Mercedes-AMG has, for some time, been formally evaluating a potential near-future entry in the Hypercar and/or GTP classes with an LMDh prototype, RACER understands. Multiple industry sources have indicated to RACER that the German OEM has been in …
Mercedes-AMG has, for some time, been formally evaluating a potential near-future entry in the Hypercar and/or GTP classes with an LMDh prototype, RACER understands.
Multiple industry sources have indicated to RACER that the German OEM has been in talks with key suppliers and rule-makers. And while it hasn’t made any formal acknowledgement of a program yet, it would appear that it is taking a serious look at making a return to top-class prototype racing for the first time since 1999.
Mercedes-AMG’s interest comes at a time when Genesis looks certain to confirm programs in both the WEC and IMSA, and both McLaren (potentially 2027) and Honda (with a WEC Hypercar campaign to add to its current IMSA GTP) continue to hold their places on the prospects list.
Currently, much of the WEC paddock rumor mill continues to circulate around the future of Lamborghini in the FIA WEC’s top class. But the reality is that even if the SC63 program is withdrawn or placed on sabbatical for 2025, there appear to be several routes by which full-season WEC grids can be maintained in the high 30s.
Part of the solution – if Lamborghini scales back its program – could be a debut for Mercedes-AMG in the FIA WEC’s LMGT3 class as early as next season.
Mercedes’ last top-level sports car effort was in 1999. Sutton Images/Motorsport Images
Mercedes-AMG has repeatedly expressed its desire to compete in LMGT3 with the AMG GT3 Evo, but with the WEC grid filled to capacity for 2024 and space in short supply for 2025, it remains on the outside looking in for the moment.
Lamborghini’s looming Hypercar decisions will likely have a direct impact, though. Should it opt to pull its SC63s from the world championship, then there would likely be sufficient space for it to join the grid, which is capped at 40 cars for 2025.
However, time is running out for Mercedes to homologate the AMG GT3 Evo as an LMGT3 car in time to take spaces on the grid, should they become available. It already has customers competing in the ACO sphere, but to this point, it has not needed to homologate the AMG GT3 Evo as an LMGT3 car (with torque sensors and potentially aerodynamic tweaks) to allow customers to compete in either the Asian Le Mans Series or Le Mans Cup. Both those series run with regular GT3 cars.
Everything, therefore, needs to come together fast for it to make its WEC debut in Qatar next year.
Meanwhile, RACER’s approach last week to Mercedes-AMG Motorsport to inquire about a potential top-class program received no official response.
French sports car manufacturer Alpine has revealed that four-time Le Mans class winner Nicolas Lapierre will take up a new role as sporting director for the Alpine Endurance Team next year, following the news on Wednesday that the Frenchman has …
French sports car manufacturer Alpine has revealed that four-time Le Mans class winner Nicolas Lapierre will take up a new role as sporting director for the Alpine Endurance Team next year, following the news on Wednesday that the Frenchman has stepped back from professional driving.
In this new role, which Lapierre teased as part of his retirement announcement, he will support Alpine’s WEC Hypercar team principal Philippe Sinault, and help improve the overall performance of the drivers and the team.
“Alpine has always shown a tremendous amount of confidence in me, not least by giving me the chance to develop the A424 and then start this first season behind the wheel,” said Lapierre, who racked up three LMP2 wins at Le Mans and two FIA WEC LMP2 titles during his time as a factory driver for the brand.
“After expressing the wish to end my career as a professional driver, I am delighted to confirm that I am continuing the adventure with the team, but this time on the other side of the pit wall.
“I’ll try to bring all my experience to our drivers and be the link with our technical teams. Endurance racing is on a great trajectory, and I believe in the Alpine project. We must continue our relentless efforts to reach the next levels together.”
Lapierre will travel with the team to the WEC season finale in Bahrain next month to familiarize himself with his new role before officially taking the post on Jan. 1, 2025.
At the Sakhir circuit, Alpine has confirmed that Jules Gounon will take Lapierre’s place aboard the No. 36 A424 alongside Mick Schumacher and Matthieu Vaxivière. It will be Gounon’s fourth start of the season after he subbed for the injured Ferdinand Habsburg in the No. 35 at Imola and Spa and joined the team for a pre-planned run at the Fuji Speedway last month.
“I am thrilled that Nicolas has been appointed Sporting Director of Alpine Endurance Team,” said Sinault. “We have been discussing this prospect together for several months now. Apart from our mutual desire, it represents a logical and natural continuation of the prosperous collaboration we have shared over the last few years, particularly under the Alpine colors.
“We’ve grown up together and won many races and several titles. We know each other exceptionally well, and there is mutual trust. I want to thank Nicolas for accepting, and I’m looking forward to seeing him contribute to the team’s development in his new role.”
Bruno Famin, VP of Alpine Motorsports, believes the addition of Lapierre to its management structure will help it take another step forward next year.
“Right from the outset of the A424 program, Nicolas has been one of the key actors,” he said. “He was the first to drive the car and contributed significantly to its development. The podium finish at Fuji is a magnificent reward for the work the whole team and he has done.
