The livery for United Autosports’ pair of FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 class McLaren 720S GT3 EVOs has been revealed ahead of the Qatar Prologue test on Feb. 24-25. The 720S GT3s, which are numbered 59 and 95 in recognition of McLaren’s Le …
The livery for United Autosports’ pair of FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 class McLaren 720S GT3 EVOs has been revealed ahead of the Qatar Prologue test on Feb. 24-25.
The 720S GT3s, which are numbered 59 and 95 in recognition of McLaren’s Le Mans win for the No. 59 car in 1995, will run in a papaya and black livery. The color scheme features nods to the past and remains consistent with the brand’s Formula 1 and IndyCar designs.
“This is a proud moment, unveiling the new look of McLaren on its return to Le Mans and the WEC,” said United Autosports CEO Richard Dean. “The design has racing heritage at its core, harking back to the 1995 Le Mans winner, while being unmistakably part of the current McLaren family. It’s an exciting addition to the 2024 McLaren lineup, complimenting the Formula 1, IndyCar and Formula E designs; they look like winning cars, and we have big ambitions.”
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The 2024 season will be the first time McLaren will contest all three of motor racing’s ‘triple crown” of the Monaco Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans in the same season, though it will not compete for the overall win at La Sarthe in the FIA WEC.
“We are proud to present the 720S GT3 EVO in conjunction with our racing partner United Autosports ahead of our WEC debut in Qatar with an exciting driver lineup,” Michael Leiters, CEO, McLaren Automotive. “Racing is intrinsic to the McLaren brand and the WEC is the perfect arena to demonstrate the performance capabilities of our supercar engineering programs. We are also pleased to celebrate our victory in the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans with our livery, which is a hugely important part of McLaren history.”
The Ford Mustang GT3 has its worldwide competition debut in this weekend’s Rolex 24 At Daytona. It’s one of two all-new GT3 cars introduced this year, the other being the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R from Ford’s Motown rival. A few days ahead of the …
The Ford Mustang GT3 has its worldwide competition debut in this weekend’s Rolex 24 At Daytona. It’s one of two all-new GT3 cars introduced this year, the other being the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R from Ford’s Motown rival. A few days ahead of the first official session, Larry Holt, executive vice president of Multimatic Special Vehicle Operations, the Mustang GT3’s developer and builder, described his mood as “trepidatious.”
“No prediction. It’s a crapshoot of a race,” he noted. “On the list of the things that are important here to win this race, having the best car, fastest car, isn’t right at the top; it’s really about execution.”
And while Holt has something to say about execution because he’ll be managing strategy on the pit box for Ford Multimatic Motorsports, he also believes that if the company hasn’t produced the fastest car, it may have produced the best GT3 car, where the fact that customers will race the car, and in many cases with gentleman drivers, influences the definition of greatness.
“You’ve got to make it benign. We overachieved like crazy on aero and then we pulled it back, by making it less sensitive to pitch, roll, ride height,” he explained. “The car’s not [squirrely] on the brakes, where it’s pinned the front, and now it’s oversteering … you don’t have any of that.
“The other thing we did was we spent a lot of time on serviceability, because we know there are going to be a lot of privateer teams. We could have left the whole front and the back of the car there with the crash rails, but we know from experience from others, if you stick one of them in the wall, and the front crash rail is all bent up and into the fire wall, now you’ve got to get a new tub. We kept the middle, which the rules allow, and there’s a subframe on the front and a subframe on the rear. And if you whap that thing in the wall, you take the subframe off and you put it on — you don’t replace the whole chassis.”
Proton Competition will be out to prove the Mustang GT3’s chops in GTD. Jake Galstad/Lumen
The key in GT3 racing for most series — including IMSA GTD, where Proton Competition is running the No. 55 Mustang GT3 — is that the car must be easy for the gentleman driver to make lap time. That’s why Holt talks about overachieving in certain areas so it can be brought back and operate in a wide window. And while Harry Tincknell, who will drive the No. 64 Mustang in GTD PRO with Mike Rockenfeller and Christopher Mies, is a pro, he believes that Multimatic hit the mark on drivability.
“I feel like the one of the big takeaways we found in all the tests once we got the Bronze drivers in, is how close they are to the pace on this car compared to the respective brands that they have driven before,” Tincknell said. “I think this car requires smoother driving style. It rewards consistency over gung-ho sending the car in. The more oversteer you can engineer into the car in a setup, the faster it goes; if you’ve got any understeer, you’re slowing that car.
“For the Bronze drivers, that’s tricky for them. When they’re coming into the Bus Stop, and the thing’s stepping out … Our car’s very, very different — much more secure rear. A Bronze driver would not push the ultimate limit, say, on the entry as much as a pro would. And therefore their limit is actually much closer to the car’s overall limit compared to other brands.”
The drivers, most of whom were involved in the Ford GT program in GTLM and GTE, are all very excited to get the racing underway and make a mark.
“The potential to make history is is obviously here,” said longtime Ford driver Joey Hand, who will be joined by Dirk Müller and Frederic Vervisch in the No. 65. “I’m not saying we’re going to win the first race but, you know, if we win a race we’ve made history running a Mustang in IMSA There’s just a lot of stuff to go with it.”
The class structure of global sports car racing is constantly evolving. But the emergence and refinement of the FIA-homologated GT3 platform over nearly 20 years has stabilized production-based classes and created the opportunity for convergence …
The class structure of global sports car racing is constantly evolving. But the emergence and refinement of the FIA-homologated GT3 platform over nearly 20 years has stabilized production-based classes and created the opportunity for convergence between the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the FIA World Endurance Championship and many other series using GT3 race cars around the world.
