René Binder

René Binder
René Binder
Born	January 1, 1992 (age 34); Innsbruck, Austria
Occupation	Professional racing driver
Years active	2009–present
Known for	Competing in European Le Mans Series, IndyCar Series, GP2 Series

René Binder (born 1 January 1992) is an Austrian professional racing driver actively competing in the 2025 European Le Mans Series with Proton Competition. He is related to motorsport royalty as the nephew of former Formula One competitor Hans Binder and is the son of racer Franz Binder.

Early career

Hailing from Innsbruck, Binder embarked on his karting journey in 2002. He achieved third place in the German Junior Kart Championship in 2007 and secured the runner-up position in the German Challenger Kart Championship the following year.

Binder transitioned to formula racing in 2009, participating in the ADAC Formel Masters with Abt Sportsline, where he concluded the season seventh overall, having earned three podium finishes. He then advanced to the German Formula Three Championship, competing for Motopark Academy in 2010 and finishing 12th. The subsequent year, he joined Jo Zeller Racing, improving to eighth place despite missing a round, and in 2012, he raced with Van Amersfoort Racing. Additionally, in 2011, Binder took part in a round of the FIA Formula Two Championship at the Red Bull Ring.

Binder made his GP2 Series debut towards the end of 2012 with Team Lazarus, sharing the team with Sergio Canamasas but failing to score points. He continued full-time with Lazarus in 2013, finishing 23rd overall and achieving three points-scoring finishes. In 2014, Binder moved to Arden International, yet his performance declined to 25th place despite his teammate regularly scoring points.

For the 2015 season, Binder teamed up with Ferrari Academy driver Raffaele Marciello at Trident Racing. After beginning without points and missing the Spa round due to illness, he transferred to MP Motorsport, ending the season 22nd overall with several points finishes.

In 2016, Binder competed in the rebranded Formula V8 3.5 Series driving for Charouz Racing System's Lotus outfit. He secured five podiums and ranked seventh overall. Remaining with Lotus for 2017, he claimed multiple victories including wins at Monza and Austin, ultimately finishing fourth in the championship amid strong competition from teammates Roy Nissany and eventual champion Pietro Fittipaldi.

At the conclusion of 2017, Binder tested a rebadged Lotus E20 for the Renault Sport F1 Team at Circuit Paul Ricard.

2018

In 2018, Binder joined Juncos Racing to contest six rounds of the IndyCar Series piloting car number 32. He recorded two top-twenty finishes and ended the season ranked 28th overall. That same year marked his debut in endurance racing, where he drove an LMP1 vehicle for ByKolles Racing during the 6 Hours of Silverstone. Unfortunately, his race ended prematurely after a spin under full-course yellow conditions.

2019

Binder expanded his sportscar racing portfolio in 2019 by joining Panis Barthez Competition, competing alongside Will Stevens and Julien Canal in the LMP2 category of the European Le Mans Series. Furthermore, he participated in select Michelin Endurance Cup events within the IMSA series as part of Juncos Racing’s new DPi program.

2020

For the 2020 season, Binder signed with Inter Europol Competition for another campaign in ELMS. Partnering with teammates Matevos Isaakyan and Jakub Śmiechowski, their squad achieved two top-ten finishes and concluded twelfth in the team championship standings.

2021

At the beginning of 2021, Binder participated in the 2021 Asian Le Mans Series with G-Drive Racing, managed by Algarve Pro, alongside teammates Yifei Ye and Ferdinand Habsburg. The team clinched victory in the season's opening race at Dubai Autodrome due to a well-timed pit stop during a full-course yellow flag. The following day, Binder secured another win by leading during his initial stint before handing over to his co-drivers. Although competitors from Jota dominated the final events at Yas Marina Circuit, consistent podium finishes of second and fourth places allowed Binder, Ye, and Habsburg to claim the championship.

In the ELMS, Binder teamed up with the Duqueine Team, driving alongside Tristan Gommendy and Memo Rojas. Throughout the season, they maintained a solid midfield presence, highlighted by a runner-up finish at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. The Duqueine squad ended the campaign ranked fifth overall.

2022

Initially slated to compete for G-Drive in the FIA World Endurance Championship with teammates Daniil Kvyat and James Allen, Binder's plans changed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and G-Drive’s subsequent withdrawal. Consequently, Binder and Allen raced under the Algarve Pro Racing banner, joined by bronze-rated driver Steven Thomas in the LMP2 Pro-Am division. This trio achieved class victories at both the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 6 Hours of Monza. Algarve Pro concluded the season second in the Pro-Am standings, trailing champions AF Corse by 23 points.

