When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Round five of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship at the Fuji Speedway in Japan has been cancelled, and replaced by a six-hour race at the Bahrain International Circuit in late October.
The new Bahrain event will form part of a doubleheader for the final two rounds of the current season, with the first meeting to take place on October 30 and the second eight-hour race scheduled for the following weekend (November 6).
The WEC’s Japanese round has been called off due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and as a direct result of ongoing travel restrictions to Japan, which will make it too difficult for teams and personnel to get there.
“The current instability calls for adaptability. Having consulted widely, given the health situation, we will not be going to Fuji,” Pierre Fillon, president of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest said. “A replacement round will be held in Bahrain. My heartfelt thanks to the Japanese organization team who did all they could to host the event. We are already looking forward to next year’s fixture.”
Bahrain will now host the first ever back-to-back doubleheader at the same track for the series, which explained that “two consecutive race weekends in Bahrain would be the most viable solution for all concerned.” Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, CEO of the Bahrain International Circuit, said he is thankful to have been asked to host an additional round of the championship this season.
“It is a great pleasure for us to be able to host two rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship,” he said. “Over the last few months, we have demonstrated our ability to host several major international events in a safe manner and we thank WEC for showing their faith in us yet again.”
More details about the Bahrain doubleheader will be revealed in the upcoming weeks.
The process towards achieving convergence between the Le Mans Hypercar and LMDh platforms have taken a significant step forward following confirmation by the FIA of a “regulations amendment” reached ahead of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship seasons.
Announced during Thursday’s World Motor Sport Council meeting in Monaco, the FIA, ACO and IMSA have reached a yet-to-be-disclosed agreement that will allow the two top-class platform to “achieve performance convergence.”
Initially announced at Daytona in January 2020, work has been ongoing to bring the two platforms together into a single category, which will be regulated through a Balance of Performance process.
Sportscar365 understands a meeting in Paris last month initially outlined the areas where compromises needed to be achieved for convergence to happen.
This is largely believed to be around the LMH car’s front-axle hybrid regeneration, which provides a significant advantage in braking and cornering speeds when compared to the the LMDh’s rear-wheel mounted spec hybrid system.
The FIA, ACO and IMSA have yet to release any details on the exact details of the “regulations amendment”.
LeMans this weekend Boyz! 10:00 a.m. EST start, some surprises during qualifying with a privateer Porsche team beating the factory team during qualifying.
Caught about 6 hours on Saturday & the last 1/2 hour on Sunday.
Seemed like as soon as night fell & a bit of rain, all hell broke loose. Cars all over the place.
Real bummer for Floersch, hit twice & taken out by no fault of her own. Sheer panic on her face when the 2nd hit came in.
Pretty big near miss at the finish, LMP2 swerved to nearly miss the GT.
Cool seeing the Toyotas cross the line together, a lap apart.
Missed it on the broadcast, but they said the Glickenhaus came across together too. Not a bad result for their first LeMans. 4/5 overall, even if it was last in class.
Missed it on the broadcast, but they said the Glickenhaus came across together too. Not a bad result for their first LeMans. 4/5 overall, even if it was last in class.
Kharma for taking out Buemi on first lap caught up with Glickenhaus. I was happy to see the non-works Porsche 911 RSR win the pole for GTE Pro but surely didn't expect it to hang on for the win in that class which was taken by Ferrari then the Vette followed by the Porsche works team.
Missed it on the broadcast, but they said the Glickenhaus came across together too. Not a bad result for their first LeMans. 4/5 overall, even if it was last in class.
I'm thinking about adopting Glickenhaus as the home team. Their factory is relatively close to my house.
That flag waver needs to be more careful next time. 99.99% of the the time, the crossing of the line is just a photo op and everyone is driving at reduced speed, but this time it got really hairy. Other cars that slowed down could also have been hit at the last corner by the WRT and JOTA. It was really dangerous. The ACO should come up with a safer procedure.
Cadillac has announced a twin programme in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship from 2023 with an LMDh contender built around a Dallara chassis.
The General Motors-owned brand will partner with Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express Racing, two of its current factory squads in the top DPi class of IMSA, for the new era of sportscar racing on either side of the Atlantic.
