Auto Sport Promotion, also known simply as ASP, is a French sports car racing team founded by racing driver Jérôme Policand in 1999.[1] The team is based in Rabastens, France. It currently races as Akkodis ASP Team as part of a title sponsorship agreement with digital engineering company Akkodis, first established in 2015 as Akka Technologies.[1][2]

France Auto Sport Promotion
Founded1999
BaseRabastens, France
Founder(s)Jérôme Policand
Current seriesFIA World Endurance Championship
GT2 European Series
GT4 European Series
Former seriesEurocup Mégane Trophy
FFSA GT Championship
GT World Challenge Europe
Porsche Carrera Cup France
Current driversUnited Kingdom Ben Barnicoat
France Christophe Bourret
France Hadrien David
Spain Jan Duran
Germany Finn Gehrsitz
France Pascal Gibon
France Cindy Gudet
Czech Republic Gabriela Jílková
Argentina José María López
France Arnold Robin
Austria Clemens Schmid
Romania Răzvan Umbrărescu
Teams'
Championships
2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup France, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021 FFSA GT, 2018, 2019 Blancpain GT, 2022, 2023 GTWC Europe
Drivers'
Championships
1999 Eurocup Mégane Trophy, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup France, 2013, 2021 FFSA GT, 2018, 2019 Blancpain GT, 2020, 2022, 2023 GTWC Europe
Websitehttps://www.akkodis-asp-team.com/

Between 2016 and 2023, ASP raced in Mercedes-AMG machinery in the GT World Challenge Europe series, becoming a factory partner in 2018. ASP currently works with Lexus, assisting with their LMGT3 factory programme in the FIA World Endurance Championship.[3][4] The team continues to use Mercedes sports cars in the GT2 European Series as customers, and also currently race in the GT4 European Series as Matmut Évolution.[5]

Racing history

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ASP first competed in motor racing through the Eurocup Mégane Trophy, where founder Jérôme Policand won the title in 1999.[6] ASP also raced in the Porsche Carrera Cup France series in the 2000s, winning the Drivers' championships in 2005, 2006, and 2008 with Anthony Beltoise, and in 2010 with Frédéric Makowiecki.

In 2011, ASP officially debuted in the Blancpain Endurance Series, competing with a two-car entry driving the Ferrari 458 Italia GT3. The team's Pro-Am entry, driven by Ludovic Badey, Jean-Luc Beaubélique, and Franck Morel finished 2nd in the Pro-Am class. That year, they also won the 2011 24 Hours of Spa in the Pro-Am class. ASP finished 2nd in the Pro-Am again in the 2012 Blancpain Endurance Series, and proceeded to take another Spa 24 Hours victory a year later in the 2013 24 Hours of Spa through the Gentleman Trophy class. ASP team made their first appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2014, entering a Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 with drivers Soheil Ayari, Anthony Pons, and professional footballer Fabien Barthez.[7] The team made it to the finish, finishing 29th overall and 9th in class.

 
Akkodis ASP's #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo at the 2023 24 Hours of Spa.

ASP officially made the switch to Mercedes-AMG machinery ahead of the 2016 Blancpain GT Series after five seasons of competition with the Ferrari 458 platform.[8] In the team's first full season with the Mercedes-AMG GT3, they achieved 8th in the Pro class, 2nd in Pro-Am, and 4th in Am. ASP won their maiden race in the series that year, doing so in the season finale at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with Tristan Vautier and Felix Rosenqvist.[9] They would win in Barcelona again in 2017 with Vautier and Daniel Juncadella to earn their second victory in the series.[10]

The 2018 Blancpain GT Series was a breakthrough season for ASP, as they won the overall Drivers' championship with Raffaele Marciello, including the Sprint Cup drivers' championship with Marciello and Michael Meadows, and the Silver Cup drivers' championship with Nico Bastian and Jack Manchester.[11] ASP took the Silver Cup drivers' title again in the 2019 Blancpain GT Series with Bastian. In 2020, Timur Boguslavskiy won the GT World Challenge Europe overall championship with ASP. The team would take back-to-back overall championships in 2022 and 2023, winning the 2022 GT World Challenge Europe and 2023 GT World Challenge Europe titles each with Marciello, the latter winning along with Boguslavskiy.[12][13]

ASP ventured into GT4 racing in 2020, entering a Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the 2020 GT4 European Series season finale at Circuit Paul Ricard. The team committed to a full-season pursuit the following year and eventually won the Pro-Am class title in the 2022 GT4 European Series. The team moved to the French GT4 Cup in 2023, entering a pair of Toyota GR Supra GT4 sports cars in with backing from French insurance company Matmut, racing as Matmut Évolution. Matmut, with ASP's help, launched the 'Volant Matmut 100% Féminin' programme, allowing female racing drivers the opportunity to compete in motor racing. One of the ASP entries would be designated for the selected female drivers. Gabriela Jílková and Lucile Cypriano joined Enzo Joulié and Étienne Cheli for the full 2023 season. The team returned to the GT4 European Series in 2024, retaining Joulié and Cheli, and recruiting Cindy Gudet to race with Jílková, who also returned to the team.[14]

