Lapierre: All-Teenage LMP2 Lineup “Motivating” for CLX

Nicolas Lapierre has described the all-teenage lineup that is set to contest this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans for the CLX Motorsport LMP2 team as “very motivating” for the team.

The Swiss outfit’s sole entry in this year’s running of the French enduro, the No. 37 Oreca 07 Gibson, will be driven by three 19-year-olds in the form of Adrien Closmenil, Theodor Jensen and Ian Aguilera, who all race for the team in the European Le Mans Series.

It’s believed to be the youngest overall lineup at Le Mans in the three-driver era, although famed Mexican brothers Ricardo and Pedro Rodriguez had an even younger average age of just 18 when they contested the race together in 1959.

Closmenil and Jensen dominated the ELMS LMP3 title race last year sharing a CLX Ligier with Paul Lanchere, while Aguilera has also made the step up to LMP2 this season after competing with the rival Eurointernational squad in the same category.

Lapierre, who will dovetail his CLX team principal role with his main duties as Alpine’s sporting director in Hypercar, expressed his confidence about the speed of the trio of youngsters, which he hopes will make up for their relative lack of experience.

“In recent times, it’s definitely the youngest lineup,” Lapierre told Sportscar365. “All three are 19 years old, and they are rookies at Le Mans. It’s a good challenge.

“Two of them (Closmenil and Jensen) last year raced with us in LMP3 last year, and they won the championship winning five out of six races. And then we took one of their opponents, Aguilera, so the three of them were racing with each other last year.

“(Closmenil and Jensen) have already done Road to Le Mans in LMP3, so they know the track. They have a lot to learn with the specificities of Le Mans, but there’s no doubt about the speed. They have the speed for sure.

“It’s great to see such a young lineup and they have a great spirit. It’s very easy to teach them stuff and they are very willing to learn. It’s a very nice environment.

“Because the LMP2 specification didn’t change since last year, we have a lot of data that they can rely on. I am interested to see how they do. It’s very motivating.

“Alpine and CLX are next to each other in the pit lane, so I will check in on them some times. I will try to watch both sides.”

Although it was not planned for CLX to end up with such an inexperienced lineup for Le Mans, Lapierre said that he thinks all three of the squad’s drivers could be candidates to move up to Hypercar in future as they gain experience.

“The DNA of CLX Motorsport is to help drivers to climb the ladder of endurance racing,” he said. “It was not the plan to have such a young lineup, but it’s always our target to have young drivers and help them.

“The road is long, but they are all talented and motivated and I hope they can all step up to the top class sooner or later.”