“Nicolas Lapierre is part of the Alpine family. In addition to his proven qualities as a driver and human being, he has gained a wealth of experience outside the car in recent years. Together with Philippe, it was clear to us that Nicolas could naturally bring a great deal to the team through his sporting director role, and we are genuinely delighted that Nicolas has accepted.”
Alpine Endurance team Hypercar driver Nicolas Lapierre has announced his retirement from racing. The 40-year-old Frenchman – who has been acting as both a WEC prototype driver and team manager of European Le Mans Series LMP2 team Cool Racing in …
Alpine Endurance team Hypercar driver Nicolas Lapierre has announced his retirement from racing. The 40-year-old Frenchman — who has been acting as both a WEC prototype driver and team manager of European Le Mans Series LMP2 team Cool Racing in recent years — will take no further part in the current FIA WEC campaign.
Lapierre, whose lengthy career in sports car racing includes several significant accolades, including four Le Mans 24 Hours class wins and two victories at the Sebring 12 Hours, announced his decision on social media this afternoon. The announcement confirmed that he will not race at the WEC season finale next month in Bahrain. Lapierre bows out of his professional racing career with a Hypercar podium finish at Fuji Speedway last month (pictured at left, above), driving the No. 36 A424.
“Fuji was my last race as a driver,” he said. “It’s time for me to hang up my helmet and end this chapter of my life.
“It was great to finish this journey on the podium and spray the champagne once more. It was an honor for me to live for my passion for so many years and to do what I love.”
Lapierre hasn’t confirmed what he plans to do next, but he did tease in the video announcement that he is about to start “a new chapter on the other side of the pit wall,” hinting at a new, expanded role in team management.
In addition to his successes at Le Mans and Sebring, Lapierre also claimed six FIA WEC overall wins during a stint as a Toyota LMP1 driver and two additional victories racing with Alpine in Hypercar during the 2022 season.
He also won the WEC LMP2 championship twice with Signatech Alpine in 2016 and 2018/19, and has a Macau Grand Prix win to his name.
Alpine hasn’t yet announced who will replace him in Bahrain, though Jules Gounon is the obvious candidate. Gounon, the French manufacturer’s Hypercar reserve driver, has already made three starts this year for the team, at Imola, Spa and Fuji.
The sands of the WEC Hypercar and IMSA GTP classes are shifting, with JOTA and Andretti moving to Cadillac, Meyer Shank returning to Acura, and Chip Ganassi Racing pushing to find a new home. World-class service providers are in demand right now, …
The sands of the WEC Hypercar and IMSA GTP classes are shifting, with JOTA and Andretti moving to Cadillac, Meyer Shank returning to Acura, and Chip Ganassi Racing pushing to find a new home. World-class service providers are in demand right now, and their value is only increasing with the promise of Genesis joining the WEC and IMSA, Alpine exploring GTP and other major manufacturers, like McLaren, still evaluating future programs. So, who is still out there capable of stepping up when the next wave of manufacturers arrives?
In the past, the FIA WEC’s LMP2 class proved to be a breeding ground for private teams looking to showcase their abilities to OEMs. Team WRT, JOTA, Prema (via Iron Lynx), and Signatech have graduated since the category was dropped at the end of 2023 and make up the core of the LMDh programs in Hypercar that we see today. But there weren’t enough seats for everyone to claim in the game of musical chairs that ensued when the GTP and Hypercar classes first took off, meaning a handful of teams were left to explore other options.
One of those was United Autosports, a team that came achingly close, on multiple occasions, to joining Hypercar. Richard Dean and Zak Brown’s multiple Le Mans class-winning outfit has been in talks with various OEMs about operating a factory program on and off for the past three years. But to this point, the right opportunity, at the right time, hasn’t yet come up.
However, instead of moving on to projects in other areas of the sport, United has doubled down on its goal of reaching the top end of sportscar racing. To put itself in pole position for the foreseeable future, it has scaled up its operation and added a second facility in the USA to its existing base in England.
When LMP2 was removed from the WEC, the Anglo-American outfit moved its flagship prototype effort Stateside in time for the 2024 Rolex 24, and has had to adapt to life in the IMSA paddock quickly. However, with a win already under its belt, a podium in Sebring and a front-row qualification at almost every race this season, the team already looks at home in the WeatherTech field and appears to be in a strong position heading into its second campaign in 2025.
United has made quick progress since the current season began, in part because it wasn’t entirely new to racing in IMSA. But the switch was never going to be completely seamless, as the logistical, financial and competitive differences between running a partial and full-season campaign in IMSA is stark. That’s why setting itself up in Mooresville, North Carolina, made sense.
To help hit the ground running, it shifted it U.S. operation from a small facility in Florida to the spacious shop in North Carolina, which previously housed JR III’s IMSA effort. And it’s a decision that is beginning to pay dividends.
United Autosports USA now finds itself reaping the rewards that come with having permanent homes on both sides of the Atlantic and expertise on tap from its USA general manager Billy Glavin, who was appointed ahead of the 2024 season. Not only is it set up for success in IMSA’s LMP2 class going forward, but it now has two facilities, in two key locations, to run a GTP and/or a Hypercar program out of.
