Climb inside the Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 NASCAR Cup car with Jenson Button, Jimmie Johnson, and Mike Rockenfeller as they wind up the big V8 around the 8.5-mile 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit during pre-race practice. …
Climb inside the Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 NASCAR Cup car with Jenson Button, Jimmie Johnson, and Mike Rockenfeller as they wind up the big V8 around the 8.5-mile 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit during pre-race practice.
Ligier Automotive CEO Jacques Nicolet and Dr. Johannes-Joerg Rueger, the CEO of Bosch Engineering, revealed the new Ligier JS2 RH2 – a “race-ready” high-performance car that has been produced as a proof of concept for cutting-edge hydrogen …
Ligier Automotive CEO Jacques Nicolet and Dr. Johannes-Joerg Rueger, the CEO of Bosch Engineering, revealed the new Ligier JS2 RH2 — a “race-ready” high-performance car that has been produced as a proof of concept for cutting-edge hydrogen combustion technology — today at Le Mans.
The two organizations have been hard at work developing the car since last November. It is powered by a 3.0-liter bi-turbocharged V6 engine, based on an existing platform from Bosch.
In terms of its technical stats, the car currently has an output of 420 kilowatts, produces 570 horsepower and can achieve a top speed of 280 km/h / 174mph. It weighs 1450kg / 3197 lbs and can run for approximately a single stint on the Le Mans circuit, between 35 and 40 minutes.
While on the outside the car looks almost identical to Ligier’s existing JS2 R, which currently competes in the Ligier European Series, underneath its body it is a completely new platform. It houses a custom H2 storage system with three 2.1-kilogram tanks.
“We chose the JS2 R design as a platform because we started the project in November, so we had to move fast,” Ligier Automotive owner Jacques Nicolet told RACER. “However, under the body, it’s a completely new car. The JS2 R is a tubular chassis; this uses a carbon monocoque with three fully integrated hydrogen tanks. It’s ready to race with the maximum level of safety.”
While the phrase “race ready” was used to describe the JS2 RH2 throughout the presentation, this car — which has already been out testing at a Bosch test track — is not expected to race any time soon, if ever. Instead, the car is a technological demonstrator that will be used as the foundation for longer-term goals for both Ligier and Bosch in the hydrogen marketplace.
Neither Bosch nor Ligier were prepared to go into any real detail at this stage about its future beyond being developed and shown to potential customers (it has two seats). There is no current plan for the car to compete or run as part of the Ligier European Series, in an experimental category as part of a series such as the 24H Series or NLS, or as a future Garage 56 project at Le Mans. Clearly, though, there may be a huge number of potential opportunities for this car and the technology in the future.
When asked by RACER for clarity on Bosch’s vision for this project in the long term, and whether or not the ACO’s 2026 hydrogen regulations could present a chance for Bosch and Ligier to compete together, Rueger said it was a “possibility.”
“Of course it is,” he continued. “We have looked for a strategic partnership with somebody that has capabilities that fit with ours and can do things we are not as good as, such as making vehicles.
“We are not a vehicle maker and Ligier is not an electronics company, that’s why it was a perfect fit. Ligier is a fabulous partner and we have seen what is achievable in a very short amount of time.”
Nicolet told DailySportsCar.com that it is “too early” to say where this partnership and project are going.
“For the moment the plan with Bosch is to work on this kind of project, to develop our knowledge with this kind of product,” he explained. “After that, we will see when there are decisions taken from the ACO or someone else to integrate hydrogen cars into competition. Then we will see what we decide. This is a first step, a one-off, to develop and learn.
“One day there will be a single solution to hydrogen. We want to put ourselves at the forefront of this technology.”
It’s the second installment of the Hamburger & French Fry show with RACER’s Marshall Pruett and Cadillac Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais at his home event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he placed the No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R entry sixth in the first …
It’s the second installment of the Hamburger & French Fry show with RACER’s Marshall Pruett and Cadillac Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais at his home event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he placed the No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R entry sixth in the first round of Hyperpole qualifying.
