Loïc duval

1. Who is Loïc Duval?

Loïc Duval is French, he was born on June 12, 1982 in Chartres. He is currently an IMSA driver and entered in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in LM P2. 

2. Loïc Duval’s junior career

Loïc Duval arrived in single-seaters in 2002 in Formula Campus. He won the championship with nine victories and as many pole positions. This coronation opens the doors to the French Formula Renault 2.0 championship. The Frenchman won the title once again with four successes. In 2004, he joined the Signature team in the Formula 3 Euro Series. After two seasons, he has seven podiums and meets big names like Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel. His seventh place in the final ranking forced him to go into exile in Japan due to lack of means. He joined Formula Nippon where he won two victories in his first year. A championship that he will win in 2009. Duval will at the same time discover Endurance with the Japanese Super GT.

3. Endurance course by Loïc Duval

Loïc Duval's endurance career began at the 24 2008 Hours of Le Mans. He sat in the seat of a Courage-Oreca with which he finished eighth overall and best young rider. After another participation at Le Mans in 2010 with a Peugeot 908 HDI, Duval achieved his first success at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Accompanied by Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre, the native of Chartres once again stands out.

June 13, 2010: for his second participation at Le Mans, Duval set the absolute track record at the time in 2'3”19. ©DPPI.

So much so that in 2012, Audi offered him the opportunity to take part in three WEC rounds at the wheel of the R18 TDI. He finished second at the 12 Hours of Sebring and won the 6 Hours of Spa. The lap record is little consolation after 24 hours in Sarthe, where he finished fifth. The following season was Duval's first full year in the WEC. He joins two legends of the 24 Hours of Le Mans: Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen. He won for the first time at Le Mans with pole position as a bonus. A few months later, the world title crowned a season made up of three victories and four podiums in eight races. The following two years were less successful (7th and 4th) but Duval came close to tragedy in June 2014 in an accident at more than 270 km/h in the Porsche curves. 

June 11, 2014: during free practice at Le Mans, Loïc Duval suffered an accident at more than 270 km/h. ©DPPI.

For the final year of the Audi era in the WEC, Duval continues with the crew he has had since 2015, made up of Lucas Di Grassi and Oliver Jarvis. He finished vice-champion with two victories and four podiums. Loïc Duval leaves LM P1 with Audi but enters LM P2 for the 2018-19 season with the TDS Racing team. In 2021, he is driving a Gibson with an Oreca 07 chassis for the Realteam Racing team. 

November 19, 2016: he ends his adventure with Audi with a victory at the 6 Hours of Bahrain. ©DPPI.

Since 2022, he has been driving for Team Peugeot TotalEnergies where he serves as an experienced driver to oversee the French manufacturer's return to Endurance.

Loïc Duval has been driving with Peugeot in the WEC since 2022 (Photo Frédéric Le Floc'h / DPPI)

4. AUTOhebdo’s opinion on Loïc Duval

As part of a well-established and legendary crew made up of Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish, the Frenchman has often impressed with his speed over a lap. It is perhaps for this quality that Alain Prost saw him as a future F1 driver... Still extremely solid after ten years in Endurance, Loïc Duval is undoubtedly one of the references in the discipline.