 
Akkodis ASP's #78 Lexus RC F GT3 at the 2024 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

Ahead of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship, ASP confirmed that they would be selected by Lexus to help operate their LMGT3 team.[3] Following the announcement, ASP officially paused their GT World Challenge programme, leaving the series after thirteen seasons.[4][15] Boguslavskiy returned with ASP to race the #78 car alongside Kelvin van der Linde and Arnold Robin, and the sister #87 car would be driven by Esteban Masson, Takeshi Kimura, and José María López,[16] who helped test the RC F with ASP at Algarve International Circuit.[17] ASP and Lexus achieved their first WEC LMGT3 class victory in 2025 at the 2025 6 Hours of São Paulo with Lopez, Clemens Schmid, and Răzvan Umbrărescu.[18]

Race results

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24 Hours of Le Mans

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Year Entrant No. Car Drivers Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2014   Team Sofrev ASP 58 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2   Soheil Ayari
  Fabien Barthez
  Anthony Pons
LMGTE Am 325 29th 9th
2024   Akkodis ASP Team 78 Lexus RC F GT3   Timur Boguslavskiy
  Arnold Robin
  Kelvin van der Linde
LMGT3 279 34th 7th
87   Jack Hawksworth
  Takeshi Kimura
  Esteban Masson
279 37th 10th
2025   Akkodis ASP Team 78 Lexus RC F GT3   Finn Gehrsitz
  Jack Hawksworth
  Arnold Robin
LMGT3 268 DNF DNF
87   José María López
  Clemens Schmid
  Răzvan Umbrărescu
340 37th 5th

24 Hours of Spa

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Year Entrant No. Car Drivers Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2011   SOFREV Auto Sport Promotion 10 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3   Patrice Goueslard
  Julien Jousse
  Olivier Pla
GT3 Pro 374 Ret Ret
  SOFREV Auto Sport Promotion 20 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3   Ludovic Badey
  Jean-Luc Beaubélique
  Guillaume Moreau
  Franck Morel
GT3 Pro-Am 530 6th 1st
2012   SOFREV Auto Sport Promotion 10 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3   Fabien Barthez
  Eric Debard
  Morgan Moulin-Traffort
  Olivier Panis
GT3 Pro-Am 497 9th 3rd
  SOFREV Auto Sport Promotion 20 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3   Ludovic Badey
  Jean-Luc Beaubélique
  Patrice Goueslard
  Tristan Vautier
GT3 Pro-Am 495 10th 5th
2013   SOFREV Auto Sport Promotion 20 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3   Jean-Luc Beaubélique
  Jean-Luc Blanchemain
  Patrice Goueslard
  Frédéric Bouvy
Gentleman Trophy 539 16th 1st
2014   SOFREV Auto Sport Promotion 116 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3   Ludovic Badey
  Fabien Barthez
  Eric Debard
  Tristan Vautier
Pro-Am 503 22nd 11th
  SOFREV Auto Sport Promotion 120 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3   Jean-Philippe Belloc
  Christophe Bourret
  Julien Canal
  Pascal Gibon
Pro-Am 509 19th 8th
2015   AKKA ASP 10 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3   Jean-Philippe Belloc
  Christophe Bourret
  Pascal Gibon
  Philippe Polette
Am 510 20th 4th
2016   AKKA ASP 88 Mercedes-AMG GT3   Felix Rosenqvist
  Renger van der Zande
  Tristan Vautier
Pro 531 2nd 2nd
  AKKA ASP 89 Mercedes-AMG GT3   Laurent Cazenave
  Michael Lyons
  Morgan Moullin-Traffort
  Daniele Perfetti
Pro-Am 523 19th 4th
2017   AKKA ASP Team 88 Mercedes-AMG GT3   Daniel Juncadella
  Félix Serrallés
  Tristan Vautier
Pro 209 Ret Ret
  AKKA ASP Team 89 Mercedes-AMG GT3   Ludovic Badey
  Nico Bastian
  Alex Fontana
  Daniele Perfetti
Pro-Am 176 Ret Ret
  AKKA ASP Team 90 Mercedes-AMG GT3   Raffaele Marciello
  Michael Meadows
  Edoardo Mortara
Pro 546 3rd 3rd
2018   SMP Racing by AKKA ASP 35 Mercedes-AMG GT3   Denis Bulatov
  Michael Meadows
  Vitaly Petrov
Pro 505 16th 15th
  Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP 88 Mercedes-AMG GT3   Daniel Juncadella
  Raffaele Marciello
  Tristan Vautier
Pro 510 6th 6th
  AKKA ASP Team 89 Mercedes-AMG GT3   Fabien Barthez
  Eric Debard
  Philippe Giauque
  Nico Jamin
Am 43 Ret Ret
  AKKA ASP Team 90 Mercedes-AMG GT3   Nico Bastian
  Jack Manchester
  Fabian Schiller
  Jules Szymkowiak
Silver 261 Ret Ret
2019   Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP 88 Mercedes-AMG GT3   Vincent Abril
  Raffaele Marciello
  Fabian Schiller
Pro 361 13th 13th
  AKKA ASP Team 90 Mercedes-AMG GT3   Nico Bastian
  Timur Boguslavskiy
  Felipe Fraga
Silver 361 17th 2nd
2020   AKKA ASP Team 87 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo   Fabien Barthez
  Jean-Luc Beaubélique
  Thomas Drouet
  Jim Pla
Pro-Am 275 Ret Ret
  Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP 88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo   Timur Boguslavskiy
  Felipe Fraga
  Raffaele Marciello
Pro 263 Ret Ret
  AKKA ASP Team 89 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo   Alex Fontana
  Benjamín Hites
  Lucas Légeret
Silver 497 29th 6th
2021   AKKA ASP Team 87 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo   Thomas Drouet
  Simon Gachet
  Konstantin Tereshchenko
  Răzvan Umbrărescu
Silver 545 23th 7th
  Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP 88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo   Jules Gounon
  Daniel Juncadella
  Raffaele Marciello
Pro 344 Ret Ret
  AKKA ASP Team 89 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo   Lucas Auer
  Timur Boguslavskiy
  Felipe Fraga
Pro 552 10th 10th
2022   AKKodis ASP Team 87 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo   Thomas Drouet
  Tommaso Mosca
  Casper Stevenson
Silver 367 Ret Ret
  AMG Team AKKodis ASP 88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo   Jules Gounon
  Daniel Juncadella
  Raffaele Marciello
Pro 536 1st 1st
2023   Mercedes-AMG Team AKKodis ASP 87 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo   Thomas Drouet
  Lorenzo Ferrari
  Maximilian Götz
Pro 304 Ret Ret
  AKKodis ASP Team 88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo   Timur Boguslavskiy
  Jules Gounon
  Raffaele Marciello
Pro 537 2nd 2nd
  AKKodis ASP Team 89 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo   Adalberto Baptista
  Bruno Baptista
  Rodrigo Baptista
  Alan Hellmeister
Bronze 353 Ret Ret

