It’s done and dusted! Kevin Estre and his teammates from Porsche Penske Motorsport are FIA Endurance Hypercar World Champions! They arrived in Bahrain with a big lead and it was even bigger after the finish, but the 8 hours of racing were not short of incidents, twists and upsets, stress and cold sweats! The driver born in Lyon, who celebrated his 36th birthday at the beginning of this crucial week, is now a double GT and Hypercar World Champion. So we can’t help but think about his next goal – outright
victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans!

The culmination

A world title is an achievement for any driver. With 9 manufacturers entering between 18 and 23 cars in the premier class, the season lived up to its promise and the champions did not become so by chance. From their 6th place in 2023 to the 2024 crown, they were able to up their performance and improve every aspect of their game. “We worked a lot collectively,” says Kévin. “There were some changes within the team and we have to take into account the benefit of the experience of a year with the 963. We arrived in Qatar with a car that was much better than the previous year and we continued to progress throughout the season.
The two engineers assigned to our no. 6 crew were really fantastic!”

One for all, all for the title!

Already team-mates in 2023, Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and André Lotterer set off together for a second campaign at the wheel of the no. 6 Porsche 963. “We’re a very close-knit crew,” continues Kévin, “Between us, it gelled right from the start and we’ve forged a great bond. We all think about endurance in the same way. None of the three wanted to stand out because, above all, we complement one another. Each has their strengths and weaknesses and the important thing is to know them well.”

The 8 Hours of Bahrain provided an illustration of this: “We changed the order of the stints, taking into account what one or the other could bring depending on whether it was necessary to warm up and maintain the hard tyres at high temperatures or, on the contrary, to nurse the mediums while it was still hot,” explains Kevin. “That was our strength all year; we found solutions as a threesome, remaining united to get the best out of each person’s potential according to the circumstances of the moment. We never got lost in the choice of set-ups, tyres or strategy. We were always open-minded, and we never had to tiptoe on eggshells to spare anybody’s blushes!” That’s also what Endurance is all about: The human factor is a key ingredient in success.

Leading from start to finish

This year, the Frenchman, the Belgian and the German won the Qatar 1812 KM straight off and retained the lead of the World Championship until the final finishing line. And yet… “We weren’t the fastest, but we managed to score more points than our rivals. Overall, we had a better season. We won in Qatar and at Mount Fuji, the two races where we were clearly ahead. But when we were worth a Top 5 in terms of performance, we still managed to get on the podium. We always maximised the result while the
others sometimes made mistakes.”

But we must mention the exception of Bahrain. “At the beginning, the no. 50 Ferrari that was fighting with us for the championship banged into us twice, making us lose 12 places. We were 18th and last of the Hypercars at turn no. 4! We fought our way back little by little although the first hours were a bit laborious. The car was not ideal in the high temperatures and the no. 7 Toyota, which was also threatening us, was in the lead, so it didn’t look great for us. Then the temperature dropped when night closed in and we found ourselves in a position that gave us a glimpse of the title. The last two hours were a bit crazy: there were lots of safety cars and Laurens found himself fighting for a podium. But we made a small strategic error on a VSC (Virtual Safety Car, Editor’s note) and Laurens who had not received the slightest penalty all year made small errors, the kind that only happen in a race like this, when you don’t drive “naturally” and you think too much because of the stress linked to what’s at stake! At the same time, our rivals had problems or made even more penalising errors.”

And at the end of the road? “We”re world champions. It’s my greatest title, acquired against crazy competition. Next year, it will certainly be even tougher but to date, I think it was the best year of competition in the premier category in endurance, at least since the rebirth of the FIA WEC in 2012. I don’t know if there have ever been so many manufacturers involved with professional drivers. Since I started in endurance, my goal was to become a works Porsche driver, to fight for outright victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and to be world champion.”

Therefore, the pole setter of the last edition of the Sarthe classic still has a fantastic box to tick. “I’m proud of my career and what we’ve accomplished as a team. On a personal level, I had one of my best years. I would like to thank everyone who’s helped me since the beginning of my career, my close family, who has put a lot of effort since I was 4 years old and all the sponsors who’ve helped me and enabled me to become a professional.”

In 2025, Kévin will defend his FIA WEC title with Laurens Vanthoor, as a duo in some races and with the support of Australian Matt Campbell in others including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Still with the Porsche 963, the Frenchman will be at the start of the three main endurance races on the IMSA calendar at Daytona, Sebring and Road Atlanta (Petit Le Mans). A GT program including the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring will also be on his busy schedule. But in the meantime, the Frenchman has a date with the prestigious awards ceremony of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile to officially receive his title!