The 2021 European Le Mans Series has attracted some of the best teams and drivers in endurance from around the world with some of the brightest young driver talent choosing to compete in the championship this year.
Over the years the ELMS has been seen as a credible alternative to the single seater option for young drivers and the 2021 season is no different with plenty of drivers who are 20 years old or younger on the grid.
Malthe Jakobsen
16-year-old Malthe Jakobsen racing for 2019 LMP3 champions RLR MSport is in his second full season with the British team. The young Dane from Sennels had a good karting career, finishing as vice champion in the 2015 Rotax Max Challenge Denmark (Junior) and the 2016 NEZ Championship (KFG) before switching to cars in 2019.
In his first season, Jakobsen became the 2019 Renault F4 Danish Champion, taking 11 wins, 18 podiums, 7 pole positions and 4 fastest laps from the 21 races. In 2020 he switched to endurance, competing in the LMP3 class in the ELMS, where he has demonstrated his speed, running at the sharp end of the grid and taking a podium finish on his ELMS debut in Le Castellet.
The young Dane is currently lying 4th in the LMP3 driver standings alongside his teammates Alex Kapadia and Michael Benham, with the trio finishing second in Barcelona.
Franco Colapinto
Argentine teenager Franco Colapinto will celebrate his 18th birthday on Thursday 27 May and already he has attracted a lot of attention with his performances to date.
The 2016 Argentinian Championship Pre-Junior Kart Champion switched to cars in 2019, taking the highly competitive F4 Spanish Championship title at his first attempt, scoring 14 podiums, with 11 wins, 9 pole positions and 10 fastest laps in the 21 races.
A season in the 2020 Castrol Toyota Racing Series with Kiwi Motorsport saw Colapinto finish third overall after 15 races in which he scored 7 podiums, including 1 victory, 1 pole position and 2 fastest laps.
This season he has moved up to LMP2 racing for former ELMS champions G-Drive Racing.In the 2021 Asian Le Mans Series Franco finished third overall with 3 podiums from the 4 races.
In the ELMS he is racing with Roman Rusinov and Nyck De Vries in the no26 G-Drive Racing Aurus, and is currently lying 2nd in the championship standings, having scored a 4th in Barcelona and a fighting 2nd place finish at the Red Bull Ring, where Franco Colapinto led the race in the extremely tricky track conditions following heavy rain.
Niklas Kruetten
In his debut ELMS season, 18-year-old Niklas Kruetten has certainly become a driver to watch with interest. Competing for Cool Racing in his debut season in endurance alongside Matt Bell and Nicolas Maulini, the German teenager has taken two LMP3 victories in Barcelona and Red Bull Ring to lead the championship standings.
After karts, where he finished third in the standings in the 2012 ADAC Westdeutscher Kart Cup and the 2013 Euro Wintercup, he switched to single seaters with the 2019 ADAC Formula 4, where he took 1 win and a further podium. He also raced in the F4 United Arab Emirates Championship, where he took two further podiums, including a win, and one fastest lap in the four races.
Niklas also represented Germany at the 2019 FIA Motorsport Games, scoring two podium finishes in the two races to finish 2nd overall for Team Germany.
Yifei Ye
20-year-old Yifei Ye switched from single seaters to endurance for the 2021 season and he became the first Chinese driver to take an overall victory in the ELMS when he won the 4 Hours of Barcelona alongside Louis Deletraz and Robert Kubica.
The teenager took his first racing title in 2016, taking 14 wins from 23 starts in the Championnat de France F4.He scored a further podium finish along with 10 pole positions and 13 fastest laps.A 3rd overall in the Eurocup Formula Renault in 2018 and 2nd overall in the 2019 Asian Winter Series. In 2020 a further championship title followed when Yifei won the Euroformula Open crown with 11 wins from 18 starts.
In his debut endurance season, he became the 2021 Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 Champion with G-Drive Racing, scoring three podiums, including two wins, from the four races.
Racing for Orlen Team WRT in the European Le Mans Series has brought more success for the Chinese driver, with victory in Barcelona and at the Red Bull Ring, putting Yifei Ye at the head of the championship standings alongside his teammates Louis Deletraz and Robert Kubica.
Round 3 of the 2021 European Le Mans Series will be the 4 Hours of Le Castellet on Sunday 6 June.