“As soon as LMP2 was coming out of WEC, we knew we were going to come full-time to the States,” Richard Dean told RACER. “Obviously, we’ve done select one-off races in IMSA before, and thoroughly enjoyed it, but to replace our WEC LMP2 program with one in IMSA was the obvious next step.
“Back in March of 2023, I started to have some trips over to look about how we were going to do it, how we’re going to approach it. To do a full-season program was going to be tricky, so I attended more races last year than I’d done before, and at the same time, I was visiting various places to see where we would be based.
”We had a little workshop from our first IMSA P2 effort back in 2017 in Florida where we parked a trailer and unloaded some stuff there, but it wasn’t really suitable to run two cars from. So I knew we needed a new and permanent U.S. space.”
The obvious candidates for a base in the USA are Indianapolis and Mooresville, as these locations house the majority of the country’s motorsport community. And after much deliberation, the latter proved to be the right fit, in part because it’s a short drive from Charlotte, a city connected to the UK by multiple direct flights each day. For a team that also operates in Europe, it’s ideal.
So why did United opt to utilize Jr III’s exiting site instead of setting up a base from scratch?
“I’ve known of Billy for a while,” Dean explained. “We’ve run a lot of the same drivers in LMP3 cars before so there was a link. I found myself chatting to him at Watkins Glen during the IMSA weekend when I went over to his set-up to say hi to Garrett Grist. I knew Billy had a strong operation that was always well-presented, so we got chatting about the future.
“This relationship, which now sees him head up our IMSA operation on a day-to-day basis, works perfectly from both sides and came at the perfect time. We were moving LMP2 from WEC to IMSA, and JR III was looking at options for the future with LMP3 being removed from WeatherTech.
Having a base on both continents removes the ‘trans-Atlantic flight’ element from jobs like stripping down cars after a race, or preparing them for the next one. Image via United Autosports
“We kept in touch and I did my research. Everyone speaks extremely highly of Billy and his operation, so when he invited me to come see the workshop, I accepted and came down to see it with Max Gregory, our managing director, later in the year.”
Like its multistorey facility in the UK, located in Wakefield, Yorkshire, the 18,000-square-foot workshop that houses United Autosports USA is perfectly suited to hosting a multi-car program. It’s a building large enough to offer dedicated floor space for United’s LMP2 cars and JR III’s sizeable historic racing and restoration business.
“Both parties have helped each other with this,” Glavin said. “We’ve had our successes in IMSA, winning a championship and a lot of races and United was searching for expertise and a location that would ease the transition.
“We’ve had to downsize a little since this deal, as JR III no longer goes racing under its own name, but we ran pretty lean anyway, and everyone that’s moved on has moved onto other opportunities in the area. You can do that here.”
By appointing Glavin to run United Autosports USA, and retaining a group of dedicated full-time staff, Dean doesn’t need to send people across from Europe to keep the IMSA effort firing on all cylinders. If United wants to go testing, the USA team can take a car out without the need for anyone from Yorkshire to get on a plane. If United wants to attend a meeting in the States, Glavin and his team can hop in a car or take a short-haul flight. If United needs specific parts for a race car that aren’t readily available in Europe, Glavin and take a walk down the road and visit local suppliers in minutes.
“Now we have fully-established United Autosports USA, I don’t know how you’d do this properly from Europe without a set-up like ours,” Dean admitted.
“It’s such a benefit to be able to load our cars into trucks after a race and send them to a proper workshop where they can be stripped down, re-built and inspected between races and not need to spend our lives on trans-Atlantic flights to service, transport and prep cars.
“I’m glad we aren’t parachuting in and out. You could, if you wanted to, make some more money and do this cheaper, but over the course of a season you’ll miss out on good performances.”
Now United is winning races in IMSA, Dean and Glavin are looking to the future with sky-high ambitions. This was never going to be a one-year deal, as United has always seen its foray into WeatherTech full-time as a long-term shift to running major programs in the USA alongside its efforts in the FIA WEC and European Le Mans Series. And with results now coming in all three championships at once, everyone involved can afford to look further ahead.
The coming year is poised to be hugely successful and significant. United has already had its pair of LMP2 entries accepted for the WeatherTech season, and is finalizing its driver line-ups as we speak. Beyond that, it is expected to return to the WEC and ELMS and challenge for titles in both.
Lest we forget too that Dean and Brown still have aspirations to move into the top class of either the WEC or IMSA. As Hypercar and GTP continue to grow, they have positioned their team as a headline candidate for the manufacturers currently circling. United now has the resources and capacity to run a factory program in either championship, or both at the same time if required to do so.
It has major race wins and titles under its belt. It has the expertise. It has the floor space on two continents to run a major program from, too. All it needs is the right deal at the right time to compete at the top end of the sport. And United is pushing to take the next step.
“We came to the USA because we wanted to grow, we wanted to establish something permanently here. And we found common ground because Billy is exactly like Zak and myself. He’s a winner, and he just wants to race. We see this as a big opportunity to put ourselves in the running for GTP as well as Hypercar,” Dean teased.