RACER’s Trackside Report of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is presented by Michelin Motorsport.
Michelin, the leading mobility company, is working with tires, around tires and beyond tires to enable Motion for Life. Dedicated to enhancing its clients’ mobility and sustainability, Michelin designs and distributes the most suitable tires, services and solutions for its customers’ needs. Michelin’s ambition is centered around developing technology for sustainable mobility and uses its motorsport presence as a laboratory for innovation.
A global leader in motorsport performance for more than 100 years, Michelin continues to test new boundaries of innovation. Based in Clermont-Ferrand, Michelin is present in 175 countries, employs 132,200 people and operates 67 tire factories. Click to learn more.
In its ongoing bid to make motorsport increasingly sustainable, Michelin has introduced an exciting new high-performance racing tire that contains 63% sustainable raw materials. On Saturday, June 10, it will perform a parade lap of the Le Mans 24 Hours circuit on the H24 hydrogen-fueled endurance-racing prototype. Check it out.
Japanese FIA WEC GTE Am team D’station Racing is aiming to take part in today’s track action at Le Mans, after sourcing a brand-new Vantage AMR to replace its original car that was heavily damaged in Free Practice 1. The TF-Sport run team confirmed …
Japanese FIA WEC GTE Am team D’station Racing is aiming to take part in today’s track action at Le Mans, after sourcing a brand-new Vantage AMR to replace its original car that was heavily damaged in Free Practice 1.
The TF-Sport run team confirmed the car’s arrival at the circuit, after being shipped overnight from the UK. The prep work is expected to be finished in time for the team to complete some laps later today.
“The guys are working hard on the car,” TF Sport owner Tom Ferrier told RACER. “They had an issue with a delay to the tub arriving. It was supposed to be here at 7am — it didn’t arrive until 9am due to a customs delay, which has set us back.
“The tricky bit at the moment is salvaging bits from the original car that have the right mileage and wear on them and will work well with the new parts. The aim is to be out for Free Practice 3 today, but if we have to skip one of those we won’t lose any sleep.”
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The team missed all of Wednesday’s qualifying and Free Practice 2 as a result of the incident, which saw Casper Stevenson lose the rear of the No. 777 and go head-on into the barriers on the run to Tetre Rouge.
He was then hit side-on at high speed by the Tower Motorsports LMP2 ORECA shortly after coming to a stop in the middle of the track. The ORECA was being driven at the time by Steven Thomas, who is here as a late replacement for the injured John Farano.
Thomas and the team were heavily penalized for causing a collision and failing to slow down under yellow, and will serve a three-minute stop-and-go during the race.
Making matters worse for Tower Motorsports, the damage from the impact also wrote its chassis off. Like D’station, Tower’s mechanics have had to scramble to prepare a new car.
Porsche Penske Motorsport’s No.6 963 topped the second free practice session of Le Mans race week this evening, as the teams and drivers got their first taste of night running ahead of this weekend’s race. Crucially, it also allowed the drivers to …
Porsche Penske Motorsport’s No.6 963 topped the second free practice session of Le Mans race week this evening, as the teams and drivers got their first taste of night running ahead of this weekend’s race. Crucially, it also allowed the drivers to complete their minimum required night laps early.
After an incident-packed FP1 and Qualifying Practice earlier in the day, Free Practice 2 was far less dramatic, with only a handful of minor incidents during the two hours of track time. The pace eased off, too. With no shootout spots to fight for, the drivers were clearly not tempted to take risks.
The quickest time in the session was set by Laurens Vanthoor, a 3m28.878s, just over 0.3s faster than the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P which had its best time set halfway through the session by James Calado: a 3m29.225s. The sister FIA WEC full-season Penske Porsche, the No.5, was third ahead of the No.2 Cadillac and the No.7 Toyota fifth.
