Le Mans/WEC – Page 10 – Syndication Server

Ferrari ‘Joker’ updates target better balance and consistency

Fresh from its second overall victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours in two years with the 499P, Ferrari is hungry for more success. This weekend at Interlagos it is debuting the first “Joker” upgrades for its Hypercar challenger, in an attempt to improve …

Remarkably, despite winning at La Sarthe in 2023 and ’24, the 499P is still winless at the other stops on the calendar. As such, its next target is to start winning races more regularly and clinch both the WEC Hypercar drivers’ and manufacturers’ crowns for the first time.

The modifications for this weekend’s race include a redesign of the brake cooling ducts to alter the flow distribution and ensure better cooling efficiency, and a “flick” under the front headlamps to help the aero balance.

These, according to Ferdinando Cannizzo, Ferrari’s head of endurance race cars, are relatively “minor” changes in the scheme of things, which count as a single Joker. But if Ferrari has got its sums right, these tweaks will help optimize the car’s consistency at circuits that are hard on brakes such as Imola, Fuji and Bahrain.

With the WEC Hypercar formula governed by Balance of Performance, the manufacturers in play need to look beyond pure single lap pace to make marginal gains. For a factory like Ferrari — which is already winning big races — there is no reason to target upgrades that boost peak performance. Instead, it is focused on taking steps forward in reliability and consistency.

“At the front (end of the car), we were pretty healthy (with braking performance), the limitation was at the rear,” Cannizzo explained, revealing that the changes affect the rear brakes. “These cars are sensitive to modification and this changed the overall balance of the car, so we have readjusted it. We touched the floor and the upper body, to adjust the aero balance. The most visible changes are the front ‘flicks.’

“We are working on efficiency, not making us compromise on setup choice. As long as you bring the car back in the same position in the performance windows, we do not expect changes in peak performance.

“This (Joker) one will not change that much but we may have some advantages, maybe in removing some constraints on setup — not at all the tracks, but some specific tracks.”

The timing of this Joker package might seem curious. Why introduce these changes immediately after winning Le Mans? The calendar structure and the rules surrounding Hypercar upgrades provide the answer. To gain permission from the rule-makers to change the 499P in time for Le Mans, Ferrari needed to be ready to compete with the upgrades for the second round of the season at Imola — like Peugeot, which brought its new-look 9X8 to Italy.

This is because the rule-makers require manufacturers to complete two rounds with any significant new updates before Le Mans, to avoid disrupting the BoP process for the most important event of the year. The 6 Hours of Imola came too soon. Track testing for these new components began in April at Paul Ricard, the same month as the race.

“There were no reasons to push for this (to be introduced at the start of the season) because Le Mans is not stressful for brakes,” noted Cannizzo. “So we said, ‘Let’s start here (in Brazil) and see if we can gain experience so that it will be better when we race on tracks that are really stressful on brakes, like Fuji or Bahrain.’

“The championship (in a wider sense) is one of the reasons we have introduced it now,” he continued. “As long as we had this improvement in the pocket, why not start immediately? It gave us the possibility to get familiar with this modification. We have tested but not on every track, so we need to learn more and the sooner the better.”

Development work is already underway for additional updates too.

“We are already working on improving,” Cannizzo revealed. “I will say that we are very prudent and cautious to change things on the car. We would like to understand first whether we really need something, but this is not impeding us to try to find areas to improve the car.

“This work is going on; when we will arrive with something new I don’t know. We need to take into consideration that as long as the car will still be quite competitive, it will be the FIA that approves our changes.

“Our job to improve the car will never stop. The point is we need to decide the right moments to bring modifications.”

JOTA Porsche leads third Interlagos practice

Hertz Team JOTA became the third Hypercar team in three practice sessions to top the times at Interlagos this morning, after Peugeot and Toyota set benchmark times during FP1 and 2 yesterday. Callum Ilott set the best time for the team aboard the …

Hertz Team JOTA became the third Hypercar team in three practice sessions to top the times at Interlagos this morning, after Peugeot and Toyota set benchmark times during FP1 and 2 yesterday.