All of a sudden, things are looking up for BMW’s M Hybrid V8 program on both sides of the Atlantic. With a second-place finish in the WEC race at Fuji and a 1-2 in the IMSA Endurance Cup round at Indianapolis, both WRT and RLL have found form at the …
All of a sudden, things are looking up for BMW’s M Hybrid V8 program on both sides of the Atlantic. With a second-place finish in the WEC race at Fuji and a 1-2 in the IMSA Endurance Cup round at Indianapolis, both WRT and RLL have found form at the same time.
Two races remain in 2024 — IMSA’s Petit Le Mans and the WEC’s 8 Hours of Bahrain — and they appear crucial for BMW as it sets its expectations for 2025. Are we witnessing a turning point, like the latter part of 2023 was for Porsche Penske Motorsport, or will this month’s results prove a flash in the pan? BMW believes it’s doing the right things to make it the former.
Either way, the standout September for the German brand’s top-class sports car program has been a long time coming. Prior to Indy, RLL had been fighting through a sophomore slump in IMSA GTP, with zero trips to the podium through the first seven races. WRT, meanwhile, had also been waiting for a breakthrough before arriving in Japan, after spending much of its maiden Hypercar campaign playing catch-up with its new package.
So, what has changed? According to BMW, what we are seeing are the results of incremental updates to the car.
In the current era — with manufacturers desperate to keep budgets under control — once an LMDh like the M Hybrid V8 is homologated, your options to take strides in performance and reliability terms are limited. The rule-makers must approve all updates and any changes to improve a car’s raw speed are unlikely to be granted as Balance of Performance — in theory — serves as a backstop.
As a result, manufacturers must develop their cars through marginal evolutions rather than frequent major updates and tread carefully when deciding which areas to spend their “Joker” tokens on. In both the WEC and IMSA, ensuring your car can look after its tires and maintain a steady pace over multiple stints is the key to success.
And that’s exactly what BMW has done with WRT and RLL over the past two years. Like the other LMDh manufacturers, when it comes to bringing evo Jokers, it has been apprehensive. But that doesn’t mean it has been twiddling its thumbs.
Andreas Roos, the head of BMW Motorsport, told RACER last month at Circuit of The Americas’ Lone Star Le Mans weekend that no major updates were in the pipeline. Instead, BMW has an off-season test plan mapped out and will stick with what it has for 2025.
“We are not where we want to be but there is room left in our package,” he said. “So we are trying to optimize this.
“The performance has spiked, like at Le Mans. So we know the potential is there, we just have to be more consistent and quick under all circumstances. But it’s clear with all these manufacturers that it’s not that easy to make steps.”
JEP/Motorsport Images
That begs the question: where exactly are the gains being made? According to Valentino Conti, BMW’s head of track engineering, much work has gone into fixing vibration issues that impacted a number of areas through the first season of the M Hybrid V8’s life.
He reveals that a change in engine concept from the current P66/3 eight-cylinder turbo (based on the DTM unit used in 2017-18) was even considered at one stage. But, like Porsche, BMW has decided to stick rather than twist, holding off on a major change. It’s also understood that developments from Bosch — the hybrid unit supplier for all LMDh cars — have made a big difference in this area and played a part in both BMW and Porsche’s decisions.
“We have had vibration issues not only affecting the hybrid system, but various other parts on the car,” he says. “We did a thorough analysis and we were thinking of a change (like Porsche) on the engine concept, but we identified all the areas and found solutions, which means we can stick to the concept.
“We never had many issues with the MGU; it was other parts of the car where we had issues that we had to fix. One part was the steering wheel. We were analyzing vibrations in the whole car, and one part was the steering wheel.”
Software is another area in which BMW has made progress with the M Hybrid V8. The complex systems behind the current set of LMH and LMDh cars can be tweaked and refined pretty freely. And, as Conti explained, there’s far more to it than just updating the car’s traction control.
“TC is one part for sure; you can always work on that and improve, and that’s critical for us,” he says. “But there are other functions on the car that you want to develop. You can influence the balance and also its performance under braking because it’s hydraulic, it’s in combination with the hybrid system and the re-gen. You want to play with these areas.
“You also have a power curve which you have to follow and with vibrations and oscillations, and it’s very hard to match the power. Sometimes, you overshoot, you undershoot, and you have to work out the margins and reduce them. Software never ends.
“And on this car, opposite to Formula E, it’s very aero-driven, and this is where we have to learn. The aero is frozen but you have to find the optimal window to run the car on the track and the differences here are the three types of tires and sometimes it’s not clear.”
Managing tire warm-up is a critical part of the performance equation in both IMSA and WEC. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
As BMW and its teams have learned more about the M Hybrid V8, they have found ways to improve tire warm-up, too.
With no tire warmers in either IMSA or the WEC, every manufacturer has had to find ways to get their cars up to speed as quickly as possible after each pit stop, to avoid bleeding away time on out-laps. There is still room for improvement in this area, though.