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Elsewhere in the class, it was not a quiet session for HERTZ Team JOTA, which had its 963 stop at Mulsanne Corner, adding to its Qualifying Practice woes when the car required multiple resets due to a recurring hybrid failure alarm. However, the team completed 27 laps this evening, finishing with the sixth-fastest time after a late improvement from Will Stevens (3m29.784s).
Action Express, too, was in the wars, its Cadillac was spotted crawling to the pitlane with damage to the front-right corner with Alex Sims at the wheel. Gustavo Menezes, meanwhile, missed his pit box in the No.94 Peugeot 9X8 before the car was pushed into the garage for work to its front end.
In LMP2, Prema set the fastest time, its No.63 ORECA touring the circuit in 3m36.863s courtesy of future Lamborghini LMDh driver Mirko Bortolotti. The No.22 United Autosports ORECA ended up second with a 3m37.079s. The JOTA No.38 example which topped Qualifying slotted in third with a 3m37.885s.
And in GTE Am, Kessel Racing improved late to put its No.74 Ferrari 488 atop the times after a 3m53.796 from Kei Cozzolino. This pushed the Iron Lynx Porsche to second after Alessio Picareillo reeled off a 3m54.080s to go less than a tenth faster than the Project 1 AO ‘Rexy’ Porsche, which ensured two Porsches were in the top three with a 3m54.172s.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Garage 56 Camaro ZL1 again took up its spot between the last of the LMP2 runners and the fastest in GTE Am. A 3m51.904s was its best time, set by Mike Rockenfeller.
Track action continues tomorrow afternoon for the Le Mans 24 Hours runners, with Free Practice 3 at 15:00 local time.
It’s been a long time since an American team had a good shot at overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Glickenhaus teased with a podium last year, but otherwise Americas best hope for victory in recent years has come in the GTE classes. …
It’s been a long time since an American team had a good shot at overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Glickenhaus teased with a podium last year, but otherwise Americas best hope for victory in recent years has come in the GTE classes. Corvette Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing with its Ford GTs have had to slake the patriotic thirst for endurance racing glory.
One has to look back to 2005 to find Champion Racing’s victory with the mighty Audi R8 for an overall win by an American team. It was a few years before that that saw Cadillac Racing attempting to win Le Mans with various versions of the Northstar LMP. And the last time an American team won with an American manufacturer (not to mention a pair of American drivers)? 1967, when Shelby American claimed victory with the Ford GT driven by A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney.
In 2023, not only does Corvette once again have a shot at a class victory; American teams Heart of Racing (through an entry with Northwest AMR) and AO Racing (partnering with Project 1) are having a go at it, and Cadillac Racing through its two American teams, Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express, is once again seeking an overall victory. Then there’s Porsche Penske Motorsports – the car may be German, but few are as synonymous with American success in racing as Roger Penske.
CGR has had its Le Mans moments, but for Action Express Racing it will be all new. And for Felipe Luis ‘Pipo’ Derani, it will be his first go at Le Mans with the team with which he has had so much success, including the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship DPi title and victory in this year’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring with Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken, the same drivers he will partner with at Le Mans.
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“I’m used to jumping ship to another team and joining other drivers and and having that feeling of, ‘OK, now we start from scratch and how does this team work? How do we get things going?’” says Derani. “So for sure, it’s going to be more of a plug-and-play in that sense. But again, also having Action Express be there for the very first time, I suppose there’ll be so many other things that I will try and guide them as well on how to approach the weekend, because they haven’t been there. Same for Alex [Sims] as well, with being there so many times and having done so well at Le Mans.”
Ian James has an LMP2 podium at Le Mans, but he’s hungry for a victory. The team principal at Heart of Racing is part of the driver lineup for the team’s first effort at Le Mans along with the team’s WeatherTech Championship GTD PRO and WEC driver Alex Riberas and Daniel Mancinelli. The same trio made Heart of Racing’s debut in WEC at Spa in April.