It becomes the fifth manufacturer to commit to building a car to LMDh rules, following Porsche, Audi, Acura and BMW.
Cadillac said it will integrate a new GM-developed engine in its yet-to-be-named LMDh car, which will be based on Dallara’s next generation LMP2 chassis.
The American luxury marque is aiming to debut the car in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January 2023, with the “objective of participating in the Le Mans 24 Hours” the same year.
An announcement regarding continuation of Cadillac’s prototype, which began in 2017 with the DPi-V.R in IMSA, has been delayed multiple times over the last few months.
But earlier this month, GM’s sportscar programmer manager Laura Klauser had strongly hinted that it would like to take the Cadillac brand back to Le Mans for the first time since 2002, when it finished eighth overall with the Northstar prototype.
“We are excited to compete at the top level of international motorsport in the LMDh class beginning in 2023,” said Rory Harvey, Cadillac Global Vice President.
“Like motorsport, Cadillac is making the transition into a future driven by alternative propulsion. The hybrid nature of the LMDh rules will help us to bridge our technology transfer to our all-electric future.
“We are excited to carry forward our success and continue to transfer our learnings and technology from the track to our production vehicles.
“We have had great success with the championship-winning Cadillac DPi-V.R and look forward to building on that record into the future with the next generation Cadillac LMDh.”
There was no mention of Corvette’s future in sportscar racing after the Automobile Club de l'Ouest announced last week that the GTE Pro category at Le Mans and in the WEC will be replaced by a new class based on FIA GT3 machinery from 2023.
Corvette, which finished second to Ferrari in the French endurance classic weekend, is only into its second year of the new C8.R based on the current GTE regulations.
That's 10 manufacturers! If each shows up with at least two cars, that means 20 top cars at Le Mans. Porsche and Audi have already indicated that they will also be selling their cars to customer teams in addition to their factory efforts.
I was listening to the Le Mans radio, and some were speculating that it's not completely impossible that in a few years, the entire Le Mans grid could be one class of HY/LMDh. The last time the Le Mans grid was almost completely filled with prototypes was back in the mid-80's at the height of Group C.
Seems in recent years LMP1/LMHY are a tiny class compared to LMP2. Would be nice to see an equal or bigger grid of the top tier.
But, on the flipside of that, there's a finite number of garage spaces, so do you reduce LMP2 spots, cut some GT entrants?
Seems in recent years LMP1/LMHY are a tiny class compared to LMP2. Would be nice to see an equal or bigger grid of the top tier.
But, on the flipside of that, there's a finite number of garage spaces, so do you reduce LMP2 spots, cut some GT entrants?
Yes. If the HY/LMDh class expands, then it means the LMP2 and GT spots will reduce. In all likelihood, any expansion of the top class means that the private entrants in LMP2 and GT will be be moving up and fielding those prototypes.
Makes sense.
I noticed Risi ran a LMP2 instead of fielding a Ferrari GT this year. Them being a Houston-based team, I try to keep track of them during the race.
WEC CEO Frederic Lequien made the vow in the wake of multiple public comments from marque boss Jim Glickenhaus that he only wants to contest a limited programme with his Pipo-engined 007 LMH design in 2022 after opting out of the series following the Le Mans 24 Hours this year.
Lequien told Motorsport.com that the American entrant will be required to race at least one 007 "for all the season, that is very clear".
"We don't want to sound pretentious, but we are an FIA world championship, which means we have to follow rules," he said.
"Also for the other competitors it is fair that he competes in all the rounds."
Lequien explained that any second entry from Glickenhaus for regular WEC rounds or Le Mans in June would be assessed by the relevant selection committees.
"It is clear that this could be possible, but [the team must enter] one car for all the races," he said.
In the wake of Lequien's comments, former movie director Jim Glickenhaus reiterated that he is not committed to all six races in '21.
"It is our aim to be at Sebring and Spa before Le Mans and definitely have two cars at the 24 Hours," he told Motorsport.com.
"We would like to go to Monza after Le Mans and to keep racing in the WEC, but what happens will depend on the Balance of Performance.
