Nicklas Nielsen Aiming to Repeat Historic Le Mans Victory

The reigning Le Mans winner has his sights set on another triumph as this year’s edition of the legendary French 24-hour race takes place this coming weekend.

Nicklas Nielsen reached the pinnacle of his career in 2024 when he crossed the finish line as the overall winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Danish Ferrari factory driver etched his name into the history books as only the third Dane ever to claim outright victory in the iconic endurance classic – and this year, he’s hoping to do it all over again.

“Of course, we’re racing to win again, and we believe it’s possible. Our initial testing went well – we completed our program, collected a lot of data, and the car feels good. It looks like this race will be quite different from last year – the weather is significantly warmer, and it seems we won’t have to deal with all the rain we struggled with in 2024. It’ll be interesting to see what we can achieve,” says Nicklas Nielsen.

The 28-year-old Dane will share the #50 Ferrari 499P with teammates Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina – one of two entries from the Ferrari factory squad. The sister car, #51, will be driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi, and James Calado.

“It’s fantastic to be back. We’re coming off a 1-2 finish at Spa-Francorchamps last month, where our teammates in the sister car took the win and we came second, so the energy and motivation are high – even though we know very well that Le Mans is a completely different challenge compared to the other races in the world championship,” Nielsen adds.

Although he enters this year’s race as one of the clear favorites, the Hørning-born driver remains grounded, unaffected by last year’s victory or his status as the reigning Le Mans champion.

“We approach the race with the same humility as always. Anything else would be a big mistake. The fact that we as a team have won Le Mans two years in a row – last year with our car and the year before with the sister car – doesn’t make it any easier. On the contrary, the pressure to repeat the result is higher than ever. At the same time, the field is closer, and there are many strong competitors,” the Dane emphasizes.

The 2025 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans kicks off with the first official practice session on Wednesday, June 11, followed by a new qualifying format that begins the same evening. From the initial session, the 15 fastest cars will move on to Hyperpole 1 on Thursday night. Another five will be eliminated there, leaving the final 10 to fight for the top grid positions in Hyperpole 2.

Nicklas Nielsen’s pursuit of a second Le Mans victory begins when the race goes green on Saturday, June 14 at 4:00 PM.