Callum Ilott set the best time for the team aboard the No. 12 Porsche 963 in the 60-minute session, which was hit with a sprinkle of rain after 15 minutes of track action. His lap was a 1m24.297s, good enough to go two thousandths up on the No. 5 Porsche Penske 963 which ended up second.

It was a strong session for Porsche in the changeable conditions, with the No. 6 Penske 963 ending up third in the times, also with a lap time within a tenth of the lead JOTA Porsche.

Best of the rest was the No. 35 Alpine A424 in fourth, its quickest tour a 1m24.644s. The No. 15 BMW Team WRT completed the top five, also with a 1m24.6s.

It was a pleasant surprise to see a flash of pace from Lamborghini Iron Lynx, the SC63 ending up sixth with a faster time than all three Ferrari 499Ps and the two Toyotas.

All the best times were set early in the session, the rain slowing the cars down by multiple seconds during the final half-hour. It was, however, another useful data-gathering exercise for the teams, who were still perfecting their setups on this circuit ahead of qualifying and testing different tire combinations in the varying conditions.

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In LMGT3, Porsche ran fastest too, the No. 92 joint championship-leading Manthey Pure Rxcing Porsche ending up atop the leaderboard with a 1m35.488s set by Alex Malykhin.

It was an encouraging session for United Autosports, its pair of McLaren GT3 Evos ending up second and fourth with the No. 95 getting within a tenth of the Pure Rxcing 911 with a 1m35.550s. The Iron Dames Lamborghini split the two McLarens, with a 1m35.639s from Sarah Bovy.

It was an almost incident-free session, despite the rain, and there were just two notable moments. One was a clash between the No. 36 Alpine of Matthieu Vaxiviere and No. 11 Isotta Fraschini of Carl Bennett at Turn 8. Thankfully it was only a light tough and a spin for the Tipo6-C.

The other was unseen contact for the No. 31 WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 which prompted the team to box the car for a bodywork check.

Qualifying is next up at 2:30pm local time.

Toyota to the fore in second Brazil WEC practice

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s pair of GR010 HYBRIDs finished Free Practice 2 at Interlagos circuit 1-2 at the top of the times this afternoon. Sebastien Buemi set the best lap in the team’s No. 8 car early in the session, which was extended to two hours and …

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s pair of GR010 HYBRIDs finished Free Practice 2 at Interlagos circuit 1-2 at the top of the times this afternoon.

Sebastien Buemi set the best lap in the team’s No. 8 car early in the session, which was extended to two hours and 15 minutes to make up for the time lost to barrier repairs in Free Practice 1.

It was extremely tight at the top in Hypercar. A late improvement from Kamui Kobayashi put the No. 7 second in the times with a 1m25.760s, while Alessandro Pier Guidi went third with a 1m25.770s — the top three drivers therefore setting times within a tenth.

The top five was completed by the sister factory Ferrari (with Antonio Fuoco setting the No. 50’s best time) and the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R.

Cadillac driver Alex Lynn feels encouraged by the team’s performance.

“I’d say it was a successful day. We loaded off the truck good and showed good pace,” he said. “We have some homework to do tonight to improve, but all in all, I’m pleased with how quickly we’ve adapted to the circuit and the variable weather conditions.”

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Unlike FP1, Free Practice 2 was held in fully dry conditions. This will have come as a relief to the teams, who are still getting up to speed with the tricky, technical Brazilian circuit.

Further down the order, it was a better session for Hertz Team JOTA, its two Porsche 963s finishing up sixth and seventh. The No. 38 had a far more productive run in the second session. After a technical issue reduced its lap count to seven in FP1, the car completed 76 tours this afternoon.

On this occasion, the No. 36 Alpine completed the fewest laps in Hypercar, the A424 spending much of the session in the garage and completing just 41 laps with a best time of 1m27.295s to go 17th.

In LMGT3 AKKODIS ASP’s #87 Lexus RC F LMGT3 set the best time, with Jose Maria Lopez the only driver in the field to set a sub-1m36s lap.

His 1m35.725s will serve as a morale boost for the team, which is down to a single car for the remainder of the weekend after it was forced to withdraw the sister car from the meeting following its Free Practice 1 shunt.