"If we get a fair BoP we will work with our partners and sponsors to try to do the rest of the championship."
He had previously stated that the WEC organisation and series promoter the Automobile Club de l'Ouest were understanding of his position.
Glickenhaus missed the opening round of the series this year in order to continue testing ahead of the 007's homologation, which has fixed the specification of the car for five seasons.
He opted out of the WEC opener when it was scheduled for Sebring in March and again after it was delayed to Spa at the start of May.
The team then entered a single car for round two, the Portimao 8 Hours at the Algarve circuit in June, but made it clear from early in the season that he had little interest in competing in the end-of-season races outside of Europe.
These were initially scheduled for Fuji in September and Bahrain at the end of November, before the Japanese fixture was cancelled and replaced by a second race at Bahrain as part of a calendar rejig.
Lequien explained the WEC "deeply regretted" the decision of Glickenhaus to stop racing after Le Mans.
His statement comes at a time when the WEC entry is looking increasingly certain to be oversubscribed with the arrival of Peugeot over the course of the season and additional entries for teams such as new LMP2 champion WRT.
It is known that some teams looking to enter the series have been told that there will not be room on the grid for them.
"It is going to be very difficult; we cannot make everyone happy," said Lequien.
Lequien wouldn't be drawn on the precise number of full-season entries the WEC will be able to accommodate for next season.
A record entry of 36 full-season cars for the WEC came in 2018/19 for the so-called superseason incorporating two editions of Le Mans, while the entry for the past two seasons has been 33 cars.
Kobayashi, it has emerged, is a replacement for outgoing team president Hisatake Murata, who was reassigned to new duties within the Toyota Motor Company in October.
That means Toyota Gazoo Racing technical director Pascal Vasselon and team director Rob Leupen will report to the Japanese driver, who will continue to drive the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid in the WEC next season.
The logic behind promoting an active driver, who will also be racing in Super Formula next year with KCMG, to be head of the team remains unclear.
Toyota's statement announcing the reshuffle of the TGR management structure explained that Kobayashi will "enhance the organisation and optimise its driver-focused approach to WEC, alongside team and driver management responsibilities".
The move appears to have been driven by Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda's belief that the drivers should be at the centre of the company's motorsport programmes.
Former Toyota, Sauber and Caterham Formula 1 driver Kobayashi, 35, thanked Toyota "for putting their trust in me".
“I look forward to fighting for the world championship as a driver and team principal," he said. "I will bring all my experience as a race driver to my new job, and I know I have a fantastic team who will support me in my mission.
"We are preparing for a new era of Hypercar competition in WEC, when many new manufacturers will join the fight, and TGR is evolving to prepare itself for this new challenge.
"This new team structure is an important step for us to stay sharp and be ready for the next battle."
The announcement of Kobayashi as team principal came at the same time as a management role for outgoing Toyota WEC driver Kazuki Nakajima was revealed.
The three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner, who also confirmed his retirement from the cockpit, will be vice-chairman of Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe, the Cologne-based organisation that builds and runs the Japanese marque's WEC contenders.
Kobayashi explained that he was pleased fellow countryman Nakajima will be staying as part of the set-up.
"I am sure his driver’s perspective will strengthen the management team at TGRE," said Kobayashi. "I look forward to working alongside him to make ever-better cars."
Nakajima's role will span the multiple projects undertaken in Cologne, while Kobayashi's will be specific to the WEC.
The announcement confirmed that Nakajima will be moving to Cologne, whereas it is understood that Kobayashi will retain his European base in Monaco.
Murata is the father of the Toyota hybrid programme in his former role as general manager of motorsport development, which meant he was in charge of powertrains.
He became team president of the whole TGR racing entity, its World Rally Championship team included, in 2017 and was also company president of TGRE, then known as Toyota Motorsport GmbH, in 2017-19.
Seems young, too, at only 35.
I thought Kaltenborn looked young in the F1 role, but apparently she's 50.
Claire Williams is 45, which would've put her in the late 30s-early 40s in her role at Williams.
WEC boss Frederic Lequien confirmed in the wake of the announcement of a record 39-car entry for the WEC in 2022 on Wednesday morning that it had to reject a number of applications from teams for this season.