“Tire warm-up is a big thing,” Conti stresses. “With LMH and LMDh, there are differences because they have the MGU at the front and when they get away they can spin the front wheels, so for us bringing the front wheels up to temperature is still a struggle. And that’s not the only advantage.”
So while no evo Jokers are expected anytime soon — in part because the M Hybrid V8’s reliability is “knock on wood, OK” and in a “stable window” according to Conti — there’s cause for optimism. There is the belief that this uptick in form from BMW can and will carry over to the 2025 season, where expectations will be even higher.
Will we see BMW challenge for titles and major race wins at Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans? Taking that step, according to Roos, is going to take “something from everyone to give the drivers what they need to be consistently fast.”
French sports car manufacturer Alpine has purchased a minority stake in its current Hypercar service provider Signatech, RACER has learned. This move gives Signatech long-term financial stability while allowing it to continue to operate …
French sports car manufacturer Alpine has purchased a minority stake in its current Hypercar service provider Signatech, RACER has learned.
This move gives Signatech long-term financial stability while allowing it to continue to operate independently going forward. It is a clear statement of intent from Alpine, which wishes to remain in sports car racing for years to come and achieve its ultimate goal of winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in the current era.
For Signatech, which was founded in 1990, this new chapter comes after a longstanding association with Alpine. The link between the two organizations dates back to 2013 when Signatech partnered with the Dieppe-based brand for an LMP2 class attack on the European Le Mans Series. Since then it has been on a successful path, claiming multiple ELMS and FIA WEC LMP2 titles, three LMP2 class wins at Le Mans and a pair of overall FIA WEC victories in the early days of the Hypercar class, which led to Signatech’s current two-car flagship effort for Alpine in the WEC.
Bruno Famin, vice president of Alpine Motorsport, says there is “no limit” on the current program, and with Alpine now a part-owner of Signatech, the collaboration looks set to continue long into the future.
“Alpine is my partner now, and it’s a good signal for the program,” team principal Philippe Sinualt told RACER. “It’s important to note that they are really on board now with what we do. This doesn’t change the way we operate — it is important to keep independence, it keeps us agile and creative. We managed the situation with Bruno (Famin) and that is clear.
“It gives stability to our program. It’s the first time in my life that I’ve been able to look a minimum of four to five years ahead. That’s why this is fantastic.”
Asked whether this stability opens up other doors for Signatech, Sinualt replied: “We are really focused on WEC. This project is so huge and each morning my staff only wake up to win Le Mans. That’s our game and we have no other involvement now in any other programs.”
A pair of standout 21-year-olds from this season’s European Le Mans Series, Reshad de Gerus and Gillian Henrion, have become the first two drivers confirmed for the FIA WEC’s post-season rookie test in Bahrain. De Gerus is set to drive a car …
A pair of standout 21-year-olds from this season’s European Le Mans Series, Reshad de Gerus and Gillian Henrion, have become the first two drivers confirmed for the FIA WEC’s post-season rookie test in Bahrain.
De Gerus is set to drive a car provided by the title-winning Hypercar manufacturer in the test, while Henrion will steer Manthey PureRxcing’s LMGT3 championship-winning Porsche 911 GT3 R 992 (pictured above).
Both drivers have been nominated to participate in the test by the WEC as a reward for their efforts in the ELMS this season.
De Gerus sits third in the LMP2 standings as part of IDEC Sport’s driver crew.
“I was really happy to receive the news — it was a fantastic start to my day! This has been a great year for me so far, and this is a wonderful opportunity for my career. It feels like all my efforts are really beginning to pay off,” he said.
“I’m super-excited to get the chance to discover the Hypercar. It will be a completely new experience for me. I know there will be more technology to get to grips with, and a big learning curve to understand how everything works. The Hypercar is heavier than my LMP2 car and obviously more powerful — and faster in every way!
“I will take the test one step at a time, with the objective of learning as much as I can. My ultimate goal is to race for a manufacturer at Hypercar level, so if I can show my potential in Bahrain, even better!”
Henrion, meanwhile, currently drives with Team Virage in its LMP3 class Ligier JS P320, having climbed the ACO’s ladder to the ELMS via the Ligier European Series and Le Mans Cup support series that run on the same bill.
“I’m extremely happy and proud to have been selected for the WEC rookie test. This will mark my first steps in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and getting closer to my goal of one day competing in this prestigious series is an amazing opportunity,” he said.
“It will be my first time in GT machinery, but I will do my best and learn in the best possible environment with Manthey PureRxcing. Nothing has been decided yet for next year, but I hope this experience will help me in the future.
“I would like to thank ACO President Pierre Fillon and WEC CEO Frédéric Lequien for giving me this chance. The path offered by the ACO pyramid proves that it’s possible to gradually reach the pinnacle of the sport. I started with the Ligier European Series in 2022, and two years later, here I am making my WEC debut. It’s a dream come true.”
The rookie test, first held in 2015, has provided a valuable opportunity for a number of young drivers to showcase their talents to factories over the years. The list of previous attendees includes current Hypercar drivers Robert Shwartzman, Norman Nato and Julian Andlauer.
