ELMS – Lucas Légeret, the youngest on the grid with big ambitions

At only 16 years old, Lucas Légeret is by far the youngest on the set ELMS. This young Swiss pilot from karting directly wanted to join the world ofEndurance by embarking on the LMP3 adventure with Team Duqueine, aware that the discipline offers a great prospect for the future. He is playing in particular this season with Vincent Beltoise.

“I had thought about doing car, but my tall height (Lucas Légeret is 1m90) made things more complicated, explained to AUTOhebdo the rookie in the paddock of the 4 Hours of Castellet. It's an important step to go from kart to LMP3. You have to learn to drive while taking advantage of the aero downforce because the faster you go, the more grip you have. Driving time is limited, especially since my status as a Silver driver does not allow me to take part in the tests reserved for Bronze drivers. And I have to learn all the circuits. »

Lucas Légeret can nevertheless train in prototype driving since he is competing in the VdeV Endurance Series in parallel within Yann Belhomme's structure with Nelson Panciatici as his teammate. The Swiss driver also celebrated his first victory in the discipline in Dijon (Côte-d'Or) last June. Success is still a goal in ELMS, but the Swiss finds himself faced with a new difficulty in having to get used to the Norma M30 in the middle of the season which he was only able to test in Alès (Gard).

“This change was made because the Norma M30 is the most efficient LMP3, but I had gotten used to it with the Ligier and I have to get my bearings again. It makes things more complicated but it’s always good for learning,” specifies Lucas Légeret.

The latter will unfortunately make a mistake during testing for the 4 Hours of Le Castellet even though he is usually not used to going off the track.

“It’s the job that comes in but it’s true that we could have done without it. I was surprised when I stepped on a curb and found myself a passenger in the car. »

The race of the No. 8 Norma at the 4 Hours of Le Castellet ended with a gearbox problem without Lucas Légeret being able to take the wheel. This disappointment does not prevent the Swiss from already looking further ahead for next year.

“I would like to move directly towards LMP2 because we see that the gentlemen drivers manage to drive these prototypes well despite the high performance of the cars. I have always dreamed of Le Mans and having participated in the Road to Le Mans was a magical moment in my career. I want to come back to do the 24 hours”, added Lucas Légeret.