 15 April 1990 in Heidelberg) is a racing driver from Germany. He currently competes in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup for Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, i ...

in the Silver category of the

Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup The GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, officially known as Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS for sponsorship reasons, formerly the FIA GT Series, is a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) ...

with AKKA ASP, whilst also competing in the Ferrari Challenge Europe for the Charles Pozzi – Courage operation. The season in the latter would bear fruit, as Neubauer took three podiums, coupled with a pole position during the opening round, which propelled him to sixth in the standings despite missing the round at the Red Bull Ring. Meanwhile, the Frenchman experienced an even more successful campaign in the Blancpain Sprint Cup, where four class victories, which included an overall win on his GT debut in

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

at the wheel of a

Mercedes-AMG GT3 The Mercedes-AMG GT (C190 / R190) is a grand tourer produced in coupé and roadster bodystyles by German automobile manufacturer Mercedes-AMG. The car was introduced on and was officially unveiled to the public in October 2014 at the Paris M ...

, made him and his German teammate Silver Cup champions.

2020: Further victories

Neubauer remained in the Silver Cup in 2020, returning to his old Formula Renault team

to perform double duties in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance and Sprint cups, aboard a Lexus RC F GT3. In the former, a sole podium at the final round in Le Castellet ended up being the highlight of a season that concluded with Neubauer, Timothé Buret and Aurélien Panis taking eighth in the Silver Cup classification. In the latter, the Frenchman finished seventh and last of all full-time Silver Cup entries despite winning Race 2 at

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

and taking two overall pole positions in Misano. During the same year, Neubauer once again raced in the

, taking three victories from as many events.

2021: Focus on Endurance

For 2021, the Frenchman would be restricted to the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup, where he drove for Walkenhorst Motorsport alongside

Martin Tomczyk Martin Tomczyk (born 7 December 1981) is a German professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver. He was the DTM champion in 2011, third in 2007, fourth in 2006 and fifth in 2004, having won eight races. Racing career After a kart ...

and former F1 driver Timo Glock. Unfortunately for Neubauer, he and his teammates were unable to score any podiums throughout the campaign, which left them with a championship finish of 22nd, albeit as the highest-placed BMW squad. The Ferrari Challenge Europe, where Neubauer once again drove for the team bearing the name of Charles Pozzi, would yield just three podiums, with the French driver competing in three out of seven rounds. In addition, Neubauer made his debut in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

, racing a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo in the LMGTE Am category for JMW Motorsport. The team retired from the race after 117 laps.

2022: Multiple championship victories

Having begun his 2022 season by winning the

race from pole position, Neubauer was announced to be joining ROFGO Racing with Team WRT, driving an Audi R8 LMS Evo II alongside

Benjamin Goethe Benjamin Goethe (alternatively spelt Gøthe or Göthe, born 2 April 2003) is a Danish-German racing driver. He is the current champion of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in the Silver Cup category. Early life Goethe and his younger br ...

in the

GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup The GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, officially known as Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS for sponsorship reasons, formerly the FIA GT Series, is a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) w ...

, with the two being partnered by

Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer (born 19 November 2000) is a French racing driver. He is the current champion of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in the Silver Cup category, a title he achieved alongside Benjamin Goethe and Thomas Neubauer, dr ...

in the Endurance Cup. The season in the Sprint Cup began disappointingly, with a collision in Race 1 at

being followed by a 16th place the following day. Next came two top-ten finishes in class at

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous motor racing circuit (whose name is often abbreviated to 'Magny-Cours'). It formerly hosted the Formula ...

, before Neubauer and Goethe finished third in class at both

races, results which also yielded their first points of the overall championship. More success came at the penultimate round in Misano, as the pairing won their class and took an overall podium in the first race, which they followed by scoring another podium in the Silver Cup on Sunday, with a lapped car blocking Neubauer at the safety car restart, costing the team a chance of obtaining a double class victory. The campaign ended with a fourth place and class podium at

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, placing Neubauer and Goethe third in the Sprint Cup standings. Even more glory came in the Endurance Cup, a campaign which Neubauer and his teammates started by taking a class victory in

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical ...

, after which the trio scored a fourth place in the Silver Cup at Le Castellet. Neubauer and the team managed to put together a mistake-free race during the crowning jewel of the calendar, the

24 Hours of Spa The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their a ...

, which earned them the Silver Cup win, which the Frenchman called his "most beautiful victory". Third in class at the Hockenheimring proved to be enough for Neubauer, Simmenauer and Goethe to confirm their status as Silver Cup champions. Despite clinching the championship with a race to go, the outfit went on to finish the season in style, winning the season finale in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. As well as the victory in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, Neubauer would take two further victories in one-off races during the year, winning the

24 Hours of Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

in the SP10 category, whilst also taking the checkered flag first in the Finali Mondiali of the

. Neubauer's performances in the 2022 season earned him an upgrade to

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

status in the FIA's driver categorisation for 2023.

2023

2023 saw Neubauer return to Team WRT, joining Simmenauer in the Pro class of the 2023 Sprint Cup.

Personal life

Neubauer was a late starter to racing, coming into contact with the sport of karting at the age of 13. Having been focused on his studies, the Frenchman went on to study

sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

at the ''École de management Paris La Défense''.

Racing record

Racing career summary

^† As Neubauer was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
^* Season still in progress.

Complete Toyota Racing Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Renault Eurocup results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete GT World Challenge results

GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neubauer, Thomas 1999 births Living people French racing drivers Racing drivers from Paris Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Toyota Racing Series drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers Ferrari Challenge drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers 24H Series drivers Tech 1 Racing drivers W Racing Team drivers Audi Sport drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers International GT Open drivers Motopark Academy drivers