2023

Following an upgrade in his driver ranking from silver to gold, Binder returned to compete in the European Le Mans Series with Duqueine, partnering with Neel Jani and Nico Pino. The team commenced their campaign strongly by winning their class at the Barcelona race, narrowly missing out on overall victory to the Pro-Am Racing Team Turkey entry. A second-place finish at the Le Castellet round marked Duqueine’s final podium appearance for the season, with the team finishing outside the top three in the championship standings. During the season finale at Portimão, Binder progressed from sixth to second place before an incident involving Jani affected their result.

In July, Binder, Jani, and Pino competed in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans representing Duqueine, securing third place overall despite suffering a broken suspension on the last lap. Additionally, Binder took part in the WEC rookie test behind the wheel of a Porsche 963 for Proton Competition. Later that year in December, he returned to contest the ongoing Asian Le Mans Series, teaming up with GT specialist Julien Andlauer and bronze-rated Giorgio Roda. The trio earned three podium finishes throughout this extended campaign, ultimately achieving second place in the Proton Competition standings as it carried into early 2024.

2024

Binder continued his collaboration with Proton during the 2024 season of the ELMS, competing in a Pro-Am lineup alongside Bent Viscaal and Giorgio Roda. After placing fifth in their class at the opening round in Barcelona, they improved to secure a second-place finish at the subsequent event held at Le Castellet.

Personal life

In November 2017, Binder entered into marriage with Melanie. His family is behind Binderholz, a manufacturer specializing in solid wood products, which reported revenues of 1.3 billion Euros in 2018.

Racing career summary

! align = left Rapax Team 2 0 0 0 28th ! align = left IndyCar Series Juncos Racing !nowrap] FIA World Endurance Championship ByKolles Racing Team !rowspan =3 ]European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Panis Barthez Competition

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	Fastest laps	Podiums	Points	Final standing
2009	ADAC Formel Masters	Team Abt Sportsline	16	0	0	1	3	90	7th
2010	ATS Formel 3 Cup	Motopark Academy	18	0	0	0	1	12	12th
2011	ATS Formel 3 Cup	Jo Zeller Racing	16	0	0	0	1	26	8th
2011	FIA Formula Two Championship	MotorSport Vision	2	0	0	0	0	0	28th
2012	ATS Formel 3 Cup	Van Amersfoort Racing	27	3	0	1	7	191	6th
2012	GP2 Series	Venezuela GP Lazarus	6	0	0	0	0	0	31st
2013	GP2 Series	Team Lazarus	21	0	0	0	0	11	23rd
2014	GP2 Series	Arden International	22	0	0	0	0	3	25th
2015	GP2 Series	Trident Racing	12	0	0	0	0	2	22nd
2015	GP2 Series	MP Motorsport	7	0	0	0	0	2	22nd
2015 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season	Pons Racing	2	0	0	0	0	4	22nd
2016	2016 Formula V8 3.5 Championship	Charouz Racing System (Lotus)	18	0	0	0	5	161	7th
	2016 GP2 Series	ART Grand Prix	2	0	0	0	0	0	23rd
	2016 GP2 Series	Carlin Motorsport	2	0	0	0	0	0	23rd
2017	2017 World Series Formula V8 3.5	align=left Charouz Racing System (Lotus) 18 4 2 2 5 201 4th

Complete ADAC Formel Masters results

(Template:Motorsport driver results legend#key) (Bold indicates pole position; italics denote fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Position	Points
2009 ADAC Formel Masters season#2009	"Team Abt Sportsline"																	7th	90

Complete German Formula Three Championship results

(Template:Motorsport driver results legend#key) (Bold indicates pole position; italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	Final standing	Points
(only partial results shown for brevity)
(additional race details for subsequent years follow in a similar format)

Full FIA Formula Two Championship results

(key) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole positions) (Races shown in italics represent fastest laps)

Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final Position	Points Scored
2011	SIL 1	SIL 2	MAG 1	MAG 2	SPA 1	SPA 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	BRH 1	BRH 2	RBR 1 16	RBR 2 13	MON 1	MON 2	CAT 1	CAT 2	28th	0

Complete GP2 Series/FIA Formula 2 Championship results

(key) (Pole positions are marked in bold; fastest laps appear in italics)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	Final Classification	Points Earned
2012	Venezuela GP Lazarus	SEP FEA	SEP SPR	BHR1 FEA	BHR1 SPR	BHR2 FEA	BHR2 SPR	CAT FEA	CAT SPR	MON FEA	MON SPR	VAL FEA	VAL SPR	SIL FEA	SIL SPR	HOC FEA	HOC SPR	HUN FEA	HUN SPR	SPA FEA	SPA SPR	MNZ FEA	MNZ SPR	MRN FEA	MRN SPR	31st	0
2013	Venezuela GP Lazarus	SEP FEA	SEP SPR	BHR FEA	BHR SPR	CAT FEA	CAT SPR	MON FEA	MON SPR	SIL FEA	SIL SPR	NÜR FEA	NÜR SPR	style="background:#CFCFFF;" rowspan=2>HUN FEA <style="background:#CFCFFF;">13</style>	13
												23rd	11

