Éric Georges Roger Hélary (born 10 August 1966) is a professional racing driver from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. His career has encompassed single seater

formulae In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwe ...

, endurance sports car racing, and

touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move a ...

. He won the French Formula Three Championship in 1990 and is best known for his win at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

in 1993. He was champion 2011 of Euro Racecar. AUTOhebdo.fr , Racecar – Éric Hélary aura tout tenté à Loudon USA Nascar
Sep 22, 2012 – Éric Hélary n'est pas parvenu à se qualifier pour la G-Oil 100 des K&N Pro Series disputée sur l'ovale de Loudon au New Hampshire en marge de l'épreuve de Sprint Cup. Le champion 2011 de l'Euro Racecar n'a pas été ...

Single seater career

Hélary's racing career began in a conventional way, with a period of karting between 1981 and 1984. He progressed to French

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

in 1987 and won the title in the following year, then progressed to French

Formula Three Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

in 1989 and won that title in his second year. His single seater career ended in International Formula 3000.

Sports cars

Hélary first participated in sports car racing in the

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

Spyder Cup one-make championship in 1992 and secured the drivers' title in 1993. In the same year, he made his

début in the factory Peugeot 905 alongside Christophe Bouchut and Geoff Brabham. He had previously driven this car with Bouchut in 1992. After a period in touring cars, Hélary returned to endurance racing in the FIA GT Championship in 1996, driving a Chrysler Viper. He did not compete again in sports cars until a one-off return to FIA GTs in 2001. His next participation in endurance racing was another single race, this time in the FIA Sportscar Championship in 2003, driving a Pescarolo

Courage Courage (also called bravery, valour ( British and Commonwealth English), or valor (American English)) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in ...

-Peugeot alongside

Nicolas Minassian Nicolas Minassian (Armenian language, Armenian: ; born 28 February 1973) is a French people, French professional racing driver of Armenians, Armenian descent. After finishing 2nd place in the 1993 Formula Renault Eurocup, Marseille-born Minassia ...

. He made another one-off appearance with Pescarolo in the 2004 Le Mans Endurance Series and returned to the series for a full season in 2006. He is currently employed by

as its official test driver for the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP.

Touring cars

Hélary made his touring car début in the French Supertourisme championship in 1994, driving for

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

. He was classified fifth in the standings and improved to the championship runner-up position in 1995. He made a departure into ice racing during the winter of 1996 by entering the Trophée Andros with Opel. He adapted well and finished in fourth position over all, then finished second over all in the 1997 season. Hélary spent the remainder of 1997 working as a test driver for

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

's Super Tourenwagen Cup team in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and then returned to Opel for two years of racing in the series in 1998 and 1999. When the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, commonly abbreviated as the DTM, is a sports car racing series sanctioned by ADAC. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The series currently races a modified version of Group GT3 gra ...

was relaunched in 2000, Hélary and Opel remained together. He made one more appearance in the DTM in 2002 before returning to French Supertourisme for a third season, in which he finished fourth in the standings. A full season of sports car racing intervened before Hélary's next, and so far last, touring car programme. 2005 brought a fourth season in French Supertourisme as well as competing in one round of the

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sing ...

in a Peugeot 407 for Peugeot Sport Denmark.

Racing record

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete French Supertouring Championship results

( key)

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results

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

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

( key) *† — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

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

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

K&N Pro Series East

Whelen Euro Series - Elite 1

References

External links

Official website

Driver profile
''Speedsportmag.com'' Retrieved on September 11, 2007. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Helary, Eric 1966 births Living people French racing drivers French Formula Three Championship drivers World Touring Car Championship drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers International Formula 3000 drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers American Le Mans Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers NASCAR drivers Oreca drivers Schnitzer Motorsport drivers Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers Peugeot Sport drivers BMW M drivers Pescarolo Sport drivers Larbre Compétition drivers DAMS drivers Racing drivers from Paris