Mateo Llarena (born 26 February 2004) is a Guatemalan-Italian racing driver. He currently competes in the 2024 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.

Career

Karting

Llarena began go karting at the age of four. He won two National Karting Championships and the FIA Americas Award before transitioning to open wheel racing. In 2014 and 2016, he was the champion in the Cadet category of the Guatemalan Karting Championship with the team Mazzotti Corse.

Formula 4

In 2018, Llarena made his single-seater debut by competing in the 2018–19 NACAM Formula 4 Championship with Telcel RPL Racing. He finished the season in thirteenth position. His best race result was a seventh place at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Sports car racing

At the age of fourteen, Llarena made his car racing debut by competing in some races of the Toyota Yaris Cup Guatemala. In 2019, he won the National Motorsport Championship at 15 years old, making him the youngest in history to win this tournament in Guatemala and Central America, earning his second FIA Americas Award.

The 2019 season also saw Llarena receive an invitation from Porsche AG to participate in the 2020 Porsche Supercup. He competed for the German-based team MRS GT-Racing, and finished seventeenth overall in the championship. At the age of 16, Llarena became the youngest ever driver to compete in the Porsche Supercup.

In 2021, Llarena made his debut in the IMSA SportsCar Championship He competed in the LMP3 class with Performance Tech Motorsports. At the 2021 WeatherTech 240 at The Glen, he became the youngest ever pole sitter in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. Since 2021, he has also been a part of the Lamborghini GT3 junior program after competing in the 2021 Italian GT Championship with Imperiale Racing.

In 2022, Llarena competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona with T3 Motorsport North America, driving a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo in the GTD class. He then joined NTE Sport/SSR to compete in the 12 Hours of Sebring.

In 2023, Llarena joined Vincenzo Sospiri Racing to compete in the Italian GT Sprint Championship after competing in the championship with Imperiale Racing in the two previous years. Together with his teammate Baptiste Moulin he finished the season fifth in the GT3 Pro classification after scoring two podiums throughout the season.

In 2024, Llarena joined GRT Grasser Racing Team to compete in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for the first time.

Personal life Llarena studied at Geneva Business School in Madrid. In 2023, Llarena received two Guinness World Records for becoming the youngest Porsche Supercup driver in 2020 and the youngest IMSA SportsCar Championship pole-sitter in 2021. In 2024, Llarena competed under an Italian racing license as he lived in Italy and had received Italian citizenship.

Racing record Career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition 2018 Toyota Yaris Cup Guatemala - Am921237710th 2018–19 NACAM Formula 4 Championship Telcel RPL Racing1100001813th 2019 Campeonato Nacional Guatemala - GT4 Team Gulf Oil9539877 1st Chase for the Trigon Trophy Super GT Series TLM Racing100002317th Porsche GT3 Cup Trophy Argentina100000NC† 2020 Porsche Supercup MRS GT-Racing80000417th 2021 Italian GT Sprint Championship - GT3 Pro-Am Imperiale Racing70001446th IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP3 Performance Tech Motorsports5020083813th 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD T3 Motorsport North America1000039744th NTE Sport/SSR10000 Italian GT Endurance Championship - GT3 Pro Imperiale Racing30103?? 2023 Italian GT Sprint Championship - GT3 Pro Vincenzo Sospiri Racing81002525th2024 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup GRT Grasser Racing Team500000NC ADAC GT Masters20000622nd 24H Series - GT3 ARC Bratislava2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Dinamic GT100000NC † As Llarena was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete Porsche Supercup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Points 2020 MRS GT-RacingRBR RBR HUN SIL SIL CAT SPA MNZ18th4

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points 2021 Performance Tech Motorsports LMP3 Ligier JS P320 Nissan VK56DE 5.6 L V8 DAY SEB MOH WGL WGL ELK PET 13th 838 2022 T3 Motorsport North America GTD Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 DAY 44th 397 NTE Sport/SSR SEB LBH LGA MDO DET WGL MOS LIM ELK VIR PET

Complete GT World Challenge Europe results GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearTeamCarClass1234567Pos.Points 2024 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Silver LEC SPA6H SPA12H SPA24H NÜR MNZ JED 20th 27 2025 Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Silver LEC MNZ SPA6H SPA12H SPA24H NÜR CAT NC 0

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References