But he would not go into detail why the German-based ByKolles team was not able to return to the WEC after a year's absence in the Hypercar class, which has attracted just six entries for the coming season.
"The selection committee has decided that we do not have all the necessary criteria to accept this entry," he said. "It is a decision of the selection committee."
The committee, which is made up of representatives from the WEC promoter Le Mans Endurance Management, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (which owns LMEM) and the FIA, reserves the right to reject entries if a team fails to meet any of its requirements.
These includes a number of administrative criteria as well as whether the team has a proven track-record to justify an ability to compete in world championship-level events.
Additionally, the LMH rules demand that an entrant must prove that it has an association with an existing automotive brand.
ByKolles was a regular in the WEC from its rebirth in 2012, initially in LMP2 and then in LMP1 from 2014 until the 2018/19 season, before only contesting two events over the course of 2019/2020.
It has plans to build an extreme road car developed out of its new Gibson-engined, non-hybrid prototype and is also known to have made its application with the LMH badged as a Vanwall.
It is understood that the team has secured trademarks to the name of British constructor Vanwall, which raced in Formula 1 from 1954 to 1960, and won the first ever F1 constructors' championship in 1958 thanks to Stirling Moss, Tony Brooks and Stuart Lewis-Evans.
What remains unclear is whether ByKolles has forged any kind of link-up with a British company known as the Vanwall Group that announced plans in 2020 to build a run of continuation cars based on the title-winning VW5.
No comment was available from ByKolles, which is known to be trying to understand the reasons for the rejection of its entry before commenting publicly.
The omission of ByKolles from the entry list means that its new LMH will not be seen in the championship this season.
Race-by-race entries are not allowed in the Hypercar class, which replaced LMP1 for 2021, and Lequien also revealed that the series has no plan to accept additional cars at any of its races bar the Le Mans 24 Hours.
It appears that the LMH designed and built in-house by the ByKolles team is close to running for the first time.
It is understood to have planned to miss the opening round of the 2022 WEC at Sebring in March, before joining the series at round two at Spa in May.
ByKolles had plans to run the car early last year after deciding against entering the 2021 championship and subsequently announced Tom Dillmann and Esteban Guerrieri as development drivers for the project.
Lequien would not reveal how many applications for entries the WEC had received, but he said that being oversubscribed was "a good problem to have".
It is not clear how the series will accommodate all the cars at some races, particularly Fuji, the track with the fewest number of pit boxes of any of the venues on the WEC calendar.
Lequien pointed out that not all 39 cars would contest every race.
He hinted that it may be possible for extra, temporary pits to be added at Fuji and didn't rule out two cars having to share one pit, while stating that it was the goal for this not to happen.
The WEC explored the option of GTE Am teams running two cars from one pitbox at the end of last season, but the proposal was voted down by the teams.
That's unfortunate. Would love to see more cars. Theory is that WEC was ticked off my Glickenhaus not running a full season despite promising to. So they don't want a repeat.
The switch of front and rear wheel and tyre sizes outlined by Motorsport.com last month has been confirmed, along with aerodynamic revisions necessary as a result of the change to maintain airflow and remain within the performance windows laid down by the LMH regulations.
Toyota's revised challenger, which will race for the first time in the 2022 WEC season opener at Sebring on March 18, is now running 12.5-inch front wheels and 14-inch rears rather than 13-inch wheels it ran at all four corners last year.
These are the two options currently allowed in the rules and were devised to reflect the different requirements of four-wheel-drive hybrids and cars with rear-drive only.
Pascal Vasselon, technical director of Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe, explained the change has been designed “to address challenges we faced last season with management of the rear tyres”.
A higher and longer engine cover fin, also known as a dorsal fin, and enlarged rear wing endplates were described by Toyota as “the most visible” of the aerodynamic changes.
The two aerodynamic fences on top of the cockpit have also been revised and are now longer.
Kamui Kobayashi, who will combine defending the title he won with Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez last year with his new role as team principal of the WEC squad, said: “We found some areas to adjust the GR010 Hybrid last season, so we have worked on those, and I think our car will be more consistent now.”
