Gary Chalandon (born 26 September 1986) is a French

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

. He is most notable for competing in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

, Formula Le Mans Cup and the

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 ...

. He won the Formula Le Mans class of the Le Mans Series in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, whilst driving for :DAMS.

Career

Chalandon was born in

Décines-Charpieu Décines-Charpieu (; ) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in central-eastern France. The name of the city is often shortened and simply called Décines. Geography The centre of Décines is located southwe ...

, France on 26 September 1986. He competed in the X30 class of the French Karting Championship in 2005, finishing fifth, before making his car racing debut in the Formul'Academy Euro Series in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, where he finished twentieth, with one point. He joined the Formula Le Mans Cup in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, driving for Boutsen Energy Racing in their LS3-engined

Oreca FLM09 The Le Mans Prototype Challenge (shortened to LMP Challenge or LMPC) was a spec sports prototype formula created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), organisers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and sports car constructor Oreca. The formula is inte ...

. Partnering fellow Frenchman Dimitri Enjalbert, he made his debut in the series in the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

round, finishing third in race one, and fifth in race two. He drove alongside Enjalbert again for the

Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

round, finishing third in race one (having qualified on pole), and fourth in race two. Enjalbert was replaced by the Austrian

Dominik Kraihamer Dominik Kraihamer (born 29 November 1989 in Oberndorf) is an Austrian racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for ByKolles Racing Team. Career Kraihamer's racing career began in 2004 in karting, where he found succe ...

for the next round at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

, with the best finish of the weekend being fifth in race one. He was partnered by another Frenchman, Johan-Boris Scheier, in the season finale at

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a Communes of France, commune in the Nièvre Departments of France, department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing circuit (whose name is o ...

, with their best result being a third place in race two. He finished seventh overall in the championship, with 89 points from 12 races. In

, the Formula Le Mans Cup was incorporated into the

, and Chalandon joined DAMS, partnering

Andrea Barlesi Andrea Barlesi (born 15 June 1991, in Paris) is a Belgian-Italian racing driver who runs under a Belgian racing licence. He has won the 2010 Formula Le Mans season with DAMS. He was accompanied by Alessandro Cicognani and Gary Chalandon. In 2012, ...

and Alessandro Cicognani. In the first round of the season, the 8 Hours of Le Castellet, the trio finished in third place in class, in their first ever Le Mans Series race. The next round, the 1000 km of Spa, was unsuccessful, with the team being forced to retire the car due to steering damage. Following an injury to Team Bruichladdich driver

Christian Ebbesvik Thor–Christian Ebbesvik (born 17 December 1983 in Bergen) is a professional racing driver from Norway. Career Formula Ford Ebbesvik began his racing career in 2005, driving for Team JLR in the British Formula Ford Championship. He finished the ...

during the 1000 km of Spa, Chalandon was named as his replacement for the

. Chalandon, partnering Bruichladdich's regular drivers Tim Greaves and

Karim Ojjeh Karim Ojjeh (; born 27 August 1965 in Geneva) is a Saudi businessman and racing driver. He is the younger brother of Mansour Ojjeh and son of Akram Ojjeh. He is a director of TAG Finance S.A. In his spare time he races in the Le Mans Series an ...

, entered in the

LMP2 A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le M ...

category, driving a Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S/2. The team finished fifth in the LMP2 category, with Chalandon drawing praise from Tim Greaves, who said "Gary did extremely well in his first Le Mans practice and qualifying. He is one of the youngest drivers on the grid and we are very please with all aspects of his driving and attitude." Following the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Chalandon returned to the Le Mans Series, finishing second in class at the next round, the

1000 km of Algarve 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. This was followed by his first class ever victory in the following round, the 1000 km of Hungaroring. The 1000 km of Silverstone was the final race of the season, and fourth in class was enough to take the Formula Le Mans title by two points, with Hope Polevision Racing's

Steve Zacchia Steve Zacchia (born 15 August 1982 in Yverdon-les-Bains) is a Swiss racing driver, currently competing in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup for Hope Racing. Early career Zacchia began go-karting in 1998 when he finished fourth in the Swiss Region ...

