Andros Trophy to run 35th and final season in 2023/24

The Andros Trophy (Trophée Andros), perhaps the most well known ice racing championship today, will come to an end after the 2023/24 season.

“Winter 2024/2025 will be the first since 1990 in which I will no longer be the biggest customer of Météo France,” said series co-founder Max Mamers. “Thirty-five editions is more than a single adventure, it’s a successful life story, a legacy which ends almost naturally. Let’s not be sad about this end, but rejoice in these thirty-five seasons.”

Mamers and Frédéric Gervoson created the championship in 1990, which became becoming the top ice racing series in France. In 2003, the Trophy introduced a Canadian round that lasted three seasons before reverting to its French-only schedule.

As a national championship, much of its driver roster are French nationals. Yvan Muller was a ten-time Andros Trophy champion before breaking into touring cars, while Alain Prost became a thrice champion following his legendary Formula One career. Twenty F1 drivers in total like Romain Grosjean, Martin Brundle, and Jacques Villeneuve have also taken part, as have Olivier Panis and his son Aurélien who won the 2019/20 title. Other major names include rally legends Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier, Dalkar Rally champions Stéphane Peterhansel, Luc Alphand, and Ari Vatanan, and even non-French competitors such as rallycross ace Andreas Bakkerud.

It was rebranded to the Andros e-Trophy in 2019/20 following a full shift to electric cars.

Loeb and the younger Panis are among the twelve drivers entered for the final season in the Elite Pro class. The former also runs his own team for Dorian Boccolacci and Jerome Grosset-Janin in Elite Pro, along with Edgar Maloigne and Margot Laffite in the lower Elite category.

The swan song season begins at Val Thorens on 9/10 December. Five rounds are planned, ending with the Super-Besse on 27 January.

2023/24 Andros Trophy schedule