Malthe Taarngaard Jakobsen (born 29 October 2003) is a Danish racing driver who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Peugeot. He is the 2022 European Le Mans Series champion in the LMP3 class with Cool Racing and three-time champion of the Asian Le Mans Series.
Single-seater career
2018 Jakobsen began his car racing career in his homeland, competing for FSP in the 2018 F4 Danish Championship. Having initially struggled in the first half of the year, the Dane scored three category podiums and a pole position in the final third of the campaign, thus finishing sixth in the standings.
Near the end of the year, Jakobsen also made two cameo appearances in the F4 South East Asia Championship, where he took his first win in single-seater motorsport at Sepang.
2019 The following season, Jakobsen remained with FSP in Danish F4. After missing the season opener, a triple of podiums at Jyllandsringen, which included a win in Race 3, commenced Jakobsen's title campaign. A pair of victories at Djursland and Kinnekulle followed respectively, before he took a hattrick of victories at Padborg Park. Three more wins followed, as Jakobsen locked out the championship in dominating fashion in the season finale, finishing 78 points ahead of his nearest challenger, Jonas Lindhard Nielsen. At the end of the campaign, Jakobsen represented Denmark at the inaugural FIA Motorsport Games Formula 4 Cup.
Endurance career
LMP3 journey (2020–2022)
2020 For 2020, Jakobsen switched to prototype racing, competing in the LMP3 category of the European Le Mans Series for RLR MSport alongside James Dayson. He finished his rookie campaign, during which he was described as having shown "maturity beyond his years", tenth in the standings, with a sole podium coming at the season opener in Le Castellet.
2021 Jakobsen stayed with RLR for another year in the ELMS, this time partnering Mike Benham and Alex Kapadia. His team once again started their campaign out with a podium, a second place in Barcelona, but failed to finish three of the remaining five races, thus dropping to ninth by season's end.
2022 Going into his third season of the European Le Mans Series, Jakobsen made the move to Cool Racing. Commencing the season at Paul Ricard, Jakobsen started out in strong fashion, taking pole position and helping his team to win the four hour-long race. Another pole position came at the next round in Imola, which would eventually result in a podium finish. The following event, held in Monza, would bear less fruit however, as the team was forced to retire from the race. Following another third place in Barcelona, where Jakobsen scored his fourth pole in four races, a collision by his teammate Maurice Smith meant the end of the race in Spa-Francorchamps, which made the team's title aspirations seem unlikely going into the season finale at Portimão. In spite of the uphill task, Jakobsen managed to take pole position once more, making him the season's only LMP3 polesitter, and ended up winning the race. With title rivals Inter Europol Competition retiring late in the race following a car failure with a subsequent collision, Jakobsen, Smith and Mike Benham were crowned champions of the ELMS' LMP3 category.
As a result of his championship victory, Jakobsen was invited to test the Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar during the FIA World Endurance Championship rookie test in November 2022.
LMP2 titles (2023–2024)
2023 Progression to the LMP2 class was in order for the 2023 season, as Jakobsen remained with Cool Racing in the ELMS. Before embarking on his European season however, the Dane teamed up with Nicolas Lapierre and amateur Alexandre Coigny in the Asian Le Mans Series. Despite Jakobsen setting the fastest lap in the second race at Dubai, the team experienced a difficult opening event, as Coigny collided with a GT car in Race 1 and the outfit finished fifth on Sunday. For the event at the Yas Marina Circuit, Lapierre would step away from driving duties in order to give Jakobsen more seat time during the races, which ended up paying off immediately, the Dane taking a commanding victory on Saturday. On Sunday, a pair of penalties due to an infringement regarding minimum pit stop time and a collision caused by Jakobsen would end the outfit's chances of obtaining victory, as Jakobsen and Coigny finished third, which earned them the runner-up spot in the championship.
The team's European campaign started positively, as a third place in class at Barcelona was followed by a second place at Le Castellet. During the third round in Aragón however, Jakobsen caused the No. 37 to retire for the only time that year, missing his braking point for turn one and colliding with the fellow Cool Racing car of José María López. The next race at Spa-Francorchamps saw a return to form, with Jakobsen playing a starring role in the team's first Pro-Am victory and overall second place. Another class win followed during the 4 Hours of Algarve, where a late ten-second-penalty for the leading Mathias Beche gifted the No. 37 another 25 points, placing them into championship contention for the season finale. Despite an early spin by Coigny during the second race at Portimão, Jakobsen was able to make up ground during the final stints, getting within a second of the race-winning AF Corse of Ben Barnicoat.
At the start of November, it was announced that Jakobsen would pair up with George Kurtz and Colin Braun in that winter's Asian Le Mans Series, driving for the Algarve Pro Racing-run CrowdStrike Racing team. There, victories at Sepang and Yas Marina gave the trio the AsLMS title.
2024 At the start of 2024, Jakobsen and CrowdStrike Racing by APR took part in the 24 Hours of Daytona, finishing second after losing out in a late battle with Christian Rasmussen. Thereafter, Jakobsen remained with Cool Racing's ELMS outfit in 2024, being partnered by silver-ranked Lorenzo Fluxá and Super Formula champion Ritomo Miyata in the LMP2 Pro class. At the opening round in Barcelona, Jakobsen inherited the lead due to a fast pit stop and held on to win. Jakobsen found himself leading once again at Le Castellet, though his race was ended by a gearbox failure with 43 minutes to go. A crash for substitute teammate Paul-Loup Chatin with an LMP3 car at Imola and two points finishes later, the team were out of the title fight. However, the No. 37 team would take third in the drivers' standings after a controlled display at Portimão, as Jakobsen managed his gap to the title-winning No. 14 AO by TF crew.
