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Simon interviews Patrick Barbier, Team Founder and Director of Racing Spirit of Léman

By Simon Hawkins (AMOC) & Inge Moreau Horsten (The Dutch Touch)

Patrick Barbier, Team Founder and Director, Racing Spirit of Léman

The World Endurance Championship (WEC) welcomed a new Aston Martin entrant into the series in 2025. Racing Spirit of Léman (RSL) entered a Vantage GT3 into the top tier of this highly competitive series. The team was founded in 2019 by Patrick Barbier. Patrick agreed to an interview with AMOC ahead of this year's 24hr Le Mans to talk about his career and achievements to date and how this led to him and the team to develop and a successful partnership with Aston Martin Racing (AMR).

Patrick speaks little English so it was a real pleasure to be co-authoring this with Inge Moreau Horsten from The Dutch - Touch. Inge, through her motor racing media work, has a long established contact with Patrick and was able to facilitate the meeting, translate and author the Q&A interview session. Thanks also to Yousif Louca, AMOC Portugal, for initial introductions.

For initial clarification the team’s name bears no relationship with the famous Le Mans circuit, but comes from the French name for Lake Geneva, 'Lac Léman', which the team is based near in La Roche-sur-Foron, France.

How did your interest in racing start?

Patrick: I started as an apprentice mechanic at a BMW dealership at the age of 16. Unwilling to leave the brand at the end of my apprenticeship, I was hired at Charles Pozzi's BMW dealership (a Ferrari importer and an annual competitor in the 24 Hours of Le Mans) in Paris. In 1979, I worked on a racing car for the first time at JMS Racing (a partner of the BMW dealership Ch. Pozzi), with my first driver, Claude Ballot-Léna. Of course, I entered the world of racing in a BMW 530 Production car.

In 1985, I joined ROC Competition, preparing Ladas for the Paris Dakar, driven by Jacky Ickx and Pierre Lartigue. We also competed in rallying with a Peugeot 205 T16, driven by Michele Mouton, and began building 4-wheel-drive cars for the circuit (the Audi 200 Quattro), the very first 4-wheel-drive car to win circuit races and championships.

This was followed by 13 years of collaboration with Audi Sport, in which ROC Competition featured some of the company's greatest drivers (Franck Biela, Emmanuel Pirró, Dindo Capello, Tamara Vidali, etc.). Still involved in rally raids, we built the first single-seater Kouros Buggy for the Paris Dakar with driver Hubert Auriol. 

In 1999, I built a Renard LMP 675 for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with two retirements (1999, 2000) before winning, and a very impressive 5th place overall in 2001.

After the closure of ROC Compétition in 2002, I built ice cars for the Andros Trophy and the IRSI International Championship at Techno DI C.

In 2004, I opened my first car restoration company for competition vehicles, specifically to restore the unique JS 1, Guy Ligier's first racing car.

In 2008, I turned to rallying, preparing a 307 WRC, a 206 WRC and a 207 S 2000, earning two French Team Championship titles and two Driver's Vice-Championship titles. However, I soon returned to the circuit. In 2013, we entered the Mitjet 2 lt, Mitjet Super Touring, and Fun Cup championships, rewarding the team with seven titles.

In 2016, we began our collaboration with COOL Racing, entering the 2017 Michelin Le Mans Cup and ELMS championships. At the same time, we entered two Porsches in the FFSA GT4 championship.

Patrick's collaboration with COOL racing resulted in a number of different racing ventures including the LMP2 car in the 2017 Michelin Le Mans Cup series.
Credit: Patrick Barbier

How did the partnership with Aston Martin Racing Develop?

Patrick: We were then approached by Aston Martin Racing (AMR), who were looking for a team to run their new GT4s in the French championship. Our program with COOL Racing encouraged us to defer AMR's offer, not wanting to jeopardize either program.

Racing Spirit of Léman was then created in 2019, which allowed us to bring on board my daughter Herminie as Team Manager and her partner Guillaume as Technical Director.

During the split with COOL Racing in 2020, Benoit Bourdaire, AMR's sales manager, contacted me again to commit to AMR in the French championship. 2021 was a transitional year for us, allowing us to implement the AMR GT4 program. The partnership with AMR truly began in 2022, with the evolution we're seeing leading up to the WEC in 2025.

The choice of AMR was also made by evaluating the different systems offered to us. The idea was to see RSL compete in the Michelin Le Mans Cup and in the ELMS in GT and prototype. We therefore selected the option that offered us the best chance of returning to the top level as quickly as possible after the COOL Racing experience, with the aim of returning to Le Mans.

RSL feels very comfortable in WEC, returning to a familiar environment during the 2019/2020 season in LMP2. The partnership with AMR Racing provides every guarantee regarding the competitiveness of the No. 10 car.

The start of the season required some preparation, but since Spa we've found our rhythm, and that bodes well for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

How large is your current operation and proposed race programmes?

Patrick: RSL currently has 12 employees and a team of 26 service providers. 38 people work for RSL in the various championships: GT4 Europe, Ultimate Cup Series, Michelin Le Mans Cup, ELMS, and WEC. And during track days, between cars participating in the various championships and track days, 11 cars are being serviced in the workshops. A brand new facility is currently under construction.

What are the future plans for RSL?

Patrick: Our plans with AMR are very clear to us; we look forward to a long-term collaboration and great victories.

The driver line up for the 2025 WEC season is Derek DeBoer, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Eduardo Barrichello (son of F1 driver Rubens Barrichello) who is embarking on a new career path in GT racing.

Patrick comments; The WEC crew consists of Derek, who already raced with the team in the 2024 ELMS championship (3rd in the championship), as well as Valentin (factory AMR driver), who has been racing with RSL since 2023 (Michelin Le Mans Cup champion 2023, 3rd in the ELMS 2024). Eduardo was introduced to RSL by AMR; shared interests led to the signing of the contract (high visibility for RSL, joining a world championship with a manufacturer for Eduardo).

Winning races and championships remains the main motivation, continuing to collaborate with AMR for as long as possible is essential for us.

The Le Mans race itself provided Patrick and the RSL team with mixed fortunes. The #10 car driven by Derek Deboer, Valentin Vasse -Clot and Eduardo Barrichello drove an excellent first 2 hours, rising from 17th to 1st in class. Unfortunately, a system issue with the engine meant that it spent three laps in the pits. Despite a further trouble free 22 hours it finished 13th in class.

This strong race pace carried over the following month at the Rolex -World Endurance Championship: 6 Hours of São Paulo, Interlagos, Brazil. RSL scored their first WEC podium of the season in LMGT3 category. Eduardo qualified first in class in the Hyperpole. The team of Anthony McIntosh, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Eduardo drove a great race.

Eduardo drove an impressive last stint clinching the final podium place in the later stages of race, whilst also having to carefully managing the tyres, and much to the delight of the 82,000 fans who came to support their local driver. 

RSL is also a regular competitor in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) in both the LMP3 and LMGT3 classes.

The latest round held as Spa on the 25th August was victorious for RSL as car #59 driven by Clement Mateu, Erwan Bastard and Valentin Hasse Clot secured victory in the LMGT3 class on the last lap, after an inspired pit stop strategy.

The next round of the ELMS will take place on the 14th September 2025 at Silverstone and will be the only time this year that RSL will compete in the UK.

The remainder of the 2025 season now looks promising and we wish Patrick and his team the best of luck and look forward to following his journey with AMR for many years to come.

Racing art created for the 2025 Le Mans race
Credit: Racing Spirit of Léman