Lopez’s time was 0.3s up on the rest of the field. The Iron Lynx Lamborghini slotted in second after a flying lap from Franck Perera, while the No. 55 AF Corse Ferrari took third with a 1m36.201s.

Free Practice 3 is up next. It will get underway tomorrow morning at 10:30 local time.

Return to Brazil kicks off WEC Hypercar’s multi-brand fight to the finish

A month on from the thrilling 92nd edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours, the FIA World Endurance Championship teams find themselves at Interlagos for the championships’ first venture to Brazil in a decade. Looking back at footage and images of the 2014 …

Looking back at footage and images of the 2014 edition of the 6 Hours of São Paulo presents a stark contrast. That weekend featured nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen’s swansong with Audi, the first win for Porsche with the 919 and Toyota’s first title with the TS040.

But this weekend isn’t about the past, it’s about the future, and the title battles in Hypercar are red hot with four races to go.

In the top category, it’s Porsche vs Ferrari vs Toyota in the Hypercar manufacturers’ championship race. Porsche leads Ferrari by just nine points, with Toyota just three points further adrift.

The drivers’ standings are tight too. Porsche’s No. 6 trio of Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor hold a slim nine-point lead this weekend. A fourth-place finish at Le Mans ensured they held station at the top of the table, but the result didn’t match their ambition after such a promising run for the 963 through the opening races of the season.

“This is a really challenging track, and is going to make for a challenging weekend for us,” Lotterer said. “It’s very abrasive, so managing tires during a stint will be tricky. But we must work through it and score points. You come here to do the best you can and hopefully, you have a package that can win.”

The No. 6 trio’s closest challengers come from the Ferrari camp, with the Le Mans winners in the No. 50 — Nicklas Nielsen, Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco — second in the standings after scoring 50 points at La Sarthe.

Ferrari hopes that despite the BoP-enforced 17 kg weight increase to its 499Ps for this weekend, it will benefit from a momentum boost generated by the Le Mans win, and gains from its new evo “Joker” (brake cooling and aero) upgrades that are being debuted this weekend.

While Nielsen feels the changes to the car will make the most difference at Fuji (a circuit which is tough on brakes), he is confident that it will have a positive impact at every circuit on the calendar.

“Now the focus is on the championship — we are still excited about Le Mans but we are now just nine points behind and we will try to make things closer this weekend,” he told RACER.

“This weekend is our first true test for the update with other cars on track. Testing alone and then running with other cars is always different, but I am confident it will work well. Our car has worked well at every track this year, and I believe we will be strong again here.”

Toyota and Hertz Team JOTA also have cars in this fight and are looking to reduce the gap in the points ahead of Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of The Americas on Sept. 1.

Having got the band together, Toyota’s No. 7 team are hopeful of putting together a title run. JEP/Motorsport Images

The No. 7 Toyota, which won at Imola and finished second at Le Mans, is now 17 points back in the standings and all eyes are on its driver crew. The band of Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway is back together after a biking incident forced Conway to withdraw from Le Mans on short notice.

The British veteran’s absence in France — where he was replaced by Jose Maria Lopez — means he is now out of the title race as his teammates scored points and he didn’t, but that will not affect his commitment to the cause. He’s a fighter, and according to the project leader at Toyota Motorsport GmbH John Litjens, is ready to go.

“Mike would not be here (if he wasn’t fit enough),” he told the media. “If something happened anyway, we would have the option to run with two drivers,” noting that you can race with two Hypercar drivers in a six-hour WEC race.

“His healing process went on and on — he had regular checks and he was in the simulator last week to get him back in the rhythm again. The doctors here from the WEC did additional checks here too and he passed them, so we don’t expect any issues.”

If Toyota can rediscover the consistency that won the No. 8 the title in 2023, then the No. 7 could emerge as the championship-winning car for the first time since 2021.

What about JOTA’s No. 12 Porsche, which became a surprise contender after its shock win at Spa? Le Mans didn’t produce another head-turning result, but it did showcase the grit and determination that the British team possesses. The full rebuild of the car ahead of the race following Callum Ilott’s shunt in night practice was nothing short of remarkable and will form a part of the event’s folklore for decades to come. Here in Brazil the No. 12 crew return with the same chassis used for the race at Le Mans, which all being well, will be used for the remainder of the season.

