Fran Rueda

Francisco Rueda Mateos (born 14 February 1997 in Alhaurín de la Torre) is a Spanish racing driver set to compete in the LMGT3 class of the European Le Mans Series for Kessel Racing.

Career Rueda competed in karting from 2008 to 2011, most notably winning the Spanish Karting Championship in the Cadet class in 2009 and finishing runner-up in the same championship's KF3 class in 2011.

Stepping up to single-seaters in 2012, Rueda joined the FFSA Academy centrally-run French F4 Championship. After finishing 13th in the points with a best result of seventh at Lédenon, Rueda stepped up to Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup for 2013 by joining AV Formula. Scoring a best result of sixth in race one at Spa, Rueda finished 24th in the standings on 56 points.

Leaving single-seaters after 2013, Rueda switched to the SEAT León Eurocup for 2014 by joining Monlau Competición. After taking his maiden series podium in his second start at the Nürburgring, Rueda scored points five more times throughout the season to finish eighth in points. Remaining in the SEAT León Eurocup for 2015, Rueda won race two at Le Castellet and Estoril, to finish eighth in points despite missing the final round at Barcelona.

Rueda switched to Renault Sport Trophy for 2016, racing for Team Marc VDS EG 0,0 in the Am class and sharing the car with Tanart Sathienthirakul. Winning in class at the Red Bull Ring, Rueda also won the Le Castellet endurance overall on his way to runner-up honours in the Am class and fifth in the Endurance standings.

Rueda was International GT Open runner-up two years in succession, 2017 and 2018, with BMW Team Teo Martín.

In 2017, Rueda joined BMW Team Teo Martín to compete in International GT Open alongside Victor Bouveng. Taking his maiden series win in race two at Le Castellet, Rueda won again at the Hungaroring, and scored five more podiums across the season to finish runner-up in points to Giovanni Venturini.

BMW Team Teo Martín retained Rueda for his sophomore season in the series, alongside Andrés Saravia. Taking his first win of the season in wet conditions at Le Castellet, Rueda and Saravia won again in Spa and Monza to finish runner-up in the standings to Mikkel Mac.

The duo returned for a second consecutive season in 2019, as Teo Martín Motorsport switched to the McLaren 720S GT3 and Rueda became a full McLaren junior. Taking his first win of the season at the Hockenheimring, Rueda won again in Spa before winning in Barcelona on his way to fourth in the standings.

Having spent most of 2020 without a seat, Rueda competed on a part-time basis for Teo Martín Motorsport in International GT Open alongside Marcelo Hahn in the Pro-Am class. Taking pole on his return at the Red Bull Ring, Rueda finished second in race one after Reiter Engineering were disqualified after having won the race.

After a year on the sidelines, Rueda returned to racing by competing in International GT Open for Baporo Motorsport alongside Dani Días-Varela. Finishing seventh and sixth in the two races at the Hungaroring, Rueda switched to partnering Andrew Gilbert at Greystone GT for the Red Bull Ring and Monza rounds of the season. At the start of the year, Rueda made a one-off appearance in the Stock Car Pro Series alongside Diego Nunes.

Returning to International GT Open for 2023 and remaining in the Pro-Am class, Rueda and Gilbert competed in the first two rounds for Altitude Racing by Greystone GT, before switching to Altitude Racing by Optimum Motorsport for the rounds in Le Castellet and Red Bull Ring. Finishing in the top-ten in all but one of his final four starts, including a class win at Le Castellet in race two, Rueda finished 25th in the overall standings and eighth in the Pro-Am standings.

Switching to Le Mans Cup for 2024, Rueda joined Ferrari-affiliated Kessel Racing in the GT3 class alongside Andrew Gilbert. Starting off the season by finishing second at Barcelona, Rueda took two more podiums, both being third-place finishes, at Le Castellet and Spa on his way to third in points. Also with the Swiss team, Rueda competed in both the 24H Series and the Gulf 12 Hours, whilst also making two one-off appearances for McLaren-fielding Optimum Motorsport in the British GT Championship and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.

Rueda returned to Optimum Motorsport for the 2024–25 Asian Le Mans Series, racing in the GT class alongside Andrew Gilbert and Benjamin Goethe. In the six-race season, Rueda scored his only points in the finale at Yas Marina by finishing fourth and ending the season 17th in points.

Rueda made his FIA World Endurance Championship debut for Iron Lynx at the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In 2025, Rueda returned to Kessel Racing to step up to the European Le Mans Series, while remaining in the LMGT3 class as he shared a Ferrari 296 GT3 with Andrew Gilbert and factory driver Miguel Molina. In his maiden season in the series, Rueda took his only podium of the season by finishing second at Imola, helping him secure 12th in the LMGT3 standings. During 2025, Rueda joined Mercedes-aligned Iron Lynx ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans to contest the rest of the FIA World Endurance Championship season with them alongside Gilbert and Lorcan Hanafin. In the five races he contested, Rueda scored a best result of tenth at Circuit of the Americas, which turned out to be his only point of the season as he rounded out the year with a 25th-place points finish.

In early 2026, Rueda joined Team WRT to compete at the Dubai 24 Hour, which he won overall alongside Ben Tuck, Anthony McIntosh and BMW works drivers Jordan Pepper and Kelvin van der Linde. For the rest of the year, Rueda returned to Kessel Racing for his second season in the European Le Mans Series with Andrew Gilbert and Romain Leroux.

Karting record Karting career summary

Racing record Racing career summary

Complete French F4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete International GT Open results

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup results

Complete Le Mans Cup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rank Points 2024 Kessel Racing GT3 Ferrari 296 GT3 BAR LEC LMS1 LMS2 SPA MUG ALG3rd69.5

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete European Le Mans Series results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank Points 2025 Iron Lynx LMGT3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 QAT IMO SPA LMS SÃO COA FUJ BHR 25th 1

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2025 Iron Lynx Andrew Gilbert Lorcan Hanafin Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo LMGT3 57 DNF DNF

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 2026 Conquest Racing GTD Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo Ferrari F163CE 3.0 L Turbo V6 DAY SEB LBH LGA WGL MOS ELK VIR IMS PET 56th* 250*