“It’s an amazing race,” says James. “If we can get to the finish and have a decent result, then we’ll be very happy with our first Le Mans as a team. Obviously you want to be on the podium, you want the chance to win. But our first mission is to get to the end. It’s a pretty fiercely competitive class, but we’re confident that we can do a good job. Car seems to be good, but there’s a lot of Lady Luck in these long races, so we’ll just try and do our part and stay out of trouble and, and see where we end up.”
Ben Keating has a victory at Le Mans, coming last year in GTE-Am with TF Sport. If he can repeat that feat this year with Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone in the No. 33 Corvette C8.R, he suspects it will be a different experience, just as it was when they won WEC races at Sebring and Portimao.
“When I raced with Project One and the Porsche we won a [WEC] race and you have the German flag and the German national anthem,” he says.
“And then you win [Le Mans] in the Aston, you have the British flag and the British national anthem. I always said, ‘Man, how cool would it be to stand on the podium, have an American flag and the American national anthem?’ When it happened at Sebring, I was amazed at how choked up I got. It was a very emotional experience. It was one thing to have that at Sebring, where we’re on American soil, it didn’t seem that strange, you know? Then you go to Portimao, we do it again, on Portuguese soil. And it’s just a whole other level.”
Keating did stand on the podium with his own team running a Ford GT in 2019, but that victory was taken away due to a fuel cell size infraction. He’s ready to experience that feeling again, this time for keeps.
“I’m a car dealer, I sell cars, and that’s how I pay for racing cars,” he says. “But to race, something I sell, to be an American driver racing an American car for an American team, is just a whole different level. It’s been incredible.”
Ferrari AF Corse flexed its muscles in qualifying tonight for the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the Circuit de la Sarthe. Its pair of 499Ps set blistering times in the red-flag interrupted hour to secure spots in Hyperpole in fine style, ending up first …
Ferrari AF Corse flexed its muscles in qualifying tonight for the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the Circuit de la Sarthe. Its pair of 499Ps set blistering times in the red-flag interrupted hour to secure spots in Hyperpole in fine style, ending up first and second on the timing screens.
The No. 50 499P ran fastest, after Antonio Fuoco set a 3m25.213s with 16 minutes left, seconds after Alessandro Pier Guidi in the No. 51 briefly topped the times with a 3m25.412s. Pier Guidi appeared to have even more pace up his sleeve, as the Italian was held up on his lap and yet still came within two-tenths of the sister car. Nevertheless, Fuoco’s time was still mightily impressive so early in the week, in a car new to the circuit.
“It was a really intense qualifying. The guys did an amazing job and stayed calm and focused,” related Fuoco. “It’s really good for the guys. I hope we can continue with this trend. We know tomorrow will be tough.”
The two Ferraris, with times that were within a second of last year’s pole time from Toyota, were half a second up from the rest of the Hypercar pack. The two Toyotas ended up third and fourth, with the No. 7 ahead of the No. 8.
The remaining cars that sealed a place in the Hyperpole session in the Hypercar class were the No. 5 and No. 75 Penske Porsches and the two Cadillac Racing V-Series.Rs.
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With only eight spots in the shootout available for each class, plenty of teams missed out and already have their grid spaces decided.
In Hypercar, the No. 6 Penske Porsche missed out by almost 0.9s. The eighth and final spot was filled by the No. 2 Cadillac, after a 3m26.020s from Earl Bamber, and all Kevin Estre could muster in his Porsche was a 3m26.900s.
Neither Peugeot made the cut either, nor did the Action Express Cadillac, the Glickenhaus and Vanwall entries or the Hertz Team JOTA. For JOTA, it was a hugely disappointing session. Hybrid system issues limited the team to just three out laps and no flyers.
“We keep getting hybrid failure alarms, I don’t need to say more,” Antonio Felix da Costa said. “We can restart and move again, but the same thing keeps happening, so the team are looking at it. Everything is very new to us.”
It was a far better performance from JOTA in LMP2, however, where the team’s No. 28 ORECA set a 3m34.751s with Pietro Fittipaldi at the wheel and claimed both the top spot and a place in Hyperpole.