Perseverance against all odds earned Hertz Team JOTA’s No. 12 a much bigger place in Le Mans lore than its eighth-place finish. JEP/Motorsport Images

Eighth place at Le Mans saw the full-season duo of Will Stevens and Ilott drop to fourth and 39 points off the lead. Winning the title from here by no means is not impossible, but it is improbable.

“To go through Le Mans with no mechanical issues and finish the race, from where we were, was unbelievable and a real achievement,” Stevens told RACER. “But, going into race week we hoped for more than P8.

“What’s important though in this championship is maximizing what you can get and I honestly think the pace we had in the race reflects where we finished. We know Le Mans can make for a huge swing in the championship fight if you have a good or bad result and we could have come away with no points.

“We are still P4 and we are going one weekend at a time. We are not looking at the championship, we are just looking to get the best out of each event. If we want to be fighting in the top three we need to be attacking and gaining points on those in front of us, so the mentality is to take things race-by-race.”

JOTA is fighting on two fronts, though. While not as important or prestigious, the FIA WEC World Cup for privateer Hypercar teams is still there for the taking. The No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari’s retirement while fighting for the win at Le Mans did serious damage to its hopes for that title and has seen it drop to third behind the No. 99 Proton Porsche. JOTA’s No. 12 crew now leads by a huge 57-point margin.

With all the teams working from a blank sheet of paper at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace — and some forecasts predicting rain at various intervals over the next two days — this weekend’s race could prove to be pivotal. Grab yourself a bucket of popcorn because we have a proper multi-car, multi-brand title fight to look forward to; it’s game on in South America.

No ‘Joker’ updates or customer cars pending for BMW Hypercar program

BMW has ruled out updating its M Hybrid V8 with any “Joker” upgrades in the foreseeable future, as the second half of its inaugural WEC Hypercar campaign beckons in Brazil. BMW Motorsport Andreas Roos told RACER that he does not feel it is necessary …

BMW has ruled out updating its M Hybrid V8 with any “Joker” upgrades in the foreseeable future, as the second half of its inaugural WEC Hypercar campaign beckons in Brazil.

BMW Motorsport Andreas Roos told RACER that he does not feel it is necessary yet to bring changes to the car, which has been competing in IMSA GTP with Team RLL since January 2023 and in the WEC with Team WRT since the start of the current season.

One of the interesting storylines to track over the past season has been the stance each Hypercar and GTP manufacturer is taking to car evolutions and updates. This week Ferrari became the latest manufacturer to introduce “Joker” updates to its car, with improved brake cooling ducts and new dive-planes now installed on the three 499Ps in time for this weekend’s race. This follows the substantial updates introduced for the Peugeot 9X8 earlier this year and the suite of changes Toyota developed for the GR010 HYBRID ahead of the 2023 season.

There are two clear camps. Some manufacturers are keen to push the rule-makers for permission to improve their cars while others maintain that in a Balance of Performance formula, it should not be necessary to enter an arms race unless there are fundamental reliability issues to address. And BMW, it appears, falls in the latter camp, along with Acura (HRC USA), which has previously expressed concerns over escalating costs associated with car updates.

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“To be honest (updating the car) is not on the radar,” Roos said. “We are looking at areas we can improve. I am of the opinion that we entered a BoP championship, so as long as you can adapt the cars in the BoP window to be equal in terms of lap time performance, it should be done that way. If you struggle in certain areas, that cannot be adjusted by BoP, then it’s correct to use a Joker, but we are not there yet.

“We are still understanding the car and developing it in the areas that homologation allows. When we reach a point where we realize an area we need to improve, we will investigate what we can do. You generate a list with points where you could do better. But is it valid as a Joker, yes or no? We are not there yet. Nothing is planned at the moment.

“In the first three races, we’ve had two LMDh cars win and the field is close between LMDh and LMH. It’s a quite level playing field and we have to look not only at pure lap time figures but also at how cars use tires, these are things that you need to check.

