Lars Kern

Lars Kern (born 18 November 1987) is a German racing driver. He currently competes in the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship driving the No. 13 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Kern is the GTD class winner of the 2025 24 Hours of Daytona with AWA and the SP-X class winner of the 2016 24 Hours of Nürburgring. He was part of the Manthey crew that won the 2021 24 Hours of Nürburgring overall, but was unable to race due to illness.

Kern is also a Porsche development driver and holds multiple lap records in Porsche production cars at the Nürburgring.

Career

IMSA SportsCar Championship

2019

In 2019, Kern signed with Pfaff Motorsports to compete in the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds of the 2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship. He would drive alongside Scott Hargrove and Zacharie Robichon for the season. Kern would score his best result in Petit Le Mans finishing third.[citation needed]

2020

Kern returned to the championship for the 2020 season, resigning with Pfaff Motorsports to drive their No. 9 Porsche 911 GT3 R alongside Dennis Olsen and Zacharie Robichon. In the first race of the season at Daytona, Kern qualified on pole in the GTD class, however he and his co-drivers were not able to translate this in the race, finishing 13th in class. Originally, Kern was signed to drive in the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he only competed in two races the entire season, the second of which being Petit Le Mans. In Petit Le Mans, Kern finished fifth in the race.[citation needed]

2021

Following a shortened 2020 season, Kern returned for the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship to drive Pfaff Motorsports' No. 9 Porsche 911 GT3 R alongside Zacharie Robichon and Laurens Vanthoor. Kern would win his first race in the championship in the second race at the 12 Hours of Sebring. He would also finish on the podium in second at Petit Le Mans. That year, Kern was also part of the Manthey Racing crew that won the 24 Hours of Nürburgring overall, together with Matteo Cairoli, Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre, but he was unable to race due to illness and therefore wasn't credited with the victory.

2022

For the 2022 season, Kern switched teams to newcomer AWA, joining Matt Bell, Orey Fidani, and Kuno Wittmer to drive the team's No. 13 Duqueine M30 - D08 in LMP3 for the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds of the season. In the opening race of the season, he would finish in fifth for the team. Kern would have a decent season, finishing a best of fourth at Sebring.[citation needed]

2023

Kern resigned with AWA for the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship to drive in the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds of the season. He would be paired up with Matt Bell and Orey Fidani once again. In the second race of the season at Sebring, the trio would get their first podium of the season finishing second. They would get another podium at Petit Le Mans, finishing in second.

2024

For 2024, Kern resigned with AWA for the 2024 season, however, he and the team would switch to the GTD class where Kern would drive the team's brand new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Bell and Fidani would once again join the team alongside Kern. They would have a difficult season, with no podiums and a best result of sixth. However, due to Fidani consistency throughout the season, he and the team were awarded with the Bob Akin Award for Bronze rated drivers. This gave the team, Fidani, Bell, and Kern an automatic invite to the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans.[citation needed]

2025

Kern returned to the championship for the 2025 season once again with AWA. Matt Bell and Orey Fidani would return as Kern's teammates aboard the No. 13 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, Marvin Kirchhöfer joining them for the 24 Hours of Daytona. The opening race of the season at Daytona did not start off strongly, with Fidani only qualifying 16th in class for the race. Although during the race, the team showed that they had pace and made their way up the field. Towards the closing hours of the race, the team sat in third behind the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin and the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche who were battling for the lead. Bell, who was in the car at this stage, overtook the No. 120 and battled with the No. 27 to take the lead of the race. With 20 minutes to go, Bell overtook the No. 27 for the race lead and kept it. Kern, Bell, Kirchhöfer, and Fidani crossed the finish in first, winning the 2025 24 Hours of Daytona.

24 Hours of Le Mans

2025

With AWA winning the Bob Akin Award at the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship, the team and Kern received an automatic invite to the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans. Matt Bell and Orey Fidani would rejoin the team and Kern for Le Mans. They would finish a respectable tenth in the LMGT3 class in their debut.

Racing record

Career summary

* Season still in progress.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

* Season still in progress.

24 Hours of Daytona results

24 Hours of Nürburgring results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

External links