It was incredibly tight in LMP2, the top 14 within a second. With the class being so deep, many big teams missed out.
Making the cut behind the JOTA ORECA was the No. 41 WRT example, both PREMA cars, the Vector Sport 07 Gibson, COOL Racing’s car (despite an off at Indianapolis for Malthe Jakobsen that caused a red flag) and Racing Team Turkey’s car.
This meant that neither United Autosports ORECA ended up in the top eight, nor did WRT’s No. 31 car, the No, 34 Inter Europol crew or the No. 36 Alpine which ended up in the gravel early on after a collision with the No. 22 United ORECA at the Ford Chicane.
In GTE Am, Nicky Catsburg almost stole the show for Corvette Racing. The Dutchman put the car at the top of the rankings right at the end of the session on his first flying lap in the hour, extracting real pace from the C8.R which was delayed out on track after its Free Practice 1 incident.
In the end, his 3m52.228s wasn’t good enough to set the pace in the category, but it was good enough for third, and more than enough to ensure the team will take part in tomorrow’s Hyperpole session. Alessio Rovera bettered Catsburg’s time in the No. 83 Richard Mille AF Corse ORECA, which managed a 3m51.877s and Davide Rigon, who set a 3m51.914s in the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari.
Elsewhere in the class, the No. 25 ORT by TF Aston Martin, No. 57 Kessel Ferrari, No. 55 GMB Aston Martin, No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari and No. 74 Kessel Racing Ferrari all made it into Hyperpole.
The Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 once again ran significantly faster than all the GTE cars in the field, with a best time of 3m47.976s.
Like Free Practice 1, Qualifying was heavily interrupted by various incidents that caused yellow flags and slow zones as drivers pushed their cars to the limits on the evolving track to set fast times. The first was for the aforementioned collision between the No. 36 Alpine and No. 22 United ORECA. The second for Jakobsen’s off at Indianapolis.
Track action continues tonight with Free Practice 2 at 10pm local time.
Michelin and Goodyear’s FIA WEC tires are sporting new identification color markers this week at Le Mans. This will help viewers trackside and from afar identify which compounds are being used by each car throughout each session and race. On the …
Michelin and Goodyear’s FIA WEC tires are sporting new identification color markers this week at Le Mans. This will help viewers trackside and from afar identify which compounds are being used by each car throughout each session and race.
On the Michelin Hypercar and GTE Am tires, a white marking on the sidewall is used for the soft compound, while yellow features on the mediums and red is displayed on the hards. The rain tires will sport a light blue identification.
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For Goodyear’s LMP2 tires, its slicks are sporting yellow markings, while the wets are blue.
These markers will remain in effect for the remainder of the FIA WEC season.
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No. 8 GR010 HYBRID set the pace in the opening practice session of race week at Le Mans, Brendon Hartley reeling off a 3m27.742s to go just over a tenth faster than the sister No. 7 car. Unsurprisingly, the pace at the head of …
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No. 8 GR010 HYBRID set the pace in the opening practice session of race week at Le Mans, Brendon Hartley reeling off a 3m27.742s to go just over a tenth faster than the sister No. 7 car.
Unsurprisingly, the pace at the head of the field improved from the Test Day almost immediately. The best time on Sunday was a 3m29.504s from the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari. It was bettered in the opening minutes by Jose Maria Lopez in the No. 7 Toyota, who set a 3m28.290s.
By the end of the session, 13 cars set times under the 3m30s mark, though there is still almost certainly plenty of pace to come as the week progresses.
The fastest of the other teams in the Hypercar class was Cadillac Racing, which managed to get its No. 2 V-Series. R in the top three with a 3m27.939s. It was the only other car in the session to set a time under 3m28s: an encouraging start for the GM brand.
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The top five was completed by the No. 75 and No. 6 Porsche 963s, both within half a second of the pace-setting Toyota’s time.