No mention was made in Toyota’s preview of the Sebring event, which begins with the official pre-season Prologue test this weekend, of the change for this season to the so-called ‘120 rule’.
That was the minimum speed in kilometres per hour at which hybrid power could be deployed through the front axle when the car was on dry-weather slick tyres.
This and the 150km/h minimum previously enforced when a hybrid was on grooved-rubber have been moved from the technical rules into the system of Balance of Performance, meaning those speeds can change from track to track and from car to car according to the BoP published prior to each race.
The engine settings of the GR010 have been adjusted for 2022 in line with the introduction of a new 100 percent renewable fuel from the single supplier, TotalEnergies.
Vasselon described the new fuel made from waste products of the wine industry as “an important step on the journey towards carbon neutrality for Toyota Gazoo Racing and WEC”.
“We have validated all changes during our winter tests and we will take the final preparation steps this weekend with the prologue in Sebring before racing begins,” he added. “We are impatient to get started.”
Toyota has not confirmed how many of the five so-called 'evo jokers' allowed to it under the lifespan of the LMH regulations it has used with the upgrades for 2022.
The GR010 will be running at the 3.74-mile Sebring International Raceway for the first time this weekend after the US WEC fixture was cancelled last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Toyota won the inaugural Sebring 1000 Miles, which was part of the 2018/19 WEC 'superseason', three years ago with Fernando Alonso, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima driving a Toyota TS050 Hybrid LMP1 car.
Nakajima is now vice-chairman of Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe following his retirement from the cockpit at the end of last seasons.
The 37-year-old Japanese will support team operations at the WEC races as well as mentoring Ryo Hirakawa, who has taken his place in the second Toyota alongside Buemi and Brendon Hartley.
Rusinov said in the short statement he would “not put my signature on this document” and expressed disappointment that members of the team “won’t compete for GDR”, adding “we are already looking at different projects to develop motorsports in our country”.
The statement made on Rusinov’s personal Instagram account also outlined a hope that G-Drive “will be able to return to international racing” in the future.
It is unclear if Rusinov is only referencing the latest FIA rules for the involvement of Russian and Belarus drivers, competitors and officials announced last Tuesday after an extraordinary meeting of its World Motor Sport Council, or if other conditions have been laid down for G-Drive’s participation in the WEC as well as the European Le Mans Series.
The involvement of Rusinov’s team in top-level sportscar racing is further complicated by it title sponsorship: G-Drive is a brand of energy giant Gazprom, which is majority-owned by the Russian state and is facing sanctions around the world.
The FIA’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been to demand that Russian and Belarus competitors “participate in international zone competitions only in their neutral capacity and under the ‘FIA flag’, subject to specific commitment and adherence to the FIA’s principles of peace and political neutrality”.
The statement from Rusinov comes after the delay of the publication of the full 62-car entry list for the Le Mans double-points WEC round in June, which G-Drive was due to contest with two cars.
Its release was pushed back from last Monday for what race organiser and WEC promoter the Automobile Club de l’Ouest described as “administrative reasons” and is now due early this week.
It is understood that the delay was linked to complications arising from G-Drive’s entries, which last year were made under the flag of the Russian Automobile Federation following the World Anti-Doping Agency’s ruling against Russia in 2019.
G-Drive had also entered two ORECAs for the ELMS, one under the banner of G-Drive Racing by Algarve Pro Racing, its technical partner for both programmes.
The full G-Drive ELMS car, which Rusinov was due to share with Sophia Florsch and an as-yet-unnamed third driver, was also entered for Le Mans.
The additional ELMS ORECA to be driven by Allen, Alex Peroni and John Falb is really an APR car and appears likely to maintain its entry under the name of the Anglo-Portuguese team.
Rusinov’s statement on Instagram on Saturday evening in full: “Today, I, the driver of the Russian team G-Drive Racing, refused to accept the discriminatory conditions of the FIA.
“The goal of every athlete is to hear the anthem of his country on the podium.
“In 10 years of international experience our team has done this many times: we raised the Russian flag, we heard and sang the Russian anthem.
“For the sake of my fans, for the sake of my team-mates and sports honour, I will not put my signature on this document. Better not to drive at all.
