Liam and Loris Hezemans are not the only EuroNASCAR drivers to compete in Le Mans Classic, with past names making headlines in other categories…
The 2025 edition of the Le Mans Classic is a highlight for fans of sports car and endurance racing. Cars that used to compete at the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans were brought together to preserve its legacy as motorsport continues to grow from year to year.
Plenty of drivers, be it professional drivers or wealthy gentleman drivers, entered the Classic to show what the old machines can really do in front of a new generation of fans.
Chief among which are NASCAR Euro Series champions Loris and Liam Hezemans. The Hezemans brothers were the big stars of the 2025 edition, as the clip of Loris’ spectacular start in his Bizzarrini 5300 GT went trending on social media.
Loris and Liam’s Le Mans Classic participation is supported by another familiar member of the EuroNASCAR family: Hendriks Motorsport. The Dutch powerhouse outfit spread their wings beyond EuroNASCAR as the team that managed Team Hezemans’ historic racing program.
However, the Hezemans brothers and Hendriks Motorsport are not the only notable EuroNASCAR figures to compete in the 2025 Le Mans Classic.
There was actually another former EuroNASCAR champion that competed: Éric Hélary, the 2011 series champion – the last champion before NASCAR officially sanctioned the series.
Hélary entered the event as part of French Speed Connection in the Endurance Racing Legends division. Hélary raced a Lamborghini Murciélago LP670 R-SV LM, previously entered to the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans by privateer Super GT team Japanese Lamborghini Owners Club (JLOC).
Coincidentally, Team Hezemans also entered the Endurance Racing Legends division with a Lotus Elise GT1. This created an unlikely scenario of two former EuroNASCAR champions sharing the same track in a non-NASCAR event.
In another (unfortunate) coincidence, neither Hélary and Hezemans enjoyed good luck on race day. The Lotus Elise GT1 suffered a double retirement, while Helary’s Murcielago failed to even start in both races.
“Unfortunately the Lotus Elise GT1, driven by Mike and Loris Hezemans, suffered fuel problems all weekend long, failing to finish any of its races,” said Hendriks Motorsport in its official release.
In spite of this terrible disappointment, Hélary still enjoyed his return to Circuit de la Sarthe for the Classic. Helary is a former overall winner of the 24 Hours itself, winning the 1993 edition alongside Christophe Bouchut and Geoff Brabham in a Peugeot 905 Evo 1B.
“Four days traveling through time, it’s pure magic!” said Hélary on Instagram after the weekend. “Sadly, the adventure was a short one for this Murciélago.”
“Just like me, it was a bit rusty after all that time off the track! But with some proper work at Reiter Engineering and a solid tune-up, we’ll come back stronger!”
Historic racing regulars Olivier and David Hart were also present in the event, competing in multiple classes. Their best feat came in the Group C Racing class, where they finished runner-up in Race 1 behind Maxime Guenat.
David never raced in EuroNASCAR, but his son Olivier had. Olivier made a one-off EuroNASCAR PRO start in the 2020 doubleheader finale at Valencia.
Coincidentally, he made his sole EuroNASCAR appearance with Hendriks Motorsport. On that Valencia weekend, Olivier drove the No. 7 Orion Ford as Martin Doubek’s teammate.
Hart also took part in Grid 5, intended for machines that were built from 1966 to 1971. There, they competed alongside three former EuroNASCAR competitors.
Out of the three, the top performer was Remo Lips, who took part in a one-off outing with Racingfuel Motorsport in the 2022 season.
Lips received the chance to compete with Frank Stippler, a former winner of both Spa and Nurburgring 24. Driving a Ferrari 312P, the duo managed to win Race 2, albeit it was a race that was cut short after just one lap.
Lips and Stippler also ran respectably in Races 1 and 3. They finished tenth in Race 1 and 23rd in Race 3. On the latter, they were beaten by Nigel Greensall – one of the drivers competing in EuroNASCAR’s inaugural NASCAR sanctioned year in 2012.
Greensall, like the Hart’s, is a regular in the historic racing scene. Greensall is also a familiar face in stock cars, being a long-time competitor in UK’s Pickup Truck Racing championship.
In Grid 5, Greensall took part in a Chevron B19 that he shared with Rolf Sigrist. They did not have the best of luck in Races 1 and 2, but recovered to finish in a strong 12th place for Race 3.
Both Lips and Greensall also competed in the Grid 3 races, intended for machines built from 1957 to 1961. Lips again won in this category, winning Race 2 in a Ferrari 250 GT SWB alongside Diego Meier.
Greensall’s best result was a top-5 in Race 3, driving a Morgan Plus 4 Series I alongside John Emberson. Lips also finished on the podium here, crossing the finish line in third overall.
The third driver is Frédéric Greiling, who made a part-time campaign with RDV Competition in the 2014 season. Greiling’s WM P70 was a non-factor during the weekend, but it did finish all three races in Grid 5.
The aforementioned Group C Racing class featured two competitors with EuroNASCAR pedigree. Both were former race winners in EuroNASCAR OPEN: Marc Duez and Guillaume “Guido” Dumarey.
Duez was the winner in EuroNASCAR’s sole Spa-Francorchamps meeting in 2012. Dumarey was a top force in the division in the 2017 and 2018 seasons, finishing runner-up behind Thomas Ferrando in 2017.
Duez finished both races with his Porsche 962C, but Dumarey in the Spice-Tiga GC285 was not so fortunate. Like the Hezemans brothers, Dumarey failed to finish either race.
Dumarey did have better luck in the Porsche Classic Race division though. The Belgian qualified third and finished the division’s sole race in fourth place out of 58 starters.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.