Paul-Loup Chatin

Paul-Loup Chatin (born 19 October 1991) is a French professional racing driver. He has had notable successes within the LMP2 class, winning the European Le Mans Series in 2014 and 2019, as well as pole positions at the 2018 and 2023 iterations of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Other achievements include a class victory at the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona and the LMP2 title in the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Chatin competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Alpine Endurance Team before switching to the new Genesis Magma Racing project ahead of the 2026 season.

Early career

Karting Born in Dourdan, Chatin began his karting career in 2006 at the age of 14, progressing to the KF2 category by 2008.

Formula Renault Chatin made his début in single-seaters in 2010, joining the F4 Eurocup 1.6 series. Chatin finished fourth in the championship, with two wins at Silverstone, behind his future Eurocup rivals Stoffel Vandoorne and Norman Nato.

In 2011, Chatin graduated to the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 series, with the Tech 1 Racing team. He finished ninth with a win on home soil at Le Castellet, and another podium finish, at Silverstone. He also had a full-time campaign in Formula Renault 2.0 Alps with the same team, collecting three consecutive victories at the Hungaroring and Le Castellet, finally finishing third in the championship.

For the 2012 season, Chatin remained in the Eurocup with Tech 1. He improved to sixth in the championship, but failed to achieve a victory during the campaign. He defended his third position in Formula Renault 2.0 Alps, losing the title fight to Daniil Kvyat and Nato.

Sports car career

First endurance titles & WEC success (2013–2017) In 2013, Chatin decided to switch to sports car racing, joining Team Endurance Challenge in the LMPC category of the European Le Mans Series. In a class with just two full-time entries, Chatin and teammate Gary Hirsch won the series title thanks to three wins at Imola, Spielberg and the Hungaroring. He won the award for being the series' Revelation of the Year.

For the 2014 ELMS season, Chatin moved to the LMP2 category, joining the Signatech Alpine squad alongside Nelson Panciatici and Oliver Webb. The team were victorious at Spielberg, where Chatin's performance was described as "disciplined and strategic", and scored another two podiums. on their way to the championship title. A fifth place at Estoril was enough to clinch the title for Alpine. Chatin and his teammates also contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In spite of a suspension issue that struck whilst Chatin was second on Sunday, the team finished third in LMP2. After the season concluded, Chatin was named the ELMS's LMP2 Driver of the Year. In spite of retirements at Silverstone and Le Mans, the campaign proved to be a success, as the team finished second at Fuji and won at Shanghai on their way to fourth in the standings.

Chatin returned to the ELMS in 2016, partnering Timothé Buret and former French football goalkeeper Fabien Barthez. The team struggled despite Chatin's speed, proven by a fastest lap at Silverstone and a pole position in Imola, scoring a best result of seventh four times to finish eighth overall. The following year, Chatin sat out a lot of the season because of his studies, though he made two appearances in the ELMS, driving the final two races for IDEC Sport Racing.

IDEC Sport tenure, third ELMS title, IMSA LMP2 title (2018–2023) 2018 saw the beginning of the full-time partnership between Chatin and IDEC Sport, with the Frenchman being fielded in the ELMS alongside Memo Rojas and Paul Lafargue, the silver-ranked son of team owner Patrice Lafargue. Chatin led the outfit to a pair of third places, their first podiums in the series, as well as scoring the team's maiden pole positions at Le Castellet and Spielberg. These performances contributed to a third-placed finish at the end of the year. Additionally, Chatin and his teammates competed at Le Mans, where the Frenchman scored pole in qualifying.

The IDEC Sport car that delivered Chatin his third ELMS title in 2019.

Reunited with Lafargue, Rojas, and IDEC Sport for the 2019 season, Chatin would start the year off with two runner-up finishes, before taking a pole position at Barcelona. At round 4 in Silvertsone, the team benefited from a late fuel-related pit stop for rivals G-Drive Racing to take its first win in the ELMS. At the following round in Spa, a crash for Chatin at Raidillon during practice forced IDEC to miss qualifying, though thanks to the sourcing of a new chassis the team recovered to sixth on Sunday. Chatin redeemed himself during the season finale in Portugal, charging through to take the lead from Phil Hanson before holding on to win the race and, by extension, the championship.

The pandemic-affected 2020 campaign proved to be challenging for Chatin, who was joined by Lafargue as well as Richard Bradley for the year. The trio managed a highest finish of seventh place and ended the season ninth in the teams' championship, with Chatin missing a race after contracting COVID-19. In 2021, Chatin and Lafargue partnered Patrick Pilet in the ELMS. In a quiet season, IDEC Sport ended up ninth in the teams' standings. That year did not fail to yield success for Chatin however, as he won the 24 Hours of Daytona in class for Era Motorsport.

In 2022, the trio of French drivers remained at IDEC, which reverted to a one-car operation. During the first half of the season, Chatin and his teammates took three successive top 5 finishes, with the highlight being an imposing late stint by the French driver at Monza which brought victory back to the team. After this, the season brought disappointment, as IDEC fell back to fifth place by the end of the year.