“The GDR team has always been international: drivers, mechanics, engineers - they are all from different countries of the world. And if we asked everyone to give up their flag, experience and name, such a real sports brotherhood and victories would never have happened.
“It's a pity that these guys won't compete for GDR either.
“Now we are already looking at different projects to develop motorsports in our country.
“I sincerely hope that we will be able to return to international racing, once the sporting spirit and equal conditions for all participants return to it.”
The Automobile Club de l’Ouest revealed during its traditional pre-Le Mans 24 Hours press conference that the WEC will not prolong the manufacturer-led GTE Pro division for another year before GT3 regulations come into force in 2024, under the new title of 'GT3 Premium'.
The ACO had previously stated that the GTE Pro category would only continue in the WEC and Le Mans 24 Hours next year if it receives a minimum of four entries from two manufacturers next year.
However, it is understood that by this stage the decision had already been taken to axe the class in a vote of the FIA World Motor Sport Council, which was never made public.
The new 'GT3 Premium' category will feature a cost-capped body kit conversion from standard GT3 machinery, and commercially available tyres instead of the confidential rubber currently used in GTE Pro.
The ACO also announced that the current GTE Am category will be discontinued after the 2023 season.
Decline of GTE Pro
Currently, only five cars in GTE Pro are contesting the full WEC season, with a pair of factory entries from both Ferrari and Porsche supplemented by a single Corvette C8.R.
Only two additional cars have been entered for this weekend’s Le Mans showpiece race, with Corvette running a second C8.R and Riley Motorsport fielding a Ferrari 488 GTE on privateer basis.
Two of three present manufacturers, Porsche and Ferrari, have already indicated that they plan on stepping down from GTE Pro next year in order to focus on the top class with their new LMDh and Le Mans Hypercar contenders respectively. This would have left Corvette, which has expanded its programme to a full season, as the sole remaining manufacturer in the series in 2023.
The GTE Am class, which mandates at least one bronze-rated driver in each crew and has attracted an impressive grid of 13 cars this year, will continue for another season and will be the only category for GTE cars in the WEC.
GTE Pro was first introduced at Le Mans when the erstwhile GT2 division was renamed and split into two categories, one for all-Pro crews and one for Pro-Am line-ups, in the wake of the demise of the old GT1 category after 2010, and has been part of the WEC since the series' rebirth in 2012.
Over the years, GTE Pro grew in popularity and reached its peak in 2019, when a whopping 17 cars took part at Le Mans, 10 of which were full-time WEC entries.
However, the category then suffered a rapid decline, with BMW pulling the plug on its WEC programme with the M8 GTE after contesting only the 2018/19 superseason and Ford doing likewise after four years of running its successful GT programme.
Aston Martin also left the GTE Pro division at the end of its Le Mans/WEC title double in 2020 after taking over Racing Point’s entry in Formula 1, which meant Ferrari and Porsche were left to duel between themselves during the 2021 WEC season.
Corvette became the third manufacturer this year when it expanded its programme beyond just Le Mans, opting to run one car in the WEC and a solo downgraded C8.R in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's new GT Daytona Pro division for GT3 machinery.
IMSA took the decision to scrap its GT Le Mans category for GTE cars at the end of the 2021 season in which the class featured just three full-time cars, the two Corvettes and a privateer Porsche 911 RSR-19 from WeatherTech Racing.
As it rolls out its new BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh car for testing, BMW has confirmed that it will add the World Endurance Championship to its activities with the car beginning in 2024. BMW had already stated its intentions to compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsaCar Championship GTP category with BMW M Team RLL beginning next season.
“Due to the very tight schedule for the LMDh project, the plan has always been to focus on one field of application in the first season in 2023. The IMSA series is perfectly suited for this,” explained Andreas Roos, head of BMW M Motorsport. “However, our mid-term goal was obviously to race on two fronts with the BMW M Hybrid V8, and also to use the major platform provided by the WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We are now working determinedly towards this, at the same time as our program in North America. We took the next important step on Monday. The car successfully completed its rollout at Dallara in Varano de Melegari. We now start the intensive test work before the race debut in January 2023 at Daytona.”