References

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  1. ^ a b Dagys, John (27 December 2014). "Team Sofrev-ASP Becomes Team AKKA-ASP – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  2. ^ Lloyd, Daniel (30 March 2022). "AKKA-ASP Rebrands as Akkodis ASP Team – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  3. ^ a b Goodwin, Graham (24 October 2023). "Akkodis ASP Confirm Lexus GT3 Programme For WEC". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  4. ^ a b Euwema, Davey (20 March 2024). "ASP Rules Out Mercedes-AMG Return in GT3 Competition – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  5. ^ ASP, AKKODIS. "GT4 European Series 2025 - Strong lineups for Matmut Évolution!". www.akkodis-asp-team.com. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  6. ^ ASP, AKKODIS. "Team presentation, history and record". www.akkodis-asp-team.com. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  7. ^ "Endurance: Former soccer player Fabien Barthez could enter 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans | Car News | Auto123". auto123.com. 9 November 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  8. ^ "Team AKKA-ASP switches to Mercedes-AMG GT3 for 2016". GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS. 27 December 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  9. ^ "2016 Blancpain GT Series season finale turns out to be a thriller". GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS. 2 October 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  10. ^ Kilbey, Stephen (2 October 2017). "Bortolotti & Engelhart Take Overall Blancpain Title In Barcelona Showdown". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  11. ^ "A group effort: the 2018 Blancpain GT Series teams' champions in their own words". GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  12. ^ Lloyd, Daniel (27 October 2022). "Marciello Pleased With "Really Good Year" After Latest Title – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  13. ^ Goodwin, Graham (1 October 2023). "Akkodis ASP Take Titles As Ferrari Takes 1-2 At Barcelona". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  14. ^ "Matmut Évolution brings twin Toyotas for French champions and an all-female crew". GT4 European Series. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  15. ^ Euwema, Davey (18 September 2023). "ASP to Pause GTWC Europe Program if Given LMGT3 Entry – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  16. ^ "Akkodis ASP Team presents their two FIA WEC crews". Endurance Info. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  17. ^ Euwema, Davey (23 October 2023). "ASP to Run Lexus RC F GT3 at Portimao Tire Test – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  18. ^ Euwema, Davey (13 July 2025). "Policand: New Hard Tire Key to Lexus' First LMGT3 Victory – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 14 July 2025.