After narrowly losing out on the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup title to COOL Racing last year at the final race in Portugal, R-ace GP bounced back in 2025 in style. Hadrien David and Hugo Schwarze taking the crown with a win from pole position at Silverstone to secure the title with one race at Portimao remaining.
Last year Hadrien David, and his teammate Fabien Michal, had taken their first win of the season in Round 5 at Mugello and headed to the season finale in Portimao with a 5.5-point lead.However, an extra 42 seconds on the mandatory pitstop and then a Safety Car period at the wrong time dropped them out of the points and they finished the season as Vice Champions, 5.5-points behind Adrien Chila and David Droux in the no97 COOL Racing Ligier.
This season Hadrien David was teamed up with Hugo Schwarze in the no85 Duqueine-Toyota, while David Droux was racing with Cedric Oltramare in the no97 Ligier-Toyota, under the Swiss team’s new name CLX Motorsport.
The season started well for Droux and Oltramare with a win in Round 1 at Barcelona, with the no87 CLX Motorsport Ligier finishing second, while David and Schwarze finished down the order in 8th place.
It was another 1-2 for CLX Motorsport at Le Castellet, but this time it was Alvise Rodella and Pierre-Alexandre Provost in the no87 Ligier taking the win ahead of Droux and Oltramare. The no85 Duqueine finished off the podium again, with Hadrien David and Hugo Schwarze finishing one place higher than in Spain, taking the chequered flag in 5th.
Road To Le Mans was next and it proved to be a turning point for R-ace GP.
The first race on Thursday saw the no85 Duqueine finish second on the road behind a CLX Motorsport Ligier, but this car was a race-by-race entry for ELMS racers Theodor Jensen and Adrien Closmenil. This meant the car was ineligible to score points, and the 15-points for the win was awarded to Hadrien David and Hugo Schwartze, while the no87 Ligier finished 9thand the no97 Ligier in 14th.
Race 2 on Saturday saw the no85 R-ace GP Duqueine finish on the podium once again, this time Hadrien David and Hugo Schwartz finishing in second behind the points scoring no50 23Events Racing Ligier of Lena Bühler and Matteo Quintarelli. It was another bad day for the two CLX Motorsport Ligiers, with both cars finishing outside the points.
With 9-points for the second race, the no85 R-ace GP Duqueine left Le Mans with 24-points, moving up to third in the table and just 9-points behind the leading no87 CLX Motorsport Ligier.
This put Hadrien David and Hugo Schwarze in the lead of the series with a 17-point advantage over the two CLX Motorsport Ligiers.
The long-awaited debut for the Michelin Le Mans Cup at Silverstone was next and another perfect weekend of R-ace GP with Hadrien David claiming the pole position on Saturday morning.
The race was a thrilling encounter between the no85 Duqueine and the no29 Forestier Racing by VPS Ligier of Romain Favre, with Alvise Rodella keeping tabs on the leaders in the no87 CLX Motorsport Ligier. Hadrien David was under immense pressure from Favre, but he knew victory would secure the title, while second place would mean the championship would be decided in Portugal.
The two cars were racing as close as possible, butFavrecould not find a way past the lead car.At the chequered flag the gap between the two cars was just 0.114s with the no85 R-ace GP taking the victory and the title by the narrowest of margins, with the no87 CLX Motorsport Ligier taking the final podium position just 5.3 seconds behind the two protagonists.
With Hadrien David and Hugo Schwarze leaving Silverstone on 90-points and the no87 CLX Motorsport Ligier on 62-points and only 26-points available in Portimao, the 28-point gap was unassailable, and the two drivers and R-ace GP were declared 2025 Michelin Le Mans Cup champions.
With the LMP3 Team and Driver titles decided, the teams can now concentrate on going for victory in Portugal on Saturday 17 October, with all eyes on the LMP3 Pro/Am and GT3 titles, which will be decided in Portimao.
CLICK HERE for the championship standings after Round 5 of the 2025 Michelin Le Mans Cup at Silverstone.