The Dallara-based M Hybrid V8 will undergo initial testing over the next few days, with BMW works drivers Connor De Phillippi and Sheldon van der Linde taking turns at the wheel.
“It’s been an honor and a pleasure to complete the first laps of the BMW M Hybrid V8,” said De Phillippi after Monday’s shakedown. “This was a historic day for BMW M Motorsport within the LMDh project. Step by step we went through all functions of the car and by the end of the day we were able to do some laps with nearly full power, which is a good result for a roll-out.”
Rahal/Letterman stepping up to the big leagues- I was a long time BMW fan boi but now with their latest offerings, not so much. It's sad but oh well, this looks like a good effort for them.
Rahal/Letterman stepping up to the big leagues- I was a long time BMW fan boi but now with their latest offerings, not so much. It's sad but oh well, this looks like a good effort for them.
AFAIK, Rahal Letterman is only running their IMSA effort. Not sure who is running their WEC challenge. Maybe one of the DTM teams?
Next June, NASCAR will return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time since 1976 with a modified Chevrolet Camaro stock car. After only the second track test, the car's test driver indicates the Chevy is already much faster around the track than the machine it's based on—yet still far from its final form.
The Le Mans-bound stock car hit the track earlier this week for two days of trials at Virginia International Raceway. Built by Hendrick Motorsports, it's based on a NASCAR Cup Series-spec Next Gen Chevy Camaro ZL1 but has been heavily modified to specialize in the high-speed road course that is Circuit de la Sarthe. It's still a brutishly simple car though, one that a Stewart-Haas Racing R&D engineer likened to "a tube frame prototype with a spoiler and inefficient aero."
Of course, the Chevy doesn't really need to be any more than that, as it will compete under the banner of Garage 56—a sort of one-car exhibition class reserved for unique one-off entries. It's not really a competitive entry, but everyone involved in the program is taking NASCAR's first cameo at Le Mans in 47 years with the utmost seriousness.
Chad Knaus, Hendrick's vice president of competition and program manager for the Garage 56 entry, told Motorsport that this car is already "significantly different" from the one initially tested in August, which he described as a "concept car."
"This is a little bit more like what the actual car is going to be," Knaus told the outlet. "From the chassis standpoint, it's different. The engine is different. The suspension components are quite a bit different."
Indeed, while the Garage 56 Camaro is still a stock car at heart, it's becoming much more sophisticated as it prepares to race in Europe. A NASCAR news blog outlines the car as gaining high-tech powertrain controls, with traction control and paddle shifters. The big Chevy also gets some race car basics that Cup cars normally do without, like side mirrors (important for seeing faster cars bearing down on you) and more refined aero. That encompasses a heavy-duty splitter and diffuser, big dive planes, and as observed by motorsport mechanic Bozi Tatarevic on Twitter, sizable air deflectors ahead of the wheels. It's significantly lighter, too, which cumulates with the above to make it almost an entirely new animal.
"We have less weight, we have a bit more downforce," said test driver Mike Rockenfeller, who won Le Mans overall in 2010. "Power is a bit different, so we increased a little bit there as well in that area. Now we have paddle-shift, we have traction control in, we have a new dash. I mean, everything is different, basically. So we are pretty close to what we think will be the race car in Le Mans."
"Between the current Cup car, and this test car, again, it's pretty similar, I would say, its weight, its power, its tire grip—it's just a lot faster. I mean, to give you a figure, around here, I think we are around 10 seconds faster than what I did in a Cup car, so it's quite a lot faster."
Rockenfeller emphasized, however, that the Chevy still has "a very long way to go" before it's ready to race Le Mans. Its much-needed headlights are still in development, for example, and more weight reduction and aero refinement are on the to-do list. What's clear is that while this Chevy won't be going for any trophies, it'll still do stock car racing proud—if not drum up interest in stock car racing outside the States. There's plenty of grassroots oval racing outside the U.S., and the scene may just need a catalyst like this to catch fire.
07-07-2021, 12:02 PM
I was a long time BMW fan boi but now with their latest offerings, not so much. It's sad but oh well, this looks like a good effort for them.
