We had the chance to interview Gillian Henrion: young french driver, who started his career with karting. Later he switched to single-seaters and then to Endurance racing. In this interview Gillian reminisces and tells us about what his path has been like, one step at the time, without ever stopping believing.
The start of everything: from tv to the track
Gillian got closer to motorsport when he was very young. Before starting to race, he was a kid who loved watching F1 on tv. As he told us, he specifically loved watching the red car, driven by Schumacher. The love for the world of racing was such a big passion for the French, even in his childhood dreams.
My passion for the sport was born immediately.
Gillian, driver born 2003 in Nancy (France), made his first steps in the world of motorsport at the age of 6 years old in the International Karting Championship, after having started, we could say, ‘by chance’.
I started karting by chance, while I was on holiday. The feelings I had were so intense that we decided to start competing with my family team – ‘Gillian Henrion Racing’ – when I was 6 years old. From there we took it one step at the time: regionals, nationals, internationals and so on.
After the national championships, in 2016 he moved to European championships and later to world championships. In 2018 he debuted in the single-seaters in the French F4 championship and the year after, he continued in the same category, showing consistency and eventually closing the season in fifth place. In 2020 he took a step forward and made it to Formula Regional, a championship he will finish in tenth place.
2020: the end that started a new beginning.
In December of 2020 on the Vallelunga circuit, it seemed to be Gillian’s last time on track. It was the last stop of the season, but it was actually marking the beginning of an uncertain future in the career of the young french driver. During the last lap, Gillian was sad and disappointed, he knew that the risk of not coming back on track was there with him. His career was in danger: the lack of sponsors and the expensive price of a season in a top team, had forced him and his own team to retire from the world of motor racing, especially after that checkered flag that seemed to be the last. But that was not a permanent ‘goodbye’.
Maybe the solution to go on is using the 2021 season to look for financing so that Gillian could have a great season in 2022. – Said Samuel, Gillian’s father at the end of the 2020 season.
We also asked Gillian how he got through that time of incertitude and how he faced that moment so difficult for him, that seemed to mark the end of his career.
To be honest, I didn’t think I would go back to motorsport. I continued training physically and mentally in the case of an opportunity coming my way, but it was a hard time. Being forced to let go of a dream you had since childhood is not an easy thing to do. I spent a year looking for financing and sponsors. But my craving for redemption pushed me to stay put and ready in case a possibility arised.
And, in fact, in 2022 this possibility showed itself and Henrion was ready to come back. This time he did it on a completely different car, disputing the Ligier European Series championship. The pause of 2021 hadn’t been useless at all: Gillian came back on track with the goal of moving up to the next category, climbing the mountain that is motorsport, one step at the time, without ever stopping believing.
2022: a new story starts with Ligier
The young driver from Nancy started his path towards the world of motorsport in the Ligier European Series, with Team Virage. After a break year from the racing reality, the right choice was exactly the Endurance race: a path that started with a boom, seeing his two pole positions followed by his two wins after the first race, at Le Castellet.
2022 has been an excellent season for Gillian who managed to step on the podium after every race he disputed, obtaining the title of Champion. Gillian won every race except Race 1 in Spa-Francorchamps, where he finished ‘only’ second.
The Ligier European Series has truly been a turning point in my career. I had to adapt very quickly since it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Before the start of the season, I did only two days of testing but I immediately felt comfortable with the car. Prototypes and single-seaters have a similar driving style, which is something that eased my adjustment to the environment. However, I didn’t have any margin for error, so I had to somehow maximize this adjustment period to actually continue my career.
It was a chance that appeared suddenly. Gillian had to adapt himself to the car during those two days of testing, in every session of which he and his team gave their 200% to understand the car and tried finding the best setup for the driver.
A quest that wasn’t easy at all, as Gillian says, but that has also made him prouder when he achieved his goal, winning the title.
In between the stops of the 2022 season, at Le Mans, we saw him stepping on the podium during the 24h race weekend, accompanied by his father Samuel who has always been by his side on this journey.
We asked Gillian to tell us about the relationship he has with his father, whom we’ve always seen him with on track, and what it meant for him to have him by his side on one of the most iconic podiums in the world.
My dad has been with me since my first days on track and has been there at every race. It’s been a privilege to thank him this way. He has given up so much so that I could go on with my career and I really wanted to show him my gratitude.
2023: same team, same determination, different championship
In 2023 Gillian debuted in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, next to Julien Gerbi. This season also started really well with a win after the first race in Barcelona, sadly followed by an unlucky Road to Le Mans, even though the pair immediately recovered at the next stop in Le Castellet. Consistency, talent and the team’s determination allowed him to win this championship too.
