2023 will be decisive for reaching concrete milestones building on the synergies between research and innovation for sustainable mobility in Europe.

2023 will also mark the 100th anniversary of the “24h du Mans” race, one of the greatest motorsport events in the world, with genuine innovative impact in terms of safety, reduced energy consumption and carbon-free mobility. We all have a lot to learn from this technology.

Join the race car drivers and the experts discussing the future of automotive mobility from hydrogen and beyond and discover innovative and inclusive solutions.

Together, let’s celebrate a century of endurance, technology, innovation, and passion! And of course here the stories of those in the driver’s seat.

Speakers:

Sébastien Buemi (Swiss – 1988)

F1, Formula E and Endurance driver. With Toyota, Sébastien Buemi has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times (2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022) and three FIA World Endurance Championship titles.  He was Formula E World Champion.

Sarah Bovy (BEL – 1989)

An endurance driver in the LMGTE category, she has taken part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, with an all-female crew, at the wheel of a Ferrari 488. She achieved a top 10 in each of her categories. She is the first woman to achieve a pole position in the FIA World Endurance Championship. She scored two FIA World Endurance Championship podiums in her class and a European Le Mans Series victory. She won her class at the Spa 24 Hours.

Yannick Dalmas (FRA – 1961)

F1 and endurance driver. He has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans 4 times, with 4 different manufacturers: Peugeot, Porsche, McLaren and BMW.He is currently a driver advisor to the FIA’s Stewardship and Endurance Race Organisation.

Stéphane Richelmi (MON – 1990)

After a single-seater racing, Stéphane Richelmi is now involved in endurance racing. He has taken part three times in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a victory in his category (LMP2) in 2016 with Signatech Alpine.

A reference driver for MissionH24, at the wheel of a hydrogen-electric prototype, he became the first driver to have run an international endurance event with this hydrogen technology: in Imola, Italy, in 2022. He raced in Le Mans and Portugal with the H24, an electric hydrogen prototype (on display in Brussels on 1 March).

Mariya Gabriel

European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth.
Her main priorities are excellence in research, innovation and education (ERA, EEA, EIA); tackling the R&I divide in Europe; Europe as leader in strategic innovation areas through the digital and green transition, with a particular attention for young people and regions. “No one left behind” and “Think out of the box” are her mottos.

Between 2017 and 2019, Mariya Gabriel was European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society.

She was elected as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 2009, 2014 and 2019. Mariya Gabriel is First Vice-President of the European People’s Party (EPP), and, since 2012, Vice-President of EPP Women.

Commissioner Gabriel is a board member of the United Nations youth programme Generation Unlimited (GenU). She has been ranked among the 50 most influential women in Europe in the field of cybersecurity by the leading European cybersecurity magazine SC Media UK (2019).

Pierre Fillon 

Pierre Fillon is an ophthalmologist, the President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest since 2012 (the ACO organises, among other things, the 24 Hours of Le Mans) and Co-President of MissionH24 since 2018. He Attended his first 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966 and has never missed an edition since!
MissionH24, is a collaborative programme with GreenGT, aiming at the creation of a car racing category dedicated to Hydrogen prototypes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, for a decarbonised competition and mobility.

Timing:

• 17:30 > Welcome
• 18:00 > Introduction by Mr Fillon and M Gabriel
  Film screening
• 19:30 > Open conversation and Q&A with race car drivers
• 20:00 – 21:00 > Networking drink