Comprehensive World Series Formula V8 3.5 Results

(key) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole position; those in italics represent fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Standing	Points
2015	Pons Racing	ALC 1	ALC 2	MON 1	SPA 1	SPA 2	HUN 1	HUN 2	RBR 1	RBR 2	SIL 1	SIL 2	NÜR 1 13	NÜR 2 8	BUG 1	BUG 2	JER 1	JER 2		22nd	4
2016	Lotus	ALC 1 4	ALC 2 3	HUN 1 11	HUN 2 7	SPA 1 5	SPA 2 6	LEC 1 3	LEC 2 5	SIL 1 3	SIL 2 2	RBR 1 "Ret"	RBR 2 12	MNZ 1 5	MNZ 2 2	JER 1 5	JER 2 7	CAT 1 "Ret"	CAT 2 6	7th	161
2017	Lotus	SIL 1 5	SIL 2 4	SPA 1 6	SPA 2 2	MNZ 1 1	MNZ 2 1	JER 1 4	JER 2 5	ALC 1 5	style="background:#EFCFFF;" >Ciudad del Motor de Aragón ALC 2 Template:Small "Ret" > style = " background: #DFFFDF; " > Nürburgring NÜR 1 { { small "6" } } > style = " background: #DFFFDF; " > Nürburgring NÜR 2 { { small "9" } } > style = " background: #DFFFDF; " > Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez MEX 1 { { small "6" } } > style = " background: #EFCFFF; " > Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez MEX 2 { { small "Ret" } } > style = " background: #FFFFBF; " > Circuit of the Americas COA 1 { { small "1" } } > style = " background: #DFFFDF; " > Circuit of the Americas COA 2 { { small "10" } } > style = " background: #DFFFDF; " > Bahrain International Circuit BHR 1 { { small "9" } } > style = " background: #FFFFBF; " > Bahrain International Circuit BHR 2 { { small "1" } }	4th	201

Results in American Open-Wheel Racing

(key) (Entries shown in bold denote pole positions) (Entries in italics signify fastest lap)

IndyCar Series

(key)

Year	Team	No.	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final Position	Points Earned
2018	Juncos Racing	32	Dallara DW12	Chevrolet	STP 22	PHX	LBH	ALA 16	IMS	INDY	DET 21	DET 22	TXS	ROA	IOW	TOR 17	MDO 21	POC	GTW	POR	SNM	28th	61

Full FIA World Endurance Championship Record

Year	Team Entry	Category	Vehicle	Power Unit	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	Overall Standing	Points Total
2018–19	ByKolles Racing Team	LMP1 Class	ENSO CLM P1/01	Nismo VRX30A 3.0 L Turbocharged V6	SPA	LMS	SIL Retired	FUJ	SHA	SEB	SPA		NC	0
2018–19	(Panis Barthez Competition)	LMP2 Category	Ligier JS P217	(Gibson) GK428 V8, 4.2 L							style="background:#DFFFDF;" \| 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans 8th		NC	0
2019-20 FIA World Endurance Championship	Inter Europol Competition	LMP2 Division	Ligier JS P217	Gibson GK428 V8, 4.2 L	2019 4 Hours of Silverstone	2019 6 Hours of Fuji	2019 4 Hours of Shanghai	2019 8 Hours of Bahrain	2020 Lone Star Le Mans	2020 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps style="background:#DFFFDF;" \| 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans 17th	2020 8 Hours of Bahrain	NC	0
(2021)	Duqueine Team	LMP2 Class	Oreca 07	(Gibson) GK428 V8 (4.2L)	(2021) Spa-Francorchamps	(2021) Portimão	(2021) Monza	style="background:#DFFFDF;" \|(2021) Le Mans 9th	(2021) Bahrain (6h)	(2021) Bahrain (8h)	colspan=2 \|	NC ! 0 \|
19th place ! 10 points \|

Full IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Entries in bold denote pole positions; entries in italics represent fastest laps)

Year	Team	Category	Vehicle	Power Unit	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final Standing	Points Accumulated
2019	Juncos Racing	DPi	Cadillac DPi-V.R	Cadillac 5.5 L V8 engine	DAY 8th	SEB 10th	LBH	MDO	DET	WGL 8th	MOS	ELK	LGA	PET 10th	18th overall	88 points

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Bolded results indicate pole position; italicized results signify fastest lap)

Year	Team	Category	Chassis Model	Engine Type	Event 1	Event 2	Event 3	Event 4	Event 5	Event 6	Overall Rank	Points Earned
2019	Panis Barthez Competition	LMP2	Ligier JS P217	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 engine	LEC 10th	MNZ 9th	CAT 15th	SIL 7th	SPA 8th	ALG 7th	18th place overall	19.5 points
2020	Inter Europol Competition	LMP2	Ligier JS P217	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 engine	LEC 7th	SPA 11th	LEC 6th	MNZ 12th	ALG 'Retired'		16th position overall	15.5 points

... [Table continues with consistent concise formatting for following years] ...

^* Current season ongoing.

Full results at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Vehicle	Class	Completed Laps	Overall Finish	Class Finish
2019	Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall Panis Barthez Competition	Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall Julien Canal Template:Country data GBR Template:Namespace detect showall Will Stevens	Ligier JS P217- Gibson	LMP2	362	13th overall	8th in class
2020	Template:Country data POL Template:Namespace detect showall Inter Europol Competition	Template:Country data POL Template:Namespace detect showall Jakub Śmiechowski Template:Country data RUS Template:Namespace detect showall Matevos Isaakyan	Ligier JS P217- Gibson	LMP2	325	42nd overall	17th in class
2021	Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall Duqueine Team	Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall Tristan Gommendy Template:Country data MEX Template:Namespace detect showall Memo Rojas	Oreca 07- Gibson	LMP2	357	14th overall	9th in class
2022	Template:Country data POR Template:Namespace detect showall Algarve Pro Racing	Template:Country data AUS Template:Namespace detect showall James Allen United States Steven Thomas	Oreca 07- Gibson	LMP2	363	19th overall	15th in class
2023	Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall Duqueine Team	Template:Country data SUI Template:Namespace detect showall Neel Jani Template:Country data CHI Template:Namespace detect showall Nico Pino	Oreca 07- Gibson	LMP2	327	11th overall	'\'\'\'3rd\'\'\' in class'

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Vehicle	Category
get=2024\|	rowspan=2 align=left nowrap=nowrap Template:Country data "LUX"Template:Namespace detect showall DKR Engineering	rowspan=2 align=left nowrap=nowrap Template:Country data "DEU"Template:Namespace detect showall Laurents Hörr Template:Country data "DEU"Template:Namespace detect showall Alexander Mattschull \| rowspan=2 align=left nowrap=nowrap Oreca 07-Gibson Technology/Gibson	LMP2 \| rowspan=2 align=center valign=middle\|'195' \| rowspan=2 align=center valign=middle\|'21st' \| 7th place \|
get=2024\|	LMP2 Pro-Am \| style="background:#FFDF9F;"\|'\'\'\'3rd\'\'\' place in Pro-Am category' \|
get=2025\|	rowspan=2 align=left nowrap=Template:Country data "DEU"Template:Namespace detect showall Proton Competition	rowspan=2 align=left nowrap=Template:Country data "ITA"Template:Namespace detect showall Giorgio Roda Template:Country data "NLD"Template:Namespace detect showall Bent Viscaal	rowspan=2 align=left nowrap=Oreca 07-Gibson Technology/Gibson	LMP2 \| rowspan=2 align=center valign=middle\|'365' \| rowspan=2 align=center valign=middle\|'23rd' \| 6th place \|
get=2025\|	LMP2 Pro-Am \| style="background:#FFDF9F;"\|'\'\'\'3rd\'\'\' in Pro-Am classification' \|

Full Asian Le Mans Series Results

(Template:Motorsport driver results legend#key) (Entries in bold denote pole position) (Entries in italics signify fastest lap)

Year	Team	Category	Vehicle	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	Final Position	Points
2021 Asian Le Mans Series	G-Drive Racing	LMP2	Aurus 01	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	style="background:#FFFFBF;" \| DUB 1 1	style="background:#FFFFBF;" \| DUB 2 1	style="background:#DFDFDF;" \| ABU 1 2	style="background:#DFFFDF;" \| ABU 2 4		style="background:#FFFFBF;" \| 1st	style="background:#FFFFBF;" \|81
2023–24 Asian Le Mans Series	Proton Competition	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	style="background:#DFFFDF;" \| SEP 1 5	style="background:#FFDF9F;" \| SEP 2 3	style="background:#DFDFDF;" \| DUB 2	style="background:#DFFFDF;" \| ABU 1 5	style="background:#DFDFDF;" \| ABU 2 2	style="background:#DFDFDF;" \| 2nd	style="background:#DFDFDF;" \|71