Romain Dumas
Romain Dumas is a French racing driver in endurance racing, GT and sport-prototype. He has won the greatest races of the discipline, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 24 Hours of Spa, the Nürburgring 24 Hours, and the 12 Hours of Sebring. He has been one of Porsche's factory drivers since 2004. He's also been contracted to Audi from 2009 to 2012, Volkswagen from 2017 to 2019, and Ford Performance since 2022, setting records in mostly electric prototypes at Pikes Peak and other places.
Biography
Born in Alès, Dumas started karting in 1992, in 1996 he competed in the French Formula Renault Championship. In 1998, he joined the French Formula 3 Championship.Dumas tested a Formula 3000 car for Oreca in 1999, a Renault F1 in 2002, and in 2004 a Conquest Racing Champ Car, but he did not proceed to race in these formulas.Two years after his F3000 test, though, he competed in Euro Formula 3000, in 2001 and 2002.
From 2001 to 2023, Dumas has participated in every 24 Hours of Le Mans race, and from 2002 to 2013 he has competed in American Le Mans Series. He was a Porsche factory driver for Penske Racing, and also driven in the FIA GT Championship.
In 2007, Dumas won first overall in the 24 Hours Nürburgring, 1st American Le Mans Series, 3rd Le Mans 24 Hours, 4 races VLN championship with Manthey Racing, 18th Daytona 24H
Dumas started 2008 with the P2 class and overall win at the 2008 12 Hours of Sebring in the Penske Porsche RS Spyder.
Dumas was invited to test an Indycar for Team Penske at the end of the 2008 season, at Sonoma Raceway.
As of 2009, Roger Penske lost sponsorship for the sports car program, Dumas and Timo Bernhard raced on loan to the Audi Sport Team Joest, finishing 17 overall and 13 in class in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Dumas, together with Timo Bernhard and Mike Rockenfeller won the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans in an Audi R15 TDI plus. He also won the 2010 24 Hours of Spa in a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Dumas also won with partner Klaus Graf in the CytoSport Porsche RS Spyder at the ALMS event at Mosport.
Dumas developed and drove the Porsche 919 Hybrid in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2014.
In 2014, Dumas won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in a Norma M20 "RD Limited" prototype developed specifically for the event.
In 2015, Dumas raced a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup Car in the RGT class of the WRC Monte Carlo Rally, placing second behind class winner François Delecour. Later he claimed a class win at the Rallye Deutschland.
Dumas continued as a Porsche LMP1 works driver for the 2016 FIA WEC season. Dumas and teammates Neel Jani and Marc Lieb achieved victory at the 6 Hours of Silverstone and the 24 Hours of Le Mans en route to winning the driver's championship. A week after winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Dumas claimed victory at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with a Norma prototype, earning his second overall win at the event.
In 2017, Dumas did not return as a Porsche LMP1 works driver. He earned a third overall victory at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, again with a Norma prototype.
In 2018, Dumas won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb again, driving the Volkswagen I.D. R and setting a new overall record of 7:57.148, with an average speed of 150.9 km/h. He was interviewed in his house in Geneva about training methods, which include using an old Arai helmet modified for neck weight training.
In 2019, Dumas set a new lap record for an electric vehicle at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, completing the circuit in 6:05.336 driving the Volkswagen ID R.
The same year, he set a lap record at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, completing the hill climb in 0:39.90 driving the Volkswagen I.D. R, beating Nick Heidfeld in the McLaren MP4/13 Formula One car. In September, Dumas and the Volkswagen I.D. R set the official benchmark for hill climbing the Tianmen Mountain, completing the Shan Big Gate Road in 07:38.585.
In 2021, Dumas took another Time Attack class win at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, with the Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport of Champion Racing.
In 2023, Dumas drove the Ford SuperVan 4.2 at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, finishing 1st in the division and 2nd overall, with a time of 8:47.682.
He also set the lap record at the Mount Panorama Circuit in 2024 with the SuperVan, setting a time of 1:56.3247.
In December, 2023, Dumas set the world record for land vehicle altitude, driving a Porsche 911 to the peak of the west ridge of the Ojos del Salado volcano in Chile, above sea level.
In 2024, Dumas earned his fifth overall Pikes Peak International Hill Climb victory, while driving a Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck in the Pikes Peak Open class. Dumas set a time of 8:53.563, just under seven seconds clear of second place.
Endurance remains his main program. He raced with Alpine at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2017, and then with Rebellion Racing and Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus in the top class, with a podium-finish at the 2022 1000 Miles of Sebring and a pole position at the 2022 6 Hours of Monza in FIA World Endurance Championship.
Career results
Complete Euro Formula 3000 results
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Points |
| 2001 | B & C Competition | VLL 6 | PER Ret | MNZ 3 | DON 5 | ZOL 14 | IMO | NÜR | VAL 2 | 7th | 13 | |
| 2002 | John Village Automotive | VLL 1 | PER Ret | MOZ 1 | SPA 1 | DON 10 | BRN 2 | DIJ 6 | JER 4 | CAG 5 | 2nd | 42 |
Complete JGTC results
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | DC | Pts |
| 2001 | Toyota Team SARD | Toyota Supra | GT500 | TAI | FUJ | SUG 9 | FUJ 13 | MOT Ret | SUZ 9 | MIN 4 | 17th | 14 |
American Le Mans Series results
† Did not finish the race but was classified as his car completed more than 70% of the overall winner's race distance.Dakar Rally results
| Year | Class | Vehicle | Position | Stages won |
| 2015 | Cars |  |