“I have to say, this year we can’t complain generally — we see good competition between the manufacturers.”

It appears that customer M Hybrid V8s are unlikely to be introduced any time soon either. BMW is exploring the potential of adding a customer program and acknowledged that there has been demand from private teams to race the M Hybrid V8 independently from the factory. But Roos and his colleagues are not yet convinced that it makes business or sporting sense.

“With new manufacturers bringing two cars (by rule) in the future it will be difficult to have grid space (in the WEC’s Hypercar class),” he said. “We have requests from potential teams and customers. But our approach is a bit like what we do on the GT3 side.

“We limit ourselves to the amount of cars we want to have because we clearly want to have quality cars. It’s not only where the cars are running, but how you support them. If you want to do it, you want to be competitive, with happy customers. This is very important. If you bring multiple cars and they are not supported and the cars are too complex, it needs a lot of effort.

“We are focused on our (factory) cars now, and to make everything in the window where we need to be. We will have internal discussions about possible customer cars next year and take a decision from there. I don’t want to say yes, or no. It’s something we will look at next year, but we want quality, not just quantity.

“And it’s clear to me on the commercial side that it (customer cars) will not help to finance the general operation. We have found a formula that works because if it didn’t you wouldn’t see nine manufacturers.

“We made the right steps in bringing the cost down, but there’s a lot of money involved and one, two or three customer cars will not help you to fund it. The costs are so high that I wouldn’t feel comfortable telling a customer that they are financing our factory cars.

“It’s not about the money — you just want a competitive car on the grid, that is the first goal. Of course, you need to talk about money, but the first goal is how you want to run the program.”

For BMW, the strength of the WEC’s fan appeal is matched by the technical showcase it provides the company. Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Images

Despite BMW’s apprehension when it comes to evo Jokers and customer cars, Roos reiterated that the brand is fully committed to a multi-year program in the WEC. He was keen to emphasize the success of the ruleset and the championship’s growth.

“We are definitely satisfied,” he said. “The championship has taken a step from 2023 to 2024 with record crowds at Imola and Spa. And there were so many people going to Le Mans Test Day. Le Mans is obviously key, too, and it was a sellout with more than 300,000 tickets sold months in advance for what is one of the greatest and most important races worldwide.

“For us, this is definitely not a one-year thing. We want to do more here and it’s something we are committed to so we can showcase what we do and our technology. And this ruleset came at the right time, with cars like the BMW M5 which is a V8 hybrid, like what we run in the WEC. That road relevance is important. The GT3 car is close to the road car — you use the road car to develop the race car, but on the LMDh side we develop technology and we can showcase it. This platform gives us everything we need at the moment.”

AKKODIS ASP’s Robin cleared following WEC crash

AKKODIS ASP Team driver Arnold Robin has been discharged from hospital after undergoing precautionary checks following a crash in Free Practice 1 for the FIA World Endurance Championship round at Interlagos. The Frenchman was taken to the medical …

The Frenchman was taken to the medical center and then sent to a local hospital for checks after the heavy hit. A WEC spokesperson said he is now en route back to the circuit.

On a less positive note for the team, the No. 78 RC F LMGT3 was damaged beyond immediate repair on-site in the incident, which shortened the opening session due to lengthy barrier repairs. The car has therefore been withdrawn, meaning AKKODIS ASP’s effort is down to a single car — the No. 87 RC F LMGT3 — for the remainder of the weekend.

Free Practice 2 has been extended as a result of the red flag stoppage in FP1, and will run until 4:45pm local time.

Peugeot times drying track right in opening Brazil WEC practice

Peugeot TotalEnergies’ No. 93 9X8 topped the opening practice session of the FIA World Endurance Championship weekend at Interlagos, with Nico Müller setting a 1m26.341s on a drying track after light rain ahead of the session. The Swiss driver’s …

The Swiss driver’s time came with 44 minutes remaining as multiple improvements were being made across the board by drivers, who started the session on wets and moved to slicks as conditions improved.

However, the flurry of fast times was interrupted by a red flag moments after Müller posted his time for an incident at Turn 4. The No. 78 AKKODIS ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3 ended up in the guardrails with Arnold Robin at the wheel, prompting lengthy barrier repairs which brought the session to a premature end.