With an overall win for the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 and a second-place finish for Manthey Pure Rxcing’s 911 LMGT3 R 992 in LMGT3 today in the 6 Hours of Fuji, the storied German brand is on the cusp of a truly remarkable feat: a clean …
With an overall win for the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 and a second-place finish for Manthey Pure Rxcing’s 911 LMGT3 R 992 in LMGT3 today in the 6 Hours of Fuji, the storied German brand is on the cusp of a truly remarkable feat: a clean sweep of every World Endurance Championship title in 2024.
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In Hypercar, Andre Lotterer, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor dug deep, won from fifth on the grid and as a result, have opened up a 35-point lead heading into the Bahrain finale. With a maximum of just 39 points now on offer, barring a total disaster, the FIA Hypercar drivers’ world championship is theirs.
“We knew we had a chance this weekend,” said Vanthoor. “In Brazil and America, we were conservative and we didn’t take risks because we had a lead to protect. Today, though, we needed to capitalize — things felt good and we pushed with a good strategy.”
This time, it was Porsche that was perfect at Fuji. JEP/Motorsport Images
It was a near-perfect run from the No. 6, the only real blemish on the day an off at Turn 1 with the end in sight after AC liquid leaked onto the brake pedal, causing Estre’s foot to slip and miss the braking point. Aside from that, it was another flawless performance that adds to an impressive set of results in 2024 for the points leaders, including a victory in Qatar and three additional podiums.
That consistency means only one other crew remains in contention: Ferrari’s No. 50 trio of Miguel Molina, Antonio Fuoco and Nicklas Nielsen. Today’s race was a struggle for the Le Mans winners, who could only manage ninth. The 499P, once again, lacked outright pace on the Fuji circuit. The recent Evo Joker update did nothing to improve the team’s prospects on this occasion and the timing of the late-race safety car also cost it dearly.
In the middle portion of the six hours, the No. 50 did work its way to the front and led a chunk of the race. The team on the strategy desk opted to put Nielsen on a full set of fresh tires and let him loose to gain track position. He stormed to the front and for a time it looked like a masterstroke.
But race control’s decision to neutralize the field in the fifth hour to recover a stranded Lamborghini proved to be a major setback when on older tires the 499P simply didn’t have the pace to match or better the cars at the sharp end. Consequently, the No. 50 crew now has to win in Bahrain to have any shot at glory, and in the manufacturers’ battle, Ferrari needs to overcome a 27-point deficit.
Ferdinando Canizzo, the team’s head of endurance race cars, insists Ferrari hasn’t given up, but he acknowledged after the race realistically, it’s “game over.”
Hertz Team JOTA made Porsche’s day even sweeter by wrapping up the FIA WEC Hypercar World Cup for private teams. JEP/Motorsport Images
As for Toyota’s contenders in the No. 7 GR010 HYBRID — Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries — their title dreams are all but over, and on a day in which they hoped to claim a 10th win in 11 WEC races on home soil.
Instead, the No. 7 retired. Kobayashi’s overly ambitious move on the No. 5 Porsche at Turn 3 late in the race led to terminal damage, leaving himself and his full-season teammate 37 points adrift. To make matters worse, the sister car also lost out on a podium to a penalty for ignoring blue flags.
Not all is lost for Toyota, as it remains in the manufacturers’ hunt, 10 points behind Porsche. But make no mistake, this was a disastrous weekend for a brand which has become accustomed to winning major races and titles regularly. All of a sudden, it needs a standout weekend in Sakhir — and a fair share of luck — to come away with anything.
Adding to Porsche’s Hypercar successes, Hertz Team JOTA’s No. 12 963 wrapped up the Hypercar World Cup for private teams today. A fifth-place finish for Norman Nato, Will Stevens and Callum Ilott and a calamitous outing for the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari was enough to seal it.
That of course, wasn’t the only title win for Porsche this evening, as Manthey Pure Rxcing wrapped up the LMGT3 teams’ championship and Joel Sturm, Alex Malykhin and Klaus Bachler took the drivers’ title with yet another dazzling performance.
The dream season continued for Manthey Pure Rxcing. JEP/Motorsport Images
The team’s decision to keep Malykhin in the car for over two hours early in the race and conserve tires proved to be the right one; it left Bachler with fresh rubber and a chance to attack at the end. Crucially, though, they capitalized on the dose of luck they were served in the form of a perfectly timed safety car. Despite hauling 40 kilos of ballast down the pit straight each lap, the advantage that gave them ultimately meant they found themselves fighting for a podium from 14th on the grid.
Pure Rxcing’s achievements this season deserve real recognition. In its debut WEC season, the Edgar Kochanovskij-led team has managed to orchestrate one of the most ruthless campaigns in the championship’s history. Second place at Fuji means the Le Mans 24 Hours is still the only race the No. 92 has finished off the podium. But missing out on a strong double points haul in France, as it’s turned out, didn’t matter in its pursuit of the title.