Jakobsen once again entered the Asian Le Mans Series going into the winter, driving for Algarve Pro with Valerio Rinicella and Michael Jensen. The trio dominated, winning a race each at Sepang, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. At the final race, a fourth place was enough to clinch the title.
Hypercar step-up and LMP2 double programme (2025–present)
2025 Ahead of the 2025 season, Jakobsen was promoted to Peugeot TotalEnergies in the top class of the FIA World Endurance Championship, where he partnered Loïc Duval and Stoffel Vandoorne in the No. 94. The first three races did not yield points, despite the team showing promising pace. At Spa, Jakobsen was running inside the top five before contact with Robin Frijns after a safety car restart caused race-ending suspension damage. After finishing 11th at Le Mans, Jakobsen qualified fourth for the 6 Hours of São Paulo. During the race, the team fell back, finishing sixth. At Cota, Jakobsen and his teammates profited from rainy conditions to finish third. The No. 94 finished the final two races in tenth; Jakobsen shining in qualifying at Bahrain by placing third. The results placed Jakobsen 19th in the standings, with Peugeot being seventh in the manufacturers' championship.
Racing record
Racing career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition2018F4 Danish ChampionshipFSP2401062386thFormula 4 South East Asia ChampionshipMeritus.GP61002708th2019F4 Danish ChampionshipFSP211166184281stFormula 4 South East Asia ChampionshipMeritus.GP1200038912thFIA Motorsport Games Formula 4 CupTeam Denmark20000N/A17th2020European Le Mans Series - LMP3RLR MSport500013510thLe Mans Cup - LMP3200000NC†2021Asian Le Mans Series - LMP3RLR MSport40120277thEuropean Le Mans Series - LMP360021329thIMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP3Performance Tech Motorsports1000025232ndLe Mans Cup - LMP3RLR Motorsport200010NC†2022European Le Mans Series - LMP3Cool Racing62634861stLe Mans Cup - LMP371021534thIMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP3Sean Creech Motorsport5111312418th 2023 Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2 Cool Racing41022542ndEuropean Le Mans Series - LMP2 Pro-Am 6 2 0 2 5 1012nd24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP210000N/A12th 2023–24Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2CrowdStrike Racing by APR52013831st 2024 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Cool Racing62002623rd 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP210000N/A12th IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 CrowdStrike Racing by APR1000161231st DragonSpeed10000 FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar Peugeot TotalEnergiesReserve driver2024–25 Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2 Algarve Pro Racing630031091st2025 FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar Peugeot TotalEnergies800012819th IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 CrowdStrike Racing by APR50001138023rd2025–26Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2CrowdStrike Racing by APR63005109 1st2026European Le Mans Series – LMP2 Pro-AmAlgarve Pro Racing4100361* 1st*IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2CrowdStrike Racing by APR1101137331stFIA World Endurance Championship - HypercarPeugeot TotalEnergies400003*20th* † As Jakobsen was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.* Season still in progress.
Complete F4 Danish Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearTeam123456789101112131415161718192021222324DCPoints 2018 FSPPAD11PAD12PAD13JYL11JYL12JYL13DJU1DJU2DJU3RUD1RUD2RUD3JYL21JYL22JYL23PAD21PAD22PAD23DJU21DJU22DJU23JYL31JYL32JYL33 6th 238 2019 FSPPAD11PAD12PAD13JYL11JYL12JYL13DJU11DJU12DJU13KIN1KIN2KIN3PAD23PAD23PAD23JYL21JYL22JYL23DJU21DJU22DJU23JYL31JYL32JYL33 1st 428
Complete FIA Motorsport Games results Year Entrant Cup Qualifying Quali Race Main race 2019 Team Denmark Formula 4 8th 6th 17th
Complete European Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) YearEntrantClassChassisEngine123456RankPoints2020 RLR MSport LMP3 Ligier JS P320 Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8LECSPALECMNZALG10th352021 RLR MSport LMP3 Ligier JS P320 Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8CATRBRLECMNZSPAALG9th322022 Cool Racing LMP3 Ligier JS P320 Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8LECIMOMNZCATSPAALG1st86 2023 Cool Racing LMP2 Pro-Am Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT LEC ARA SPA PRT ALG 2nd 101 2024 Cool Racing LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT LEC IMO SPA MUG ALG 3rd 62 2026 Algarve Pro Racing LMP2 Pro-Am Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT LEC IMO SPA SIL ALG 1st* 61*Source: * Season still in progress.
Complete Le Mans Cup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Chassis 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rank Points 2020 RLR MSport LMP3 Ligier JS P320 LEC1 SPA LEC2 LMS1 LMS2 MNZ ALG NC† 0 2021 RLR MSport LMP3 Ligier JS P320 CAT LEC MNZ LMS1 LMS2 SPA ALG NC† 0 2022 Cool Racing LMP3 Ligier JS P320 LEC IMO LMS1 LMS2 MNZ SPA ALG 4th 53
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results (key)(Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)