Race control announced that the session would not resume with 19 minutes on the clock, and confirmed that FP2 will be extended to make up for lost time, held between 2:30 and 4:45pm local time.

As for Robin’s condition, a WEC spokesperson has confirmed to RACER that he was “extricated from the car and is being evaluated at the medical center for precautionary checks.” The extent of the damage to the car is not yet clear.

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The No. 2 Cadillac wound up second, with a 1m26.520s from Earl Bamber. There were six brands represented in the top six, as the No. 6 championship-leading Porsche ended up third, with the No. 8 Toyota fourth and the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari and No. 20 BMW fifth and sixth. All of them lapped within six-tenths of the leading Peugeot.

Most teams managed to complete more than 20 laps in the session, which represented the first opportunity for the field to gather data on the Interlagos circuit with their current cars. The only car that didn’t hit double figures was the No. 38 JOTA Porsche, which was late to the session.

In LMGT3, United Autosports’ No. 59 McLaren GT3 Evo set the best time, with local driver Nicolas Costa setting a 1m35.881s.

The Heart of Racing Aston Martin finished up second with a 1m35. 884s, while the No. 777 D’Station Vantage completed the top three with a 1m36.104s.

Free Practice 2 is set to get underway at 2:30pm local time.

Isotta doubling down on Hypercar program

With the “two-car rule” for Hypercar manufacturers in the FIA WEC coming into force next year, Isotta Fraschini is pushing hard to find a solution to expand its Tipo6-C program. Racing in a category featuring eight blue-chip manufacturers all …

With the “two-car rule” for Hypercar manufacturers in the FIA WEC coming into force next year, Isotta Fraschini is pushing hard to find a solution to expand its Tipo6-C program.

Racing in a category featuring eight blue-chip manufacturers all pouring huge resources in was always going to take a lot of work for the revived Italian marque. But it remains as ambitious as ever ahead of the second half of its debut campaign.

In the background, significant progress has been made. The Duqueine- and Michelotto-supported team has made positive steps forward with the Tipo6-C, improved its operational capabilities and closed the performance gap to its rivals.

The team’s most impressive showing to this point, crucially, came at Le Mans last month. The Tipo-6C ran reliably for the entire race and finished 14th, nine laps down from the winning Ferrari but five laps clear of the LMP2 winner.

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“We made progress with reliability, but the car has been reliable since the beginning,” Isotta driver Jean-Karl Vernay told RACER. “We had an issue in Qatar when the suspension broke, but aside from that, we’ve never had any issues with systems, or the gearbox or whatever.”

“We finished Imola, Spa and Le Mans without any simulations or tests, so this shows you what the car can do. And the fact it was a great run at Le Mans validates that. We knew going in that if we crashed, we were done. But we drove the race normally. We just focused on improving the package, without taking too much risk, because if we broke the car we are not sure we would have been able to send it to Brazil in time.

“We need something to happen for us to score points, but we have shown it can happen. If we keep getting closer and closer and the BoP changes a little, we will see.”

The driver lineup, headlined by the experienced and rapid Frenchman Vernay, has received its fair share of scrutiny, but it too is improving. By no fault of their own, Antonio Serravalle and Carl Bennett, who share the car with Vernay, are young and new to prototype racing. Understandably, it’s taken them time to get up to speed with both the car and the level of competition in Hypercar. Every day is still a school day at this point, though Vernay feels that as a unit, they are taking strides every race weekend.

“My teammates are doing a pretty good job, because they don’t know most of the tracks and we haven’t tested,” he explained. “So they are maximizing practice sessions so they can learn. It’s encouraging. Performance is the area we are looking at now, and I think we are getting closer.

“It’s been very difficult to fight against big manufacturers, with top and experienced drivers, without any testing.”

So what about next year? Will Isotta find a way to return to the WEC grid in 2025, when a second car will be required?

The team had examined the potential to field two cars this season, but it was eventually seen as a step too far, too soon. Next year, under new leadership, things may be different. The team has just announced that program boss Claudio Berro will step aside. He will be replaced by CEO Miguel Valldecabres in 2025.

