Larbre Compétition is a French

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

team founded in 1988 by racing driver Jack Leconte and based at the Circuit du Val de Vienne in Le Vigeant,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The team has had considerable success in a number of

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...

series and major events, including title wins in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

, FIA GT Championship, and FFSA GT Championship, as well as multiple GT class wins 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 ...

. Larbre has previously competed with

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...

, and

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

race cars, having won at least one championship with all of them.

Racing history

For 2008, Larbre chose to enlist Saleen S7-Rs for 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 ...

and FFSA GT Championship. The team continued with the GT1 Saleens during the 2009 LMS season, but ACO denied an entry from them for the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans. For 2010, Larbre competed once again with the 10-year-old S7-R in the Le Mans Series, with drivers Fernando Rees, Gabriele Gardel and Patrice Goueslard. In 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans the team took the last LMGT1 class win with the aging Saleen S7-R, as well championship victories from both Le Mans Series and Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Le Mans 2011 Larbre Competition Corvette 50

Le Mans 2011 Larbre Competition Corvette 50

In 2011, the GT1 class got axed from ACO-sanctioned racing, and the old GT2 category (renamed as GTE) became the premier GT class. The team entered a Chevrolet Corvette C6.R into the GTE-Am division of the

and

. The team won the GTE-Am category of the

2011 24 Hours of Le Mans The 79th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: ''79e 24 Heures du Mans'') was a 24-hour Endurance racing (motorsport), automobile endurance race for 56 teams of three drivers in Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and LM GTE, Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) ...

with the Corvette and also took the second place with Porsche GT3 RSR. They also won the ILMC GTE-AM championship and thus became the first team to win a professional championship with a GT2-spec Corvette C6.R. In 2012 and 2013, Larbre competed in the

with two GTE-Am class Corvette C6.Rs. For 2014, Larbre competed in the first race of the European Le Mans Series season, the 4 Hours of Silverstone, with Keiko Ihara and Gustavo Yacamán driving a Morgan LMP2. The team also competed in the

as an ELMS entry with the addition of Ricky Taylor. For 2015, Larbre competed with a Chevrolet Corvette C7.R in the GTE-Am class of the

with drivers Gianluca Roda, Paolo Ruberti, Kristian Poulsen, and Nicolai Sylvest. The team returned in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2016, again with a Corvette C7.R racing in GTE-Am, consisting of Yatuka Yamagishi, Pierre Ragues, and Paolo Ruberti. Larbre Compétition's latest ventures would be at the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans in the

LMP2 A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le M ...

class, finishing 12th in class, and the 2022 Gulf Historic Dubai GP Revival.

Race results

24 Hours of Le Mans

Achievements

* 24 Hours of Le Mans :1993 - LMGT class winner

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 model series (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in ) is a family of German two-door, high performance Rear-engine design, rear-engine sports cars, introduced in September 1964 by Porsche, Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. Now in it ...

Carrera RSR :1994 - LMGTS class winner

Carrera RSR :2010 - LMGT1 class winner Saleen S7-R :2011 - LMGTE-AM class winner

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953. Throughout eight generations, indicated sequentially as C1 to C8, the Corvette is not ...

C6.R GT2 :2012 - LMGTE-AM class winner

C6.R GT2 * FIA GT Championship :2000 - N-GT class team champion Porsche 911 GT3-R :2001 - GT class team champion Chrysler Viper GTS-R :2002 - GT class team champion Chrysler Viper GTS-R * Spa 24 Hours :2001 - Overall winner Chrysler Viper GTS-R :2002 - Overall winner Chrysler Viper GTS-R * Le Mans Series :2004 - LMGTS class team champion Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello :2006 - LMGT1 class team champion Aston Martin DBR9 :2010 - LMGT1 class team champion Saleen S7-R * Intercontinental Le Mans Cup :2010 - LMGT1 class team champion Saleen S7-R :2011 - LMGTE-AM class champion

C6.R GT2 * Championat de France FFSA GT : 1997 Champion de France FFSA GT Porsche GT2 : 2003 Champion de France FFSA GT Chrysler Viper : 2008 Champion de France FFSA GT Saleen S7-R : 2010 Champion de France FFSA GT Porsche 911 GT3

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larbre Competition French auto racing teams Auto racing teams established in 1988 1988 establishments in France 24 Hours of Le Mans teams European Le Mans Series teams FIA GT Championship teams FIA World Endurance Championship teams Porsche Supercup teams American Le Mans Series teams