In the shorter races, the Pure Rxcing crew have met every challenge thrown their way and put together a fairytale run. As a reward for their efforts, Malykhin, Bachler and Sturm head to Bahrain as champions with the pressure off, knowing a memorable night awaits them at the end-of-season beach party.
For Porsche, the 2024 FIA WEC season has been one for the ages. Pure Rxcing and Cadillac-bound JOTA have played their part in its pursuit of all five titles. Now it’s over to Penske to finish the job.
Toyota’s streak of six consecutive WEC race wins on home soil was snapped today at Fuji Speedway, after the No. 6 Porsche 963 claimed an emphatic victory in a drama-filled six hours. For points leaders Laurens Vanthoor, Andre Lotterer and Kevin …
Toyota’s streak of six consecutive WEC race wins on home soil was snapped today at Fuji Speedway, after the No. 6 Porsche 963 claimed an emphatic victory in a drama-filled six hours.
For points leaders Laurens Vanthoor, Andre Lotterer and Kevin Estre, a methodical run to the lead from fifth on the grid was enough to seal their second win of the season and first since the opening round at Qatar. More importantly, though, the performance was critical for their title challenge.
It has put them in an almost insurmountable position in the Hypercar drivers’ world championship and handed Porsche the lead back in the manufacturers’ title race. In the drivers’ ranking, the No. 6 trio’s lead has ballooned to 35 points ahead of the finale in November, where 39 points are on offer.
Their rivals in the No. 50 Ferrari came home a lowly ninth after struggling for pace and losing key positions in the closing stages and the No. 7 Toyota retired with suspension damage. A high-speed collision for Kamui Kobayashi with the No. 5 Porsche at Turn 3 in the penultimate hour ended the title hopes for himself and Nyck de Vries.
“It was an amazing team effort, it’s been a fantastic weekend with so much support and energy for the fans,” said Lotterer. “I always wanted to win this — it’s like a home race. For the championship, it’s also very good.”
Porsche upstaged Toyota and Ferrari at Fuji. JEP/Motorsport Images
Elsewhere, this race served as another marker of progress for BMW and Alpine after their standout performances at COTA two weeks ago.
Behind the winning Porsche, the No. 15 BMW M Team WRT M Hybrid V8 took second. Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello and Marco Wittmann in the No. 15 ran a perfect race from second on the grid and were rewarded with their best finish of the season, crossing the line 11 seconds back from the winning 963.
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The No. 36 Alpine A424 eventually finished third after the battle for the final podium place went down to the wire, as multiple penalties and door-to-door battles with time expiring changed the running order in the top five multiple times.
At first, Alpine’s sister car looked set to claim the French brand’s first podium of the year before it was penalized for contact, dropping the car to seventh. The No. 8 Toyota then inherited the place, but it too was handed a drive-through in the closing laps for ignoring blue flags and battling with the lead Porsche.
This left the No. 12 JOTA Porsche and No. 36 Alpine to duke it out for the set of trophies. Norman Nato in the No. 12 and Mick Schumacher in the No. 36 went at it hammer and tongs, with Schumacher making his final move up the inside at the final corner with seven minutes remaining.
Nato then lost another place to Mikkel Jensen, who in the No. 93 Peugeot, emerged as one of the fastest drivers on track in the closing laps and almost nabbed a shock podium.
Before a safety car was called with 80 minutes remaining to recover the Lamborghini SC63, which stopped on track with a gearbox issue, this year’s WEC race at Fuji was extremely tough to read. The running order shuffled frequently through the first four hours as teams ran through various pit and tire strategies to set themselves up for the end.
For the 56,000 fans trackside, though, it was an absorbing contest. Seven of the eight Hypercar factory teams led a lap and the top 10 cars finished on the lead lap by the end after the safety car bunched the field up and created a frantic finale.
A race this eventful was always going to leave a number of teams frustrated and disappointed. The No. 51 Ferrari crew’s race was a disaster and added to what turned into a forgettable race day for the factory team. James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi spent most of the race nursing a damaged car before it was retired after 168 laps with an energy recovery system issue. The COTA-winning No. 83 privately funded 499P also struggled and finished 12th.
Both cars hit trouble on the second lap of the race, when Robert Kubica in the No. 83 locked up and caused a chain reaction by rear-ending the No. 5 Porsche, which in turn cannoned into the No. 51 and No. 35 Alpine.
The damage sustained wasn’t terminal for any of the cars involved, but it did end the No. 5, No. 51 and No. 83’s chances of a strong finish immediately as they were forced to pit for repairs and in the case of the No. 83, serve a penalty for causing the collision. The No. 83 would be the only one of the three to make the finish as the No. 5 eventually retired after its contact with the No. 7 Toyota.
It was a disastrous race for the pole-sitters at Cadillac Racing in the end too. The U.S.-flagged team’s hopes of a breakthrough win were dashed during the third hour of the race, when Earl Bamber and Raffaele Marciello came together while battling for third place.
The contact between the two wasn’t heavy, but Marciello’s dive up the inside was enough to cause a front-right puncture on the No. 2, forcing Bamber to limp back to the pits for a quick swap which dropped the car to 13th.