It will not be easy for Valldecabres to find a way to expand, in part because it will come with a significant price tag, but also because space on the grid will be at a premium even with the expansion to 40 cars. Beyond the current crop of factory cars, Aston Martin via Heart of Racing is set to bring two Valkyries, Lamborghini will scale up to running a second car with Iron Lynx, as will Cadillac with its as-yet-unannounced new service provider.

Isotta is in a David-vs-Goliath battle against the Hypercars representing major manufacturers, but its steady Le Mans run boosted itscredibilitg. Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Images

Hypercar manufacturers have been given priority for spaces on the grid to this point, but Isotta will likely need to justify its place on the grid if things get tight and the organizers are forced to choose between a pair of Tipo6-Cs and LMGT3 cars entered by a major OEM.

Should Isotta figure it out, the most likely scenario appears to be a two-car effort with Duqueine running both cars, rather than a second car run by a different team. Vernay — who along with his driving duties works for Duqueine Engineering as its LMP3 sales manager and played a key part in forging the partnership between it and Isotta — feels it is ready to step up.

“If Isotta is ready to make two cars, of course, we are happy to be involved and continue. We made sacrifices to make this happen and we want to continue. It would be stupid to do this for one year. To not be there in Year 2 or 3 doesn’t make sense,” Vernay said.

“We are making progress and next year should be much better than this year. We want to run the two cars because it makes no sense to run two teams. Now we have the experience, we know what to do. We won’t have the resources of brands like Porsche, but we can improve this car.

“We aren’t the ones who decide — it’s a collaboration. But if they are there with two cars we are going to be there to support it.”

The race to get on the grid next season starts in earnest this weekend in Brazil. There are four races remaining in the 2024 campaign and each one is set to be hugely important for Isotta Fraschini as looks to attract backers and prove its worth.

GTP/Hypercar rule stability inspiring new manufacturer interest

The extension of the Hypercar and GTP regulations through the 2029 season, announced ahead of the Le Mans 24 Hours, was met with universal praise. It’s a ruleset that is working as intended, allowing manufacturers to choose one of a multitude of …

Along with allowing the current set of manufacturers to extend their current programs without having to plan for a different formula with entirely new cars, it also opens the door for prospective manufacturers on the outside looking in. Prior to the extension being announced, we were quickly reaching a point where it was becoming too difficult for any prospective entrants to justify giving a program the green light, as time was running out to develop a car in time for a multi-year effort. Now the clock has been reset, there is real potential for a new wave of manufacturers to come and play.

So of the crop of OEMs understood to be on the fence, who is most likely to join?

McLaren’s ambitions were spelled out ahead of Le Mans and it appears that the British marque is closing in on making a concrete decision. We have been here before, but the stars appear to have aligned. “If — and I’d like to say it’s more ‘when’ than ‘if’ — we step up to the top class, the extension is favorable,” McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said. He also noted that the extension would give any prospective McLaren project committing to the WEC at least a three-year period to compete and made it clear that McLaren Racing’s financial stability and its other programs being back at a race-winning level remain a key factor. Put simply, if it was struggling in any combination of Formula 1, IndyCar, customer GT racing and/or Extreme E, there would be little appetite from within to add a Hypercar program to the mix.

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If a McLaren prototype comes, the LMDh ruleset is the preferred option. Previously, ORECA was understood to have completed conceptual work, with an engine supplier also having been identified. But much water has passed under the bridge since then and it’s now believed that any future commitment might well be with an alternative chassis/spine partner. Dallara is currently believed to be the preferred option.

McLaren’s potential commitment appears to be restricted at this point to a factory-only FIA WEC effort, potentially to be announced at Le Mans next June on the 30th anniversary of the marque’s overall win in the French classic with the F1 GTR, ahead of a race debut in 2027.

The other name that continues to come up is Hyundai. The Korean brand is known to have been tracking the potential hydrogen-fueled ruleset for some time and it has evaluated a suite of other major potential motorsport programs from Formula 1 to Hypercar/GTP.