finishing second. For

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, Chalandon rejoined Team Bruichladdich, this time in the LMP2 category of the Le Mans Series. He was partnered by

Tom Kimber-Smith Thomas Kimber-Smith (born 1 November 1984 in Ascot, Berkshire) is a British race car driver. He is currently driving the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca FLM09 in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship PC class with Robert Alon. He has e ...

and Ojjeh in the new

Zytek Z11SN The Zytek Z11SN is an LMP2-class racing car built by Zytek Engineering since 2011. Powered by a 4.5-litre Nissan V8 engine, it is an evolution of the Zytek 07S and the Zytek 09SC, updated for the new Le Mans Prototype regulations that were intro ...

. However, his first race for the team, whom had been renamed to

Greaves Motorsport Greaves Motorsport is a British auto racing, racing team, currently competing in the European Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2006, Greaves Motorsport, founded and run by Tim Greaves, entered the Le Mans Series (LMS) for the fi ...

prior to the start of the season, came in the third Sportscars Winter Series event of the season on 6 March 2011, taking a victory, a fourth place, and a sixth-place finish, driving alongside Ojjeh in a

Radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

. In the Le Mans Series, the team won their class in the first round of the season, the

6 Hours of Castellet The 4 Hours of Castellet is a Blancpain Endurance Series sports car race held at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, France. The race began in 1970 as a round of the European 2-Litre Sportscar Championship, and World Sportscar Championship ro ...

, and third overall. For the

test session, Chalandon, Ojjeh and Kimber-Smith were partnered by

Alex Brundle Alexander Brundle (born 7 August 1990) is a British racing driver and broadcaster. He was the 2016 European Le Mans Series champion (LMP3) and is the son of Formula One driver-turned-commentator Martin Brundle. He attended Oakham School in Rutla ...

, with Kimber-Smith setting the third fastest time in the LMP2 class. The second round of the Le Mans Series, which was the 1000 km of Spa, proved to be less successful than the previous two events, with Greaves Motorsport only able to finish eighth in class, after an incident-filled race. This would prove to be the last time Chalandon drove for Greaves Motorsport, as he left the team, and was replaced by

Olivier Lombard Olivier Lombard (born 25 April 1991 in Poissy) is a French racing driver, racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Signatech-Nissan. Career After karting from 2004 to 2008, Olivier Lombard began racing cars in 2009 when he contested th ...

. His two races were enough for 11th in the LMP2 category, with 20 points. Chalandon switched to the

FFSA GT Championship The FFSA GT Championship (''Championnat de France FFSA GT'') is a French Grand Touring-style sports car racing series that began in 1997. It is the main event of the ''Championnat de France des Circuits'' (formerly called ''Super Série FFSA'' an ...

, and entered the Magny-Cours round on 10 July, driving alongside

Didier André Didier André (born 3 September 1974) is a race car driver born in Lyon, France. In the late 1990s he competed in Indy Lights, driving in the Indy Racing League in 2001 and Nissan World Series from 2003 until the present day. During 2006 he dro ...

in a

Team WRT W Racing Team (known as Team WRT) is a Belgium, Belgian auto racing team founded in 2009 by engineer and former head of Volkswagen Motorsport René Verbist, racing driver Vincent Vosse, and entrepreneur Yves Weerts. Between 2010 and 2022 the team ...

-entered

Audi R8 LMS The Audi R8 is a mid-engine, 2-seater sports car, which uses Audi's trademark quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. It was introduced by the German car manufacturer Audi AG in 2006. Production ended in the first quarter of 2024. The car i ...

. The pair finished fourteenth in the first race, and fifteenth in the second. A week later, André and Chalandon entered the Paul Ricard round of the

FIA GT3 European Championship The FIA GT3 European Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a championship derived from the international FIA ...

, finishing sixteenth in race one, and twelfth in race two.

References

External links

Interview with Sports.fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chalandon, Gary 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Living people French racing drivers 1986 births People from Décines-Charpieu Sportspeople from Lyon Metropolis Greaves Motorsport drivers Auto Sport Academy drivers DAMS drivers Boutsen Ginion Racing drivers 21st-century French sportsmen