Léna Bühler makes Le Mans Cup return with R-Ace GP for sophomore LMP3 campaign

After a stellar sportscar debut in 2025, Léna Bühler will return to LMP3 in 2026 as she joins R-Ace GP for the upcoming season of the Michelin Le Mans Cup.

Photo credits: Asian Le Mans Series

Swiss racer Léna Bühler will return to LMP3 in 2026 as she joins R-Ace GP for the upcoming season of the Michelin Le Mans Cup. Bühler will compete in the #85 entry, sharing the Duqueine D09 with Singaporean driver Danial Frost.

Bühler heads into the new season after establishing herself as one of the top female drivers of 2025, enjoying an impressive rookie campaign in LMP3 machinery and demonstrating a seamless transition from single-seaters to endurance racing.

The Swiss driver made her debut in the Michelin Le Mans Cup with 23Events Racing and immediately showed competitive pace in one of the most competitive LMP3 fields in Europe. At the opening round at Barcelona, Bühler recovered from contact on the opening lap to fight her way back into the top five, setting some of the fastest laps of the race in the process.

Her early momentum continued at Paul Ricard, where the team again battled for a podium finish before a penalty ultimately dropped them down the order. However, the defining moment of her season came during the prestigious Road to Le Mans weekend at Circuit de la Sarthe. In Race 2 of the double-header, Bühler secured a sensational overall victory, becoming the first woman in history to win a Michelin Le Mans Cup race outright.

Further strong performances followed as the season progressed. Bühler and her team delivered a determined recovery drive at Spa-Francorchamps to secure fifth place and another top-five result came at Silverstone, marking the team’s fourth top-five finish of the campaign. The season concluded with a top-ten at Autódromo do Algarve, bringing to a close an impressive rookie season in prototypes.

Before moving into endurance racing, Bühler had already built a strong résumé in single-seaters. The Swiss finished vice-champion in the inaugural season of F1 Academy, racing for ART Grand Prix. She graduated into the Formula Regional European Championship, where she contested a partial campaign following her F1 Academy success.

Earlier in her career, Bühler progressed rapidly through the motorsport ladder. After competing in Swiss and European karting championships, she stepped into single-seaters in 2020 in the Spanish F4, where she became a regular points scorer and secured two top-five finishes. She then advanced to FRECA, contesting the full 2021 season and part of the 2022 campaign.

In 2023, Bühler returned to F4 in the inaugural F1 Academy season and became the first woman to be signed to the Sauber Academy. She later also took part in the FIA Formula E Women’s Test at Circuito del Jarama, where she drove the Mahindra M9Electro Gen3 for Mahindra Racing.

As part of her preparations for the 2026 season, Bühler has already begun working with R-Ace GP in endurance racing, competing in one round of the Asian Le Mans Series. The team showed strong pace during the event at Dubai Autodrome and looked capable of fighting for podium positions before technical issues disrupted their weekend.

Bühler will now aim to build on her breakthrough 2025 campaign as she returns to the Michelin Le Mans Cup for the 2026 season. The championship calendar features six rounds at some of Europe’s most prestigious circuits, including the flagship three-hour race at Le Mans held in support of the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans.