The multiple junior formula title winning team nearly won the LMP3 crown in their debut season, with Hadrien David and Fabian Michal finishing second behind CLX Motorsport, Adrien Chila and David Droux in 2024. Back-to-back MLMC titles followed with Hadrien David and Hugo Schwarze winning in 2025 and Enzo Peugeot and Danial Frost traveling to Portugal this weekend as the new 2026 MLMC LMP3 champions following their victory in Silverstone last month
In addition, the team entered the European Le Mans Series this year in LMP3 and are the technical force behind the Duqueine Team in LMP2 Pro/Am. R-ace GP are challenging their Swiss rivals CLX Motorsport for the 2026 ELMS LMP3 title this weekend and have the opportunity to win the LMP2 Pro/Am title with Duqueine Team as well, all in their debut ELMS season.
We caught up with Thibaut de Mérindol to talk about the origins of R-ace GP and the reasons why the team have been so successful in every formula they have entered.
Q: R-ace GP was found by yourself and Cyril Comte in 2011. What was the reason for starting the team?
Thibaut de Mérindol: “In 2011, Cyril and I were race engineers for a team which was based in France. We were racing in Formula Renault, Formula Three, and the World Series by Renault, and this team stopped basically at the start of 2010 because of financial issue. This was an opportunity for Cyril and I and we launched our own team. It was something we already had in mind and when this opportunity came, we thought it was the right time, right moment, right opportunity. So, we just did it.”
Q: R-ace GP has become a highly successful team in junior formula racing. What prompted the move to race in the LMP3 class in the Michelin Le Mans Cup in 2024?
TM: “Well, two main reasons. One is because we wanted a new challenge. We were already successful in single seaters, in F4 and in Formula Regional, but we could not see at that time short-term opportunities to move up to F3 and F2, which is something we are still aiming for. But we could not see opportunities coming on the short term. On the other hand, we were really aiming to start new projects, to provide new challenges for our staff, mechanics, engineers, and ourselves. So, endurance and LMP3 was an available opportunity.
“The second reason is that we need, as a company, to keep the people motivated, to keep providing us, as I said, new challenges, to keep the all the good people we have within the company.”
Q: 2024 was a successful debut season with Fabien Michal and Hadrien David finishing as Vice Champions with one win in Mugello, two further podium finishes and Fabien securing five pole positions. What were your feelings after a successful debut season? Was it disappointing not to win the title at your first attempt?
TM: “It's always a bit disappointing to not win a title, but, overall, the feeling was that we were very happy with the performances in the first season of endurance. We started the project very late. It was a late call in early February 2024, so it was something we really launched at the very last minute, and we didn't really know what to expect.
“We knew that we had a good car in the Duqueine, and we knew that the car was able to perform. We also knew that we had a very strong driver lineup, which is for me the most important. We were lucky enough to have Hadrien, who is a very good silver, and we knew him from the single seater series, and we were very lucky to be able to commit with Fabien, who was clearly one of the best, or I would say even the best bronze driver. And when we decided to launch that project in February, he was still available, which was quite lucky for us.”
Q: This season the team has taken the MLMC LMP3 title for the second year in a row, with one race to spare. Enzo Peugeot and Danial Frost have taken two win and two second places from the first five races, an impressive record. When you look at the huge grid full of young driver talent and top-level teams, does the level of competition in LMP3 make the achievement of winning two titles back-to-back even better?
TM: “I believe that the level is rising up in the Michelin Le Mans Cup. We have now Campos joining us this year, and we have good teams like VPS and 23Event Racing. We expected in 2024 that the endurance world would just grow. We’ve seen more drivers and teams coming and I think it will still be the dynamic in the coming years. I'm confident that more and more very competitive teams will join the championship and make it even more challenging.
“It's what we are looking for. We aim to fight at the highest level in all the categories we are competing in, so we are happy to see the championship more competitive year after year, and we are ready to fight for it.”
Q5: R-ace GP are also challenging for the LMP3 title in the ELMS this weekend in Portugal, with 2025 MLMC champion Hugo Schwarze, and 2024 MLMC Vice Champion Fabien Michal joining Pierre-Alexandre Provost in challenging reigning champions CLX Motorsport for the title. What would winning the ELMS crown in the same season as the MLMC title mean to you and the team?
TM: “Obviously it would be fantastic. It is a new project for us; it's the same car, but four hours racing is another step up. I think like in 2024, I can say that this year in ELMS we have been always very competitive, but we have made a few mistakes in the first races, or we ran out of luck in some races. But it's part of the endurance racing that you need to play with the luck because the races are so eventful that it's part it's part of the game. We need to learn how to anticipate or to take some strategies which help us to get through those circumstances during the races, and it's something we still need to.
“So, overall, I'm already very satisfied with what we have achieved. I know that we made some mistakes and we are doing our best to assess them, to correct them and to not repeat them race after race. If at the end of the championship we are champion, it would be wonderful. If we are not champion but we perform well and we improve through the season and we miss the title for a few points, I won't be disappointed. For me, what is important is the way we develop ourselves, the way we get better race after race, and the dynamic is very good.”
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