A pleasant surprise early on was the pace of the two Peugeot 9X8s, which sat second and third in the times for a decent chunk of the three-hour session. Both cars though hit trouble and spent extended time in the garage. The No. 93 spent 45 minutes in its pit box, while the No. 94 spent 80 minutes stationary being worked on after an off out on the circuit.
In the end the two French-flagged cars ended up sixth and seventh, notably ahead of both Ferrari 499Ps. But it was not the start to the week the team had hoped for.
FP1 was incident-packed as a whole, with two red flags, one of which was lengthy, midway through the session for a big incident at the exit of the Esses. Casper Stevenson in the D’Station Racing Aston Martin lost the rear of the Vantage, veering off track nose-first into the Armco on driver’s left just before Tetre Rouge. He ended up stationary in the middle of the track. While multiple cars were able to avoid him, Steven Thomas (standing in for the injured John Farano) was left with nowhere to go, hitting the side of the Vantage at high speed in the Tower Motorsports ORECA.
Thankfully, both drivers were OK after the impact. Unfortunately, though, both cars were damaged extensively, and RACER understands that both teams will require a new chassis to continue in the event. The clean-up job was lengthy, the barrier repair work required lasting over half an hour.
The second red flag was for an off on the Tetre Rouge from Nico Varrone in the Corvette Racing C8.R. The Argentinian hit the kerb and lost control of the car, rear-ending the tires with a few minutes remaining and bringing the session to an early end.
In the other classes, JOTA’s No. 28 ORECA, which set the pace on Test Day, was again the fastest in LMP2. Pietro Fittipaldi set the quickest lap for the British team, with a lap time of 3m34.579s.
This was a tenth faster than the COOL Racing ORECA that ended up second, and fastest of the LMP2 Pro/Am runners.
In GTE, Danish team GMB Motorsport found real pace after a quiet Test Day. Marco Sorensen set 3m55.020s, 0.3s faster than the newly-liveried GR Racing Porsche 911 RSR, which ended up second after topping the times in the closing stages.TF Sport’s No.72 Aston Martin made it two Vantages in the top three.
In addition to the D’Station Aston Martin and the Corvette Racing C8.R, two other cars in the class hit trouble. The JMW Motorsport Ferrari spent most of the session in the garage after Louis Prette went nose-first into the barriers at the Ford Chicane, and the Walkenhorst Ferrari went backwards at high speed into the barriers on the run-up to the Dunlop Bridge.
For Hendrick Motorsports’ Garage 56 entry, the pace was head-turning; a 3m49.475s put the Camaro ZL1 six seconds quicker than the GTE Am cars. RACER understands that Garage 56 team has been told by the ACO that it can gun for times all week and is not being instructed to run to the target lap time of 3m54, as was originally intended.
Next up is qualifying, which decides who will progress to Hyperpole, at 19:00 local time.
It’s the return of the Hamburger & French Fry show with RACER’s Marshall Pruett and Cadillac Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais at his home event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Presented by: RACER’s Trackside Report of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is presented by …
It’s the return of the Hamburger & French Fry show with RACER’s Marshall Pruett and Cadillac Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais at his home event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Presented by:
RACER’s Trackside Report of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is presented by Michelin Motorsport.
Michelin, the leading mobility company, is working with tires, around tires and beyond tires to enable Motion for Life. Dedicated to enhancing its clients’ mobility and sustainability, Michelin designs and distributes the most suitable tires, services and solutions for its customers’ needs. Michelin’s ambition is centered around developing technology for sustainable mobility and uses its motorsport presence as a laboratory for innovation.
A global leader in motorsport performance for more than 100 years, Michelin continues to test new boundaries of innovation. Based in Clermont-Ferrand, Michelin is present in 175 countries, employs 132,200 people and operates 67 tire factories. Click to learn more.
In its ongoing bid to make motorsport increasingly sustainable, Michelin has introduced an exciting new high-performance racing tire that contains 63% sustainable raw materials. On Saturday, June 10, it will perform a parade lap of the Le Mans 24 Hours circuit on the H24 hydrogen-fueled endurance-racing prototype. Check it out.