IDEC Sport's Delage-backed Oreca 07, which Chatin carried to LMP2 pole at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Chatin remained in the ELMS for his sixth full season at IDEC Sport in 2023, partnering Lafargue and German LMP3 graduate Laurents Hörr. Though the squad failed to win a race, Chatin was able to lead IDEC to fifth in the standings with two LMP2 Pro class podiums and a pole position at the final event in Portimão. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans meanwhile, Chatin took LMP2 pole for the second time in his career, before putting the team in contention for a class podium — the chances of which were reduced to zero due to a late puncture. The 2023 season also saw Chatin compete in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports alongside gentleman driver Ben Keating. Joined by silver-ranked rookie Alex Quinn at the endurance events, the duo took four podiums from seven races, including a win at Road America, and clinched the LMP2 class title with a runner-up result at Petit Le Mans.

Step-up to Hypercar (2024–present) Ahead of the 2024 season, Chatin was announced to be joining the Alpine Endurance Team as a factory driver. As a result, he was chosen as one of the team's drivers in the Le Mans Hypercar category of the WEC, where he, Charles Milesi, and Ferdinand Habsburg would drive the No. 35 Alpine A424. Their season started well with a seventh place in the opening round at Qatar. Following a testing crash for Habsburg before the Imola race, Chatin replaced him at Cool Racing for the first two rounds of the ELMS season, before replacing Ritomo Miyata ahead of round three. In the WEC meanwhile, the next points finish came at Spa with a ninth place. Chatin qualified the No. 35 sixth at Le Mans, but the team retired early on with an engine failure. A standout result of fifth was achieved in Austin, though Chatin did not score points as he did not complete his minimum drive time. After sitting out the penultimate round in Fuji, Chatin returned at Bahrain and led the team to fourth with a charging final stint. This helped the team to finish fourth in the manufacturers' standings.

Chatin also drove in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with AO Racing during 2024, scoring a best class result of third at Road America.

In 2025, Chatin returned to Alpine's No. 35 WEC lineup alongside Milesi and Habsburg. In addition, Chatin rejoined IDEC Sport in the ELMS, partnering Job van Uitert and former teammate Paul Lafargue. The WEC season started discretely, as the No. 35 only scored its first points result at the third round in Spa with an eighth place — having been forced to pit from fourth late on to get a splash of fuel. At Le Mans, Chatin got involved in an incident with Loïc Duval during the evening, resulting in a drive-through penalty. Despite this, the No. 35 ended up ninth overall. Chatin and his teammates failed to score points in São Paulo and Austin, before having a standout day in Fuji: Chatin got to the front with a well-timed pit stop and remained there until Milesi stepped in; the latter then managed to take the lead with an inspired strategy of leaving two old tyres on at the last pit stop. The team held on to the lead and scored Alpine's first victory with the A424, as well as the first overall WEC victory for a fully gold-rated driver lineup. Chatin left Alpine following the final round, as the No. 35 crew outscored the No. 36 by one point in the drivers' standings.

In November 2025, it was announced that Chatin would join the Genesis Magma Racing team for the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship season. Due to the nature of his Alpine contract however, Chatin was prevented from testing the Genesis GMR-001 or sitting in during technical debriefs with the team's engineers before 2026.

Driving style Following his maiden LMP2 season in 2014, Chatin was praised for his "well-judged" overtaking manoeuvres and described as a clean driver. Chatin is also notable for his speed in qualifying, exemplified by multiple ELMS pole positions as well as two LMP2 class poles at Le Mans (in 2018 and 2023). Longtime IDEC Sport teammate Paul Lafargue has talked about how Chatin "pulls [him] up" with his pace.

Ahead of his Hypercar debut in 2024, online newspaper Dailysportscar described Chatin as "one of the most highly rated of the LMP2 pack" who "correctly [got] a Hypercar shot".

Personal life During his time in endurance racing, Chatin has named four-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Henri Pescarolo as his inspiration.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete F4 Eurocup 1.6 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)

† As Chatin was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points

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

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Points 2011 Tech 1 Racing MNZ1 MNZ2 IMO1 IMO2 PAU1 PAU2 RBR1 RBR2 HUN1 HUN2 LEC1 LEC2 SPA1 SPA2 3rd 326 2012 Tech 1 Racing MNZ1 MNZ2 PAU1 PAU2 IMO1 IMO2 SPA1 SPA2 RBR1 RBR2 MUG1 MUG2 CAT1 CAT23rd 194

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

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2014 Signatech-Alpine Oliver Webb Nelson Panciatici Alpine A450b-Nissan LMP2 355 7th 3rd 2015 Signatech-Alpine Nelson Panciatici Vincent Capillaire Alpine A450b-Nissan LMP2 110 DNF DNF 2016 Panis Barthez Compétition Fabien Barthez Timothé Buret Ligier JS P2-Nissan LMP2 347 12th 8th 2018 IDEC Sport Paul Lafargue Memo Rojas Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 312 DNF DNF 2019 IDEC Sport Paul Lafargue Memo Rojas Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 364 10th 5th 2020 IDEC Sport Paul Lafargue Richard Bradley Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 366 10th 6th 2021 IDEC Sport Paul Lafargue Patrick Pilet Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 359 11th 6th 2022 IDEC Sport Paul Lafargue Patrick Pilet Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 366 12th 8th 2023 IDEC Sport Laurents Hörr Paul Lafargue Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 327 14th 6th 2024 Alpine Endurance Team Ferdinand Habsburg Charles Milesi Alpine A424 Hypercar 75 DNF DNF 2025 Alpine Endurance Team Ferdinand Habsburg Charles Milesi Alpine A424 Hypercar 385 9th 9th 2026 Genesis Magma Racing Mathieu Jaminet Daniel Juncadella Genesis GMR-001 Hypercar 372 13th 13th

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) † Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.

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

Awards & Nationale Team