Le Mans Cup started ideally with that first victory. Despite ignition problems that cut short our testing time, I took advantage of my time in the car to take and maintain the first position. This episode fueled us to aim for the title.
Gillian’s experience in the Ligier European Series had prepared him really well for the Le Mans Cup, a season that has been very precious to him in order to get to know the JSP320 better and also to improve his preparation to jump up into the ELMS.
2024: the debut in the European Le Mans Series
Just as for the year 2023, team and determination are the same but the championship changes. This time Gillian debuted in the ELMS: the European Endurance championship, managed by ACO. We could almost call it a ‘baby WEC’ because of its competition level and high visibility, not only on European turf. Here as well, again with Gerbi and Bernardo Pinheiro, they managed to take home the win of the first race in Barcelona. A seventh, second and sixth place will follow up until the win at Mugello, the second to last stop. A victory that allowed him to qualify at only one point difference from the firsts in the championship standings with only one round to go.
The season had many ups and downs but with more than 50% of the podiums, counting two victories and a second place over five races, the balance was definitely positive. Without any complications we could’ve been placed better for the championship. Before Mugello we were standing 20 points from the leader but now we are only at 1 point before the final race. My best moment was fuel management during the last race at Mugello, where I learned a new side of the endurance that I love.
After the interview it was time to step on track for the last stop of the ELMS, in Portimao. A race after which the team finished in sixth position. For Gillian then, the championship ended in third place.
Jan Patrick Wagner
The debut in WEC: a dream becoming reality
At the start of November Henrion participated in WEC’s Rookie Test for the GT3 category, an experience he described as a dream becoming reality. We asked him what it means for him ‘a dream becoming reality’ and to tell us the real meaning behind this opportunity.
Looking back on my career from the 2022 season till today, I can say that this is a dream. Two years ago I actually thought my career was over and now I’m debuting in the highest level of endurance racing. It’s an enormous source of pride for me. I reached this point in my life thanks to Ligier, my parents, my sponsors, my team Virage, my teammates and all those who supported me. It’s been a team effort. Even if I won’t be able to drive for an entire season in WEC I hope to show my true value to catch the teams’ interest.
Gillian has arrived in Bahrain ready to climb in a GT car for the first time (if we don’t count the 5 laps he had done in 2021 on an Aston Martin), a car that won in the LMGT3 class of this season’s WEC: the Manthey PureRacing’s Porsche 911 GT3. Gillian arrived ready as ever to show himself to the entire world. After being chosen as ‘rising star’ of motorsport by ACO, earning a place in the 2024 Rookie Test of the Endurance Championship in Bahrain.
Having this opportunity already gives me the chance to show that I wasn’t chosen just because. It means that during these years I had the opportunity to show some of my talent.
Said Gillian during an interview with Endurance24.
Away from track, Gillian is a Sports’ Management student and it was actually during a class that he was given the call that he was going to be participating in the WEC Rookie Test. However, it was a call he did not answer as he told us during the interview for endurance24. An unanswered call that was signed by WEC and requested a call-back. It was then that Gillian realized the importance of that call and found out he had been selected by the FIA and ACO.
I’d like to thank the President of ACO, Pierre Fillon and the CEO of WEC, Frédéric Lequien, for giving me this opportunity. A pyramid-like path offered by ACO, shows that it is possible to gradually reach your goal and the absolute peak of the sport. I started with the Ligier European Series in 2022 and two years later here I am debuting in the WEC category. It is a dream come true.
Gillian’s words on FIAWEC.com
“I dream of Hypercar and the 24h of Le Mans”
For 2025, nothing has been decided yet regarding Henrion’s career; the financial aspect always plays a fundamental role. Certainly these opportunities have given him experience for the future.
To end this interview, we’ve asked Henrion what his goals are for the future and where he sees himself in the years to come.
If I was to talk to you about a dream of mine, it would be competing in the WEC in Hypercar, aiming to victory in the championship and winning the 24h of Le Mans. I don’t know where I will be in a year; I try seizing every opportunity I get. But yes, the Hypercar in the WEC remains my main goal.
Gillian taught us that dreams really do come true, even if it seems impossible. In the European paddocks, where he drove in the 2020 Formula Regional Championship, we all remember the blue and yellow car of Gillian Track Events GTE, a car that was completely “family-run”. A cart to move the car around, a gazebo, a couple of mechanics and the ever-present papà Samuel were enough to hold up the team and a dream.
