Laurens Vanthoor

Born in Hasselt, Vanthoor began his kart racing career at an early age. In 2005 he became French and Belgian Champion in the ICA-J class and finished fourth in the European Championship. In 2007 he became an official factory driver for the CRG racing team in the KF2 category; an accident left him out of action for five months with six fractures.

Vanthoor moved directly from karting into the 2008 German Formula Three season. He finished fourth overall in the championship with two wins and three poles. The Belgian Automobile Club (RACB) made him a member of their “National Team” initiative and Volkswagen Motorsport made him an official driver. He became the youngest driver ever in the history of the Macau Grand Prix, finishing sixth.

In 2009 Vanthoor won the German Formula Three title, wrapping it up at the Nürburgring. He moved into the Formula Three Euroseries for 2010 with Signature and stayed for 2011, scoring several podiums but no race wins.

In 2012 Vanthoor switched to the FIA GT1 World Championship with WRT. Alongside Stéphane Ortelli he won both the qualifying and championship races at the opening round at Nogaro. In 2013, Vanthoor and Ortelli won the FIA GT Series for Audi and WRT.

In 2014 he competed in the Blancpain Sprint Series and Blancpain Endurance Series, winning the latter and the overall Blancpain GT Series. He also won the 2014 24 Hours of Spa for WRT with fellow Audi Sport factory drivers René Rast and Markus Winkelhock.

In 2015 Vanthoor started the season at the Bathurst 12 Hour with Phoenix Racing, taking pole with a new lap record and finishing second. He drove in Brazil for the first round of the Stock Car Brasil at Goiania alongside Valdeno Brito for Shell Racing. With Belgian Audi Club Team WRT he won the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in the new Audi R8 LMS 2015 specification. During the Blancpain Sprint Series event at Misano he was involved in a major crash resulting in a serious injury, causing him to miss the season finale and the Macau race — replaced there by René Rast. He made his comeback by winning the Sepang 12 Hours with Ortelli and Stuart Leonard.

In 2016 Vanthoor opened the season with a win at the Dubai 24 Hour with Belgian Audi Club Team WRT. On 21 November 2016 he won the FIA GT World Cup on the streets of Macau. On 3 December 2016 it was announced he would move from Audi to Porsche, focusing on the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship alongside Kévin Estre in a Porsche 911 RSR. In his final Audi race he won the Sepang 12 Hours with Robin Frijns, Christopher Haase and Phoenix Racing, becoming the first winner of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.

In 2017 Vanthoor started his first season with Porsche at the Daytona 24 Hours, finishing tenth overall and sixth in the GTLM class with Estre and Richard Lietz in the 2017-specification Porsche 911 RSR. He took his first win for Porsche at the 2018 Mid-Ohio round.

In 2018 Vanthoor also completed the Porsche Le Mans line-up for the No. 92 car alongside Kévin Estre and Michael Christensen in the iconic “pink pig” livery, winning the GTE Pro class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In 2019 Vanthoor and Earl Bamber won the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the GTLM class for Porsche, taking three wins and seven podiums from eleven races. Porsche ended factory involvement in the GTLM class after 2020, leaving Vanthoor without a factory program for 2021. He was loaned to customer team Pfaff Motorsports for the 2021 IMSA season and won the GTD class championship alongside Zacharie Robichon.

Vanthoor also won the 24 Hours of Spa a second time in 2020, driving a Porsche 911 GT3 R entered by Rowe Racing.

In 2022 Vanthoor competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for SSR Performance, driving a Porsche 911 GT3 R.

For the 2023 season Vanthoor moved into the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship, partnering Kévin Estre and André Lotterer at Porsche Penske Motorsport. The trio took their first podium at Portimão and finished third again at Fuji, where Vanthoor led the opening two hours against the Toyotas. They finished sixth in the standings, beating the sister car by ten points.

In 2024 Vanthoor, Estre, and Lotterer raced in Porsche's No. 6. They won the season-opening Qatar 1812 km race — a podium lockout for the 963 chassis — and scored four more podiums including a win at the 2024 6 Hours of Fuji, ultimately winning the 2024 FIA WEC Hypercar World Endurance Drivers' Championship.

In 2025 Vanthoor won the 24 Hours of Daytona with Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy after starting the race in third.

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