Gael Julien (born 30 November 2005) is a French- Malagasy racing driver. He is the 2024 European Le Mans Series champion in the

LMP3 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 ...

class with RLR MSport. Previously, Julien became a race winner in the

French F4 Championship French F4 Championship, formerly known as Formula Renault Campus France, Formula Campus, Formul'Academy Euro Series, F4 Eurocup 1.6 is a form of open wheel racing founded in 1993 by Louis Drouet. It is based in France and aims at karting gradua ...

Early career

Having discovered karting at the age of 7, Julien won titles in various Asian countries, as well as taking home the 2019 Rok Cup Asia in the junior class. He made his car racing debut in 2021, taking part in French F4. With one win at

Lédenon Lédenon (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Gard department *Costières de Nîmes AOC Costières de Nîmes () is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) for wines that a ...

, the Frenchman finished seventh in the standings. For the 2022 season, Julien switched to compete in Spanish F4, where he would race for Drivex School. He finished 11th in the championship, beating both of his full-time teammates and scoring a podium in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. At the end of the year, Julien took part in an evaluation for the Ferrari Driver Academy as a selected candidate of the Asia Pacific & Oceania regional selection programme, representing Indonesia.

Sportscar career

2023 marked the start of Julien's time in

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 ...

, as the Frenchman moved to RLR MSport, partnering Horst Felbermayr Jr. and Mateusz Kaprzyk in the

class of 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 ...

. Scoring points in all six races, Julien highlighted his campaign with a pole position in mixed weather conditions at

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro (district), Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2022 was 63,079 in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão. In ...

, which led the team towards a seventh place in the standings. The following year, Julien remained with RLR in

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 ...

, this time partnering the bronze-ranked pair of Nick Adcock and Michael Jensen. Following a fourth place in

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 ...

, the French driver would take his first pole position of the year at his home track in Le Castellet. Thanks to a well-judged fuel saving strategy which saw RLR have to make one less stop than its rivals, Julien would cross the line to take his first victory in endurance racing.

Personal life

During his childhood, Julien and his parents lived in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, the capital of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Racing record

Racing career summary

Complete French F4 Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete F4 Spanish Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete European Le Mans Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Julien, Gaël 2005 births Living people French people of Malagasy descent Malagasy people in sports French racing drivers French F4 Championship drivers Spanish F4 Championship drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Drivex drivers French expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Graff Racing drivers Sportspeople from Jakarta 21st-century French sportsmen