Lorige has added a distinctly French racing name to its ambassador roster, with professional endurance driver Paul-Loup Chatin joining the Franco-Swiss watch brand.
The move brings Lorige closer to one of the most closely watched Hypercar programmes in endurance racing, while giving the brand another credible presence in the paddock rather than a purely symbolic motorsport tie-in.
For a watchmaker built around timing, materials and racing culture, Chatin is a natural fit.
At a glance
- French professional driver Paul-Loup Chatin has joined Lorige as a brand ambassador.
- Chatin races with Genesis Magma Racing and brings major endurance credentials, including two European Le Mans Series titles.
- He joins fellow Lorige ambassador Pipo Derani within the Genesis Magma Racing orbit as the programme develops in the Hypercar category.
A French driver for a Franco-Swiss racing watch brand
Lorige’s identity has always leaned heavily into motorsport, not just as an aesthetic but as the foundation of its watchmaking concept.
Bringing Chatin into the fold gives the brand a French figurehead with serious endurance racing pedigree, including a place in the victorious team at the 2025 6 Hours of Fuji and two European Le Mans Series championships.
That French connection matters for Lorige, whose own story carries a strong French starting point alongside its Franco-Swiss watchmaking character.
Chatin’s reputation is built on consistency, technical feedback and the ability to perform over long stints, which are exactly the qualities that make endurance racing such fertile ground for watch brands.
The Genesis Magma Racing link
Chatin is part of the Genesis Magma Racing programme, Hyundai’s high-level motorsport project, driving the GMR-001 #19.
The assignment puts him at the centre of a developing Hypercar effort, with Hyundai entering one of France’s most important endurance races in the top category.
After two seasons with the Alpine Endurance Team, Chatin arrives with relevant experience and 11 participations in the event, a valuable asset for a programme still extracting the full potential of its car.
In endurance racing, that experience is more than a line on a CV.
It affects setup direction, traffic management, tyre strategy, fuel targets and the rhythm needed to keep a car competitive deep into a race.
Sharing the paddock with Pipo Derani
The Lorige connection now runs through more than one seat in the Genesis Magma Racing environment.
Chatin joins Pipo Derani, another Lorige ambassador, who drives the No. 17 GMR-001.
The pairing gives Lorige a wider presence inside a young Hypercar programme where development speed and driver input are especially important.
The GMR-001 is still early in its competitive life, with its full performance picture yet to be defined, making the contribution of experienced drivers particularly significant.
For Lorige, this is the sort of ambassador relationship that feels aligned with the brand’s actual language.
It’s less about a red-carpet association and more about drivers who work in milliseconds, mechanical feel and pressure.
Precision, competition and the value of time
Chatin has described the partnership as one built around shared values of passion, precision and the pursuit of excellence.
That language is familiar in both watchmaking and racing, but it carries more weight when the driver involved is actively competing at the top level of endurance motorsport.
Lorige positions its watches as physical links to racing history, and an ambassador embedded in a major prototype programme strengthens that narrative.
Collectors who follow endurance racing tend to be detail-driven, which makes the overlap with mechanical watchmaking especially natural.
They understand the importance of timing, reliability and incremental gains, whether it’s inside a movement or across a full race distance.
Chatin’s appointment gives Lorige another credible representative in that world, and it arrives at a moment when Hypercar racing is attracting renewed attention from manufacturers, teams and enthusiasts.
For the brand, the partnership sharpens its motorsport identity; for Chatin, it adds a watchmaking partner that understands why racing is ultimately measured in time.