The worldwide accessibility and appeal of GT3 has convinced Chevrolet and Ford to join the fray with factory-supported racing versions of the Corvette and Mustang. The Corvette Z06 GT3.R was revealed during 2023 Rolex 24 At Daytona festivities and has been in development with Corvette Racing partner team Pratt Miller Motorsports for the last year. Ford, meanwhile, unveiled the Mustang GT3 roughly six months later at the 100th anniversary celebration of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Both cars will make their worldwide competition debut later this month in the 62nd Rolex 24.
Mustang and Corvette are joining a deep pool with nine other FIA-homologated GT3 cars that will compete in IMSA’s GTD and GTD PRO classes: Acura NSX Evo, Aston Martin Vantage, BMW M4, Ferrari 296, Lamborghini Huracán EVO2, Lexus RC F, McLaren 720S Evo, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche 911 (992).
Because the GT3 category emphasizes Pro-Am driver lineups, the cars are deliberately “user friendly,” with driver aids including traction control and antilock brakes. Through Balance of Performance adjustments, cars are designed to weigh between 1,200 and 1,300kg (2,645-2,866 pounds); power is regulated to 500 to 600hp and each car must meet specific drag-versus-downforce specifications.
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Modern Corvettes and Mustangs require remarkably little modification to be transformed into racing cars. In fact, high-end production versions of both cars feature more powerful engines than their GT3 racing counterparts!
Like every Corvette, the GT3.R is built up from an aluminum chassis produced at Chevrolet’s Bowling Green Assembly plant in Kentucky. The 5.5-liter flat plane crankshaft DOHC V-8 engine — designated LT6 — also originates from the Performance Build Center in southern Kentucky. The racing version of the LT6 shares 70 percent of its components with the standard Z06 engine that originates on the same line. Pratt Miller then fabricates the integrated steel roll cage and side intrusion safety features.
As with the production Z06, the Corvette GT3.R utilizes double wishbone suspension, adding racing-specific springs, dampers and brake components. The racing car features a six-speed sequential transaxle rather than dual clutch eight-speed in the stock Z06.
The Mustang GT3 starts its life on Ford’s Flat Rock, Michigan, assembly plant before being modified for racing by Multimatic Motorsports. The 5.4-liter V8 engine is an enlarged version of the stock Mustang GT’s 5.0-liter “Coyote” powerplant developed by Ford Performance and M-Sport, which is Ford’s longtime World Rally Championship partner.
Aside from the wild carbon fiber bodywork punctuated by an enormous rear wing, the most notable difference between the GT3 and Mustangs for the road is the rear-mounted transaxle with six-speed sequential shift. Multimatic also contributes proprietary dampers and bespoke short-long arm suspension.
North American sports car racing fans will see seven of the new American GT3 machines on the 2024 WeatherTech Championship grid, highlighted by factory-backed two-car efforts from Chevrolet and Ford in the GTD PRO class. Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports will field the Nos. 3 and 4 Corvettes in a familiar yellow livery, while Ford Multimatic Motorsports’ entries are Nos. 64 and 65. In addition, AWA will represent Corvette in the GTD class with the Nos. 13 and 17 cars for the full season, with Proton Competition slated to enter the No. 55 Mustang in select events.
With Mustang and Corvette street cars now available for sale around the world, Ford and Chevrolet will also have an international racing presence with their new GT3 contenders. Proton Competition has entered two Mustangs in the WEC, against competition including a pair of Corvettes prepared by TF Sport.
“Mustang is our icon,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsport. “We are excited about 2024 for Mustangs in total and what they can do, but especially here in the WeatherTech (Championship) at the GTD PRO level.”
“Our goal is to have Corvettes racing around the world,” added Laura Wontrop Klauser, GM sports car racing program manager. “Our IMSA GTD PRO team is taking the lead on optimizing the running of the car so we can lift all teams to higher performance.”
The Corvette GT3.R and Mustang GT3 will make their official on-track debuts at the Roar Before the Rolex 24, the three-day test session Jan. 19-21 at Daytona International Speedway that also includes qualifying for the Rolex 24, which runs Jan. 27-28 on the same 3.56-mile road course.
Adding to the previously announced full-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship squads of Joey Hand/Dirk Müller and Harry Tincknell/Mike Rockenfeller, Ford Performance has announced five more drivers that will make up the factory team of …
Adding to the previously announced full-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship squads of Joey Hand/Dirk Müller and Harry Tincknell/Mike Rockenfeller, Ford Performance has announced five more drivers that will make up the factory team of drivers for GT3 programs around the world. Ben Barker, Chris Mies, Dennis Olsen, Andy Priaulx and Frédéric Vervisch will be deployed to Ford’s factory and customer teams in global GT3 competition.
Mies and Vervisch will drive the new Mustang GT3 at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and are getting seat time in the car at Daytona today. Mies will join Tincknell and Rockenfeller in the No. 64 Mustang, with Vervisch stepping into the No. 65 with Hand and Müller. Both cars will compete in the GTD PRO category, run by Multimatic Motorsports. That will be the first of many races in the first year of the Mustang GT3, as teams contest the FIA World Endurance Championship and GT World Challenge Europe as well.
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“This is such an important and special year for Mustang — it will celebrate its 60th anniversary and we take Mustang racing globally,” said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsports. “To take an icon like Mustang racing, we need a lineup of the best and most experienced GT racers, and our nine sports car factory drivers represent just that.
“Together with our partners at Multimatic Motorsports and our first customer teams Proton Competition and Dinamic GT, we are ready to take on the best in the world