Mathias Beche

Career

After starting in karting, Beche began racing in single-seaters in Asia in 2007 when he contested the Asian Formula Renault Challenge, finishing fifth overall with one win. The following year, he took part in Formula Asia 2.0 where he ended up runner-up to Felix Rosenqvist.

2009 saw Beche switch to sportscar racing, finishing third in Formula Le Mans. In 2010, he contested four Le Mans Series rounds; three in the FLM class and one in GT1 in a Ford GT. He then entered the last two rounds of the FIA GT3 European Championship, also in a Ford.

In 2011, Beche competed in the full Le Mans Series season in an LMP2 Oreca 03 for TDS Racing with Pierre Thiriet and Jody Firth. The trio won the rounds at Spa and Estoril and finished fourth in the final drivers' standings. Beche also drove in the FIA GT1 World Championship round at Zolder in a Ford.

For 2012, LMP2 became the top class of the renamed European Le Mans Series. Partnering Thiriet at TDS, Beche won the opening round of the season at Paul Ricard and the season finale at Road Atlanta, securing his first major championship victory. For that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans they were joined by Christophe Tinseau, finishing second in class.

Beche remained in the ELMS with Thiriet by TDS in 2013, though he would also progress to drive in the FIA WEC's top class, piloting a Lola B12/60 for Rebellion Racing. Despite missing the opening ELMS round, the Swiss driver took two victories alongside Thiriet, leading the team towards second place in the standings. In the WEC, Beche scored two podium finishes on his way to fifth in the championship.

Rebellion's LMP1 programme became the permanent home for Beche during the next two seasons, which started with an LMP1-L class win (for non-hybrid powered teams) at the 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside Nico Prost and Nick Heidfeld and the eventual LMP1-L title in 2014. The team withdrew from the opening two races of the 2015 season to finalise work on their new Rebellion R-One, but once they entered, Beche and Prost took two privateer class wins to become champions. At the end of the year, Beche was part of a shootout for a reserve seat at Toyota Gazoo Racing, though that seat eventually went to Kamui Kobayashi.

In 2016, Beche returned to the ELMS with Thiriet by TDS, driving an Oreca 05 alongside Pierre Thiriet and Ryō Hirakawa. He took pole for the opening race at Silverstone, though an early crash by Thiriet forced the team out of the race. The trio bounced back by winning a weather-affected event at Imola, before Thiriet/TDS won again at the Red Bull Ring. Beche then took a convincing pole at Le Castellet, paving the way for the outfit's third successive victory. Another podium finish at Spa was not enough to win the title, as Beche and the team suffered electrical troubles in the final race, which was won by eventual champions G-Drive Racing.

Beche returned to Rebellion on a full-time basis in 2017, competing in the LMP2 class of the WEC. His #13 entry was hampered by disqualifications at Le Mans, where a miraculous overall podium (and second place in class) was taken away by the team's "unnecessary modification of approved bodywork", and Fuji, which saw a heated battle between Beche and Jean-Éric Vergne come to a head before Rebellion were excluded for a drive time violation. Despite taking three podiums from the final four races, the Swiss driver and his teammates finished fourth in the teams' standings, whereas the sister #31 entry won the LMP2 title.

For the 2018–19 WEC "Super Season", Beche and Rebellion returned to LMP1 with the R13, with the Swiss driver partnering Thomas Laurent and Gustavo Menezes. The team started off with two third places, including a class podium at Le Mans, before a disqualification for both Toyotas earned Beche and his teammates victory at Silverstone. However, Beche moved to the sister car for the round at Sebring and left the team with two races to go, meaning that he finished sixth in the championship — three places behind Menezes and Laurent.

After a scattergun racing programme in 2019 and 2020, where he made his Super GT debut for arto Ping An Team Thailand, Beche returned to the rostrum in 2021, winning the final race of the Le Mans Cup as well as the LMP2 Pro-Am class at the 8 Hours of Portimão with Realteam Racing.

Beche would make the LMP2 Pro-Am category his home in 2022, driving for TDS Racing x Vaillante alongside rookie Tijmen van der Helm and amateur driver Philippe Cimadomo in the ELMS. He took two overall pole positions during the year, though this was only enough for fourth in the Pro-Am standings. The team also finished fourth at the Le Mans 24 Hours, where a pre-race exclusion for Cimadomo for insufficient driving standards forced the team up to compete as a Pro entrant with new driver Nyck de Vries. Beche switched to Nielsen Racing for the 2023 ELMS season, where he, Ben Hanley and Rodrigo Sales finished fourth in the Pro-Am classification with three class podiums. At Le Mans, the trio retired early when Sales crashed at Dunlop corner.

Going into 2024, Beche teamed up with LMP2 rookie Grégoire Saucy and the returning Sales at Richard Mille by TDS in the ELMS, driving in the LMP2 Pro-Am class once again. A slower stop relegated Beche to second in Barcelona, though a strong performance in Le Castellet gave the TDS crew victory. Despite Beche's impressive pace at Le Mans, which he contested for TDS's sister team Panis Racing, numerous penalties for the team left him ninth in LMP2. Back in the ELMS, third in Imola allowed the team to take the championship lead. At Spa-Francorchamps however, a mid-race crash caused by Saucy ended TDS's race early. Beche and his teammates recovered lost ground in Mugello, as they performed an aggressive recovery drive to win. This put TDS just two points behind leaders AF Corse ahead of the Portimão finale. In an immensely tight championship battle, an overtake by Matthieu Vaxivière on Beche in the dying embers of the race was a deciding factor, one that dropped TDS to fourth in the championship.

During the 2024-25 winter, Beche took part in the Asian Le Mans Series, partnering Jonas Ried and Alexander Mattschull at Proton Competition. Due to health problems, Beche missed the second race at Sepang. Thanks in part to mechanical problems in Dubai and a drive time penalty at Yas Marina, the Proton crew finished last in the teams' standings. Beche was initially announced to drive a full season in the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports. As part of the lineup, Beche inherited third place in class at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Before the fourth race of the season at Mosport however, Beche was replaced by Benjamin Pedersen.

Beche remained at TDS Racing for the 2025 ELMS season, partnering Sales and Clément Novalak. With a win at the season finale at Portimão, Beche and his teammates finished third in the LMP2 Pro-Am standings. As a recognition for his average stint pace across the season, Beche received the Goodyear Golden Wingfoot Award in his category. He also scored pole position, fastest lap and second place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Driver profile

As early as 2016, Beche has been described as an "ace" in the LMP2 class.

Racing record

Complete Asian Formula Renault Challenge results

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

Complete Formula Asia 2.0 results

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

Complete Formula Le Mans Cup 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) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

• Season still in progress.--

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

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

† Non World Endurance Championship entries are ineligible to score points.

• Season still in progress.--

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

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

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

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

• Season still in progress.

Complete Super GT results

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

• Season still in progress.--

References

References

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