Conrad Nicholai Weis Laursen (born 11 May 2006) is a Danish racing driver driving in the GTD class of the

IMSA SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (I ...

with

AF Corse AF Corse is an Italian auto racing team founded by former racing driver Amato Ferrari in 1995 in Piacenza. Strongly linked to the Maserati and Ferrari brands, AF Corse currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Chal ...

. He is the 2020 Danish F4 champion. Laursen is the son of former Ferrari Challenge Europe competitor Johnny Laursen.

Early career

2020

In 2020, Laursen made his single-seater debut, competing in the

F4 Danish Championship Nordic 4, formerly known as F4 Danish Championship is a Danish motor racing series for open-wheel cars complying with FIA Formula 4 Gen1 regulations. The inaugural championship was contested in 2017. History In September 2016, the Dansk Automo ...

with FSP Racing. He started the campaign off strongly, taking a triple of podiums, which included his maiden win in car racing, at Jyllandsringen. The same results followed at

Padborg Park Padborg Park is a motor racing circuit in Padborg, Denmark. The circuit opened in 2003 on the site of an airfield. The circuit has regularly hosted rounds of the Danish Touringcar Championship (DTC), TCR Denmark Touring Car Series, Super GT Den ...

, where the Dane once again finished second, third and first in the races. Having taken a sole podium in the third event, Laursen was declared as champion following the cancellation of the season finale, scheduled to take place at Sturup Raceway.

2021

The Dane progressed to the

Italian F4 Championship Italian Formula 4 Championship is the first formula racing series regulated according to Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was the 2014 Italian F4 Championship, effectively replacing the F ...

the following year, driving for

Prema Powerteam Prema Racing, previously known as Prema Powerteam, is an Italian motorsport team, owned and operated through the ''DC Racing Solutions'' parent company. Founded in 1983, the team is based in Grisignano di Zocco and currently operates out of Ita ...

. Starting his year by finishing fifth in the season opener at Le Castellet, Laursen struggled the following round in Misano, being forced to retire from two races. Consistent points would come at

Vallelunga Vallelunga (Italian for ''long valley'') is a valley, or plateau,Tonino Floris, Marco Spada, ''Pedalando nel Lazio''p. 97 Edizioni Mediterranee, 1996 . near Campagnano di Roma, Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in S ...

and

Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

, before the Dane went without a points finish at the

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Austria, Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from t ...

. Having scored a pair of top-ten results as well as a fastest lap at

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

, Laursen finished ninth in the overall championship, whilst losing out narrowly on the rookie title to Nikita Bedrin owing to a spin in the final race.

2022

Having started 2022 by racing in two events of the F4 UAE Championship, where he scored a pair of podiums, Laursen returned to the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and ADAC F4 series for his main campaign, once again competing with Prema. His season in the former began slowly, with the first two rounds yielding a mere three points finishes, before the Dane scored his first podium in the series, finishing second in Race 3 at

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

. Another podium would follow at the

, however that round would see Laursen's final points finish of the campaign, which meant that he classified 11th in the standings. In the German championship, Laursen scored a podium during the opening round, having come back from a 19th-placed grid slot during race 3, before struggling to achieve major results at the

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring, officially Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other mot ...

, notably dropping to ninth from reverse-grid pole in the final race. Laursen bounced back at

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

, where, having taken third place in race 1, he held off teammate

Andrea Kimi Antonelli Andrea Kimi Antonelli (; born 25 August 2006) is an Italian racing driver who competes in Formula One for Mercedes-Benz in Formula One, Mercedes. Born and raised in Bologna, Antonelli is the son of sportscar racing driver Marco Antonelli. Afte ...

to take his first victory in the championship on Sunday by less than a tenth of a second. Despite leaving the series after round four, where he made another appearance on the rostrum, Laursen ended up sixth in the drivers' standings.

Sportscar career

2022: First appearance

Laursen made his first appearance in the world of GT racing in the Ferrari Challenge Europe, scoring a pair of top five finishes at the

in 2022.

2023: Debut in ELMS

For the 2023 season, Laursen switched to

sportscar racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...

on a full-time basis, teaming up with his father Johnny and fellow Dane Nicklas Nielsen in the

Asian Le Mans Series The Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS) is an Asian sports car racing endurance series created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and based in Asia. It is the successor to the defunct Japan Le Mans Challenge which folded in 2007 after its second s ...

at the start of the year, before racing with the same teammates in the

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

during the summer, driving for AF Corse-entered Formula Racing in the GT category of both championships. Having scored two second places in the ELMS, the Laursens classified seventh in the standings.

2024: First ELMS win

The Dane remained with Formula Racing in the

ELMS The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

, once again joining father Johnny and Nielsen at Formula Racing. During the opening round at

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Laursen and his teammates profited from an issue for the dominant

Iron Dames The Iron Dames are an Italian-Swiss auto racing and Equestrian sports, equestrian team founded by French businesswoman Deborah Mayer. They are based in Zug, Switzerland, and primarily participate in sports car racing. They are a subsidiary of th ...

entry to inherit the win and take the team's first win in the series since 2015, as well as Laursen's first ever sportscar victory.

Karting record