Bamber and Lynn battled to salvage a result, but the car ended up being withdrawn from the race when Bamber hit the barriers head-on after losing control of the car on the marbles while fighting through traffic.
Lamborghini Iron Lynx’s SC63 also suffered misfortune on Sunday after an impressive Saturday. Daniil Kvyat, who snuck the car into Hyperpole for the first time, suffered a terminal gearbox issue in the penultimate hour while battling for a points-paying position.
In LMGT3, a spirited drive from Davide Rigon late in the race saw the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 claim the Italian brand’s first LMGT3 win (and podium) of the season.
“I am so happy, all season we deserved a good result and today we made it. We prepared the car well to double stint tires,” Rigon said after claiming a second win in a row at Fuji for himself, Thomas Flohr and Francesco Castellacci.
However, the biggest story in the class concerned Pure Rxcing, which took the drivers’ and teams’ titles in fine style with a second-place finish; the team’s sixth trip to the podium in seven races.
The Lithuanian-flagged Porsche, driven by Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler, didn’t have the ultimate pace throughout the weekend (in part due to it carrying 40kg of success ballast) and spent most of the race outside the top five after starting 14th, conserving tires for late in the race. But the team benefitted from the late-race safety car that was called to recover the stranded Lamborghini SC636 and set up a sprint finish.
The race was neutralized just as the car had cycled through to the lead just before its penultimate stop. This meant the team retained track position after visiting the pit lane, enabling Bachler to execute a controlled run to second, ahead of the No. 46 WRT BMW M4 GT3.
United Autosports came achingly close to claiming a first WEC win for McLaren with its No. 59 GT3 EVO, but Gregoire Saucy would relinquish the lead in the final hour and drop like a stone to eighth after being passed by the winning Ferrari, the Pure Rxcing Porsche and No. 46 WRT BMW and four other cars in the dash to the flag.
Elsewhere, the sister Manthey EMA Porsche’s title chances were put to bed with a late-race puncture, the No. 31 WRT BMW could only manage P10 and the Heart of Racing Aston Martin – which was the quickest of the title-contending cars throughout the meeting – eventually finished ninth.
The pole-sitting No. 55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari was another car that struggled through the race. It was classified sixth after Simon Mann, Francois Heriau and Alessio Rovera were forced to complete the entire race without ABS due to a sensor failure at the start.
Next up is the season finale in Bahrain on Nov. 2.
It was fifth time lucky for Cadillac Racing this afternoon at Fuji Speedway. After qualifying in the top four for four consecutive races, Alex Lynn finally broke through and scored the GM brand its first WEC pole, extending the streak to five races …
It was fifth time lucky for Cadillac Racing this afternoon at Fuji Speedway. After qualifying in the top four for four consecutive races, Alex Lynn finally broke through and scored the GM brand its first WEC pole, extending the streak to five races with a remarkable second flyer in Hyperpole.
His session best 1m28.901s wasn’t quite the perfect lap, as he revealed afterwards that his previous tour was on course to be even faster before he was balked, but it was enough. Enough to give himself and his teammate Earl Bamber prime real estate on the grid for tomorrow’s race and prevent Toyota from grabbing the Saturday headlines before what it hopes will be a 10th win in 11 WEC races on home turf.
Lynn was understandably delighted with his performance. “It feels so good,” he said. “Honestly, we’ve tried so hard all year. I have to say this car is amazing on one lap. I’m so proud to have finally done it as I still have nightmares of that Le Mans night, missing it by a tenth.”
But the task is nowhere near complete. After almost two full seasons in the current era of Hypercar with Cadillac, Lynn knows full well that strong performance on qualifying day won’t necessarily translate to an easy ride in the race. Evidence of this can be found in the points table; nobody has won from pole yet this season in Hypercar.
Thus, Lynn was keen to point out during the post-session press conference that the team has primarily focused on nailing long-run pace all weekend, rather than refining the No. 2 car’s raw speed.
“In this field, nothing is given for free, so if you can start up front in these races, it’s a big advantage,” he explained. “But we’re still trying to figure out how to make our car just as fast over six hours or even 24. We know how to make it fast, it’s just getting it to do that for a whole race.
“We haven’t changed our mentality. We know we’re quite good in qualifying, but 99 per cent of our focus has been on the race.
“Hopefully, all that work we’ve put in will stand us in good stead when the lights go out. The track is pretty good. It’s quite hot out here this year, so that’s always a challenge trying to set the car up for multiple temperatures throughout tomorrow’s race.”
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With Chip Ganassi Racing’s stint as Cadillac’s Hypercar service provider coming to a close, a win (or indeed a podium) tomorrow would make for an emotional occasion for everyone behind the scenes who has played a part in the effort to this point.
This group, led by Stephen Mitas, has worked tirelessly in pursuit of a first win, yet come up short time and time again. Not only would a big result feel like a long time coming, but thoroughly deserved too.
Beating Toyota in its own backyard tomorrow will likely require a perfect run. But as this mesmerizing WEC season – which has produced a different winner at each event — has shown, you can afford to expect the unexpected and in the case of Cadillac Racing, dare to dream.
