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.
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.
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.
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.
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 SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition2010ADAC GT MastersJola Competition20000062nd2011Belcar Endurance ChampionshipSpeedlover600004511th2016ADAC 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP-XManthey Racing11 – –1 –1st2017Porsche Carrera Cup AustraliaPorsche Centre Melbourne80011191.511thVLN Langstrecken Serie - SP9Manthey Racing400010NCADAC 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP-X10––1–2ndVLN Nürburgring Series - SPX421020NCPorsche Invitational Race - SepangRobert Gattereder10000013th201824H Series - Championship of the Continents - A6Manthey Racing100010NCVLN Langstrecken Serie - SP9 Pro5000010.7327thADAC 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP-X10000017thBelgian EnduranceBelgium Racing100011992ndVLN EnduranceManthey Racing, KÜS Team75 Bernhard5000014.4378th2019IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTDPfaff Motorsports400019129thADAC GT4 GermanyTeam Allied-Racing80103888th24 Hours of the Nürburgring - SP9 ProManthey Racing1000005thVLN Langstrecken Serie - SP9 Pro200005.562nd2020IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTDPfaff Motorsports201004435thVLN Langstrecken Serie - SP9 ProManthey Racing4000016.0431st24 Hours of the Nürburgring - SP9Frikadelli Racing Team1000007th2021IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTDPfaff Motorsports41002121520thVLN Langstrecken Series - SP9 Pro/AmManthey Racing310010NCFalken Motorsports10000GT World Challenge Europe Endurance CupTeam Allied Racing100000NC2022IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP3AWA400008129thVLN Langstrecken Series - SP9 ProFalken Motorsports100000NCMichelin Pilot Challenge - GSAbsolute Racing100005071stGT4 America Series - Pro-Am200000NCLe Mans Cup - LMP3Haegeli by T2 Racing10000136th24 Hours of the Nürburgring - SP9 Pro/AmHuber Motorsport10––103rd2023IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP3AWA4000295211thVLN Langstrecken Series - SP9 ProHuber Motorsport100000NC24 Hours of the Nürburgring - SP9100000NC2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD AWA5001010625thLe Mans Cup - GT3Kessel Racing200000NC2025IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTDAWA51011132020th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGT310000N/A10th2026IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD13 Autosport50010122127th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGT310000N/ADNFNürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP10Manthey RacingNürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP-ProGT World Challenge America - Pro-AmKellymoss * Season still in progress.
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearEntrantClassChassisEngine123456789101112Pts2019Pfaff MotorsportsGTDPorsche 911 GT3 RPorsche 4.0 L Flat-6 DAY SEB MOH BEL WGL MOS LIM ELK VIR LGA ATL 29th 912020Pfaff MotorsportsGTDPorsche 911 GT3 RPorsche 4.0 L Flat-6 DAY1 DAY2 SEB1 ELK VIR ATL1 MOH CLT ATL2 LGA SEB2 35th 442021Pfaff MotorsportsGTDPorsche 911 GT3 RPorsche 4.0 L Flat-6 DAY SEB MOH BEL WGL1 WGL2 LIM ELK LGA LBH VIR ATL 20th 12152022AWALMP3Duqueine M30 - D-08Nissan VK56 V8 5.6L DAY SEBMOHWGLMOSELKATL 19th 8122023AWALMP3Duqueine M30 - D-08Nissan VK56 V8 5.6L DAY SEBWGLMOSELKIMSATL 11th 9522024AWAGTDChevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.RChevrolet LT6 5.5 L V8 DAY SEB LBH LGA WGL MOS ELK VIR IMS ATL 35th 10622025AWAGTDChevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.RChevrolet LT6 5.5 L V8 DAY SEB LBH LGA WGL MOS ELK VIR IMS ATL 20th 1320 2026 13 Autosport GTD Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Chevrolet LT6 5.5 L V8 DAY SEB LBH LGA WGL MOS ELK VIR IMS PET 27th 1221 * Season still in progress.
24 Hours of Daytona results Year Class No Team Car Co-drivers Laps Position Class Pos. 2019 GTD 9 Pfaff MotorsportsPorsche 911 GT3 R Scott Hargrove Dennis Olsen Zacharie Robichon 470 37 16 2020 GTD 9 Pfaff MotorsportsPorsche 911 GT3 R Dennis Olsen Zacharie Robichon Patrick Pilet 716 32 13 2021 GTD 9 Pfaff MotorsportsPorsche 911 GT3 R Matt Campbell Zacharie Robichon Laurens Vanthoor 702 36 12 2022 LMP3 13 AWADuqueine M30 - D-08 Matt Bell Orey Fidani Kuno Wittmer 695 32 5 2023 LMP3 13 AWA Duqueine M30 - D-08 Matt Bell Orey Fidani Moritz Kranz 717 35 4 2024 GTD 13 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Matt Bell Orey Fidani Alex Lynn 308 51 21 2025 GTD 13 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Matt Bell Orey Fidani Marvin Kirchhöfer 719 21 1
24 Hours of Nürburgring results Year Class No Team Car Co-drivers Laps Position Class Pos.2016SP-X170 Manthey RacingPorsche Cayman GT4 Christoph Breuer Christian Gebhardt 121 23 12017SP-X150 Manthey RacingPorsche Cayman 981 GT4 CS Christoph Breuer Moritz Oberheim Marc Hennerici 144 27 22018SP912 Manthey RacingPorsche 911 GT3 R Christoph Breuer Moritz Oberheim Marc Hennerici 129 18 172019SP912 Manthey RacingPorsche 911 GT3 R (17) Matteo Cairoli Otto Klohs Dennis Olsen 155 4 42020SP9 Pro31 Frikadelli Racing TeamPorsche 911 GT3 R Lance David Arnold Mathieu Jaminet Maxime Martin 85 7 72022SP9 Pro/Am25 Huber MotorsportPorsche 911 GT3 R Nico Menzel Klaus Rader Joachim Thyssen 156 11 32023SP9 Pro25 Huber MotorsportPorsche 911 GT3 R Romain Dumas Dennis Fetzer Côme Ledogar 105 DNF DNF
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2025 AWA Racing Matt Bell Orey Fidani Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R LMGT3 338 42nd 10th 2026 13 Autosport Matt Bell Orey Fidani Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R LMGT3 61 DNF DNF
References
External links