Links to a potential bid for the struggling Alpine F1 effort were rife earlier this year and there have been constant questions asked about its commitment to the World Rally Championship beyond the current ruleset, which is due to switch after 2026.

While official comments on pending commitments to a major sports car program have been firmly of the “wait and see” variety, there are signs that Hyundai is the most immediate prospect for new commitment to GTP/Hypercar. The most obvious sign was the presence of Cyril Abiteboul — the ex-Renault F1 boss now in overall charge of Hyundai’s current and future motorsport programs — at Le Mans last month.

The opportunity to make a splash could come as soon as the Goodwood Festival of Speed in August. Hyundai has already announced that it will debut Genesis’ new ‘Magma’ program at the British motorsports festival. It has even signed up Le Mans legend Jacky Ickx for the event…

Any Hyundai program, like McLaren, looks set to go down the LMDh route and be aimed toward the long-term too, with sources mentioning a “decade-long” commitment being mentioned on multiple occasions.

ORECA is believed to be the preferred chassis partner, with the French constructor known to be engaged in talks and keen to add a third brand to its top-class portfolio alongside Acura and Alpine. Other media reports suggest that this program could be dual-branded, representing Hyundai in WEC and Genesis in IMSA’s GTP class.

As for a partner team, Ganassi has been tipped to be first in line, but it isn’t believed the American-based organization is anywhere close to a deal right now. In fact, the entire Hyundai program is still in the evaluation stage. although it could come as early as 2026

The third manufacturer being widely tipped for possible new GTP/Hypercar interest is Ford, although its forthcoming power unit partnership with Red Bull for Formula 1 complicates consideration of another Blue Oval commitment in sports cars. However, with the future of several key players within the Red Bull F1 team still in question and the 2026 powertrains set to produce a significant technological challenge, can Ford’s commitment in that arena be considered totally secure at this stage?

If not, a major program in sports cars is now a very viable alternative, at a much more affordable price.

Ferrari implements Hypercar ‘joker’ upgrade for Brazil

Ferrari has opted to implement its first “Joker” technical upgrade for its 499P Hypercar ahead of this weekend’s FIA World Endurance Championship race in Brazil. The changes – which center around the brake cooling ducts on the double Le Mans-winning …

Ferrari has opted to implement its first “Joker” technical upgrade for its 499P Hypercar ahead of this weekend’s FIA World Endurance Championship race in Brazil. The changes — which center around the brake cooling ducts on the double Le Mans-winning car — were previously teased to RACER before Le Mans when Ferdinando Cannizzo, Ferrari’s head of endurance race cars, explained that its first significant updates were being planned for later in the season.

The modifications include a redesign of the brake cooling ducts to alter the flow distribution and ensure better cooling efficiency, particularly on tracks that place more stress on the braking system. In its new configuration, the 499P’s distinctive aerodynamic feature is the introduction of a flick under the front headlamps.

“The triumph in France, our second in a row after the Centenary edition, prompted us to accelerate the introduction of the first update on our car for the Interlagos race,” said Antonello Coletta, the Global Head of Endurance and Corse Clienti. “In Brazil, we face a difficult yet stimulating challenge on a spectacular track in front of the passionate São Paulo public.”

Cannizzo added that these improvements have been tested in a wind tunnel and on track.

“After the excellent result at Le Mans, the challenge at the top for the world championship titles is even wider open and, in the second leg of the season, doing our best to try and win the championship in every race will be essential,” he said.

“The Interlagos circuit will see the debut of the first modifications to the 499P. Despite the car’s excellent performance in the 2023 season, we experienced limitations with brake cooling. Therefore, we defined and developed a new cooling duct design in the wind tunnel and on the track to change the flow distribution and deliver greater efficiency. The modification impacted the balance of the 499P, which we restored to the desired value by adjusting other areas of the car.

“Specifically, we modified the underbody, adjusted the heights of some gurney flaps, and introduced a ‘flick’ under the front headlights. The upgrade has allowed us to maintain the 499P’s position within the ‘performance window’ specified by the technical regulations.

“We don’t expect improvements in lap times, but greater versatility and easier adaptation of the car on circuits where braking performance is more demanding and decisive.”