Loïc Duval: From the Land of the Rising Sun to the 24 Hours of Le Mans

You’re just back from Imola where you were competing at round two of the FIA WEC for Team Peugeot TotalEnergies. It was near to Imola, in Bologna, that you went as teenager to pursue your dreams in motorsport. Tell us about that experience…

Yes, I came to the region just before turning 18. I was competing in karting. At the time, most drivers were still competing in karting at 17. I know that now you have guys in F1 at 17, but at the time, we were still in kart racing! Things were very different back then. In actual fact, I was part of the Cosmic team, which is based in Reggio Emilia. So I spent a lot of time in Parma, Bologna, and throughout the magnificent region of Reggio Emilia. It’s a really nice place to live and then you have Imola, well, it’s a genuinely iconic race track, isn't it? It’s always a pleasure to come back to Imola and to race in front of the Italian fans.

Italy wasn't the only time you ventured outside of France, of course, as you went to Japan in 2006. However, before we get to that, tell us about your 2005 season, 20 years ago, when you competed in F3 Euro Series alongside Hamilton, Vettel and Kubica. 

After winning the Formula Campus and Formula Renault in France, I switched to F3 where there were some fantastic drivers: Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Robert Kubica, Adrian Sutil and Sebastian Vettel, among others. But I had the opportunity to replace Lewis Hamilton in Macao, at the end of 2005. Macao was a bit like the “World Cup” in motorsport. I claimed pole position and won the first race but unfortunately, I made a jump start at the beginning of the second race. Although it was a tough one to take, it also gave me the chance to start over in Japan because Kazuki Nakajima was also on the starting grid in Macao and his father Satoru had a racing team in Japan.

So in 2006, you headed for Japan where you career took off again.

Yes, another overseas adventure! I competed in Super Formula and Super GT, and won both championships. It’s perhaps the greatest experience I’ve had, both from a sporting and a personal perspective. Japan is just so different. I loved it and I still remember it as a great period of my career even though it all started with a very disappointing moment in Macao! When you win at Macao in F3, lots of things can happen. Perhaps the door to F1 might open… But I had this amazing opportunity in Japan and ultimately, it was a wonderful experience.

You lived in Japan, but you sometimes came back to Europe, notably for Le Mans in 2008. For your first 24 Hours of Le Mans in an Oreca prototype, you were awarded the prize for the best young driver.

Yes, that’s right. I won the “Prix Jean Rondeau” on my début, which was awarded to the best young driver. That was in 2008. After that, there was the financial crisis so I was unable to compete at Le Mans in 2009 due to budget considerations. I returned in 2010, however, once again with Oreca who had kick started my career in Endurance racing.

You returned two years later to drive a Total-backed Peugeot 908 Oreca. You came close to winning, after setting the fastest race lap.

I guess competing at Le Mans confirmed that Endurance racing, the feeling of sharing a cockpit with team-mates, was what I really loved in motorsport. And I also love Le Mans. There are a lot of things in my career that have happened at Le Mans: my first karting race, being part of the FFSA driver development scheme, winning my first championship…. And I am of course originally from Chartres, which is just an hour from Le Mans. In 2010, we were really fast in the Peugeot 908 HDI Oreca, with Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre. With an hour and a half to go, we were in second position and were lapping quicker than anyone. I was driving the car at that point and I set the fastest race lap, which at the time was the fastest lap outright on the 24-Hour race track. I looked set to secure my first podium finish at Le Mans and then it was all over… I must admit there were tears in my eyes when I had to park the car next to the track at Arnage.

In 2011, you won the 12 Hours of Sebring in the Peugeot, before moving to Audi in 2012, even though you raced for Toyota in Japan!

After my first few outings at Le Mans, I knew I wanted to compete in Endurance racing and have another go at this unique race. I’d won everything there was to win in Japan and I wanted to try something different. At the end of 2011, I was driving for Toyota in Japan and I knew that Toyota intended to start racing in Endurance…I had an offer from Toyota, an offer from Peugeot and one from Audi! At the time, Audi was dominant in the sport and I also had two friends at Audi, Benoît Tréluyer and André Lotterer, who also came from Japan… And so I ended up at Audi.

A year later, you teamed up with Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish in the Audi R18 e-tron quattro. You claimed pole position at Le Mans, went on to win this iconic race and were subsequently crowned World Champion.

We won the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s still an extraordinary memory but obviously, the fatal accident at the start of the race cast a very dark cloud over the event that year and it was impossible to fully enjoy winning the race. I also won the Drivers’ World Championship that year with Tom and Allan, who are both mega stars in the world of Endurance racing with incredible competitive records, so it was cool to experience that with them.

Le Mans can be so cruel: victory in 2013 followed by a terrifying crash in 2014 in the Porsche curves.

Yes, a big shunt that ruled me out of the race that year because the impact was huge and I wasn't in great shape after the crash. But that’s one of my many experiences at Le Mans. I'm still a huge fan of old-style race tracks where you don't always get away with mistakes, even though I'm very grateful to the FIA and the manufacturers for continuing to improve safety.

You finished your journey with Audi in 2016 by finishing as runner-up in the World Championship. You also competed in Formula E and DTM.

In 2016, I finished on the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and runner-up in the World Championship. It was a bit frustrating because I think that if we had not had one or two mechanical issues, we would have won the title because we had better pace than the winners. Having said that, they had better reliability and they beat us fair and square. At the same time, I had my first experience of Formula E, an completely different approach to racing. It was pretty exciting in terms of racing and energy management, etc. At the end of 2016, Audi decided to drop out of Endurance racing and offered me the chance to compete in the DTM. I also had an opportunity to join Toyota, but it would have been in the third car and not for a full season. I chose to stick with Audi by way of loyalty. But I missed racing at Le Mans!

You returned to Endurance racing in the LMP2 class, before being asked to join Peugeot on its return to the WEC.

I had the opportunity to join a team in the LMP2, whilst awaiting a potential return to the elite class. It was a great experience. I contested Le Mans three times in the LMP2. In 2022, I was delighted to join Peugeot, a manufacturer with which I had taken my first steps in Endurance racing. Peugeot is a brand that has such a rich history across all forms of motorsport, including Endurance. And as a proud Frenchman, it was great to be able to compete at Le Mans with a French manufacturer and a French multi-energy partner.

TotalEnergies is a partner to the FIA WEC and to Peugeot, and supplies its sustainable fuel, Excellium 100. Is helping to decarbonise motorsport something that is important for you?

Before being a competitor, I'm first and foremost a human being, a consumer and a father. We all want to make the most of life but on the other hand, we must make an effort to reduce our environmental impact. I think top-level sport, especially the kind in which we compete, is a forum for showcasing and testing technological developments. In the last ten years or so, fossil fuel consumption has been drastically reduced at Le Mans. We use fuels that produce less and less pollution, like Excellium 100. So yes, I think it is essential for motorsport to be as clean as possible. We need this competition precisely because it helps use to find solutions to our environmental challenges.

TotalEnergies has always been committed to Motorsport. What does the company mean to you, someone who loves racing?

We used to talk about ELF and Total. The names have changed, perhaps, but their passion for motorsport remains the same. TotalEnergies has been around for as long as I can remember. I see it as a loyal partner to motoring and racing, from elite motorsport to technological development. They have always been involved, regardless of the context of the time, the difficulties and so on. TotalEnergies’ support has been unwavering and for the people involved in racing, having partners like TotalEnergies has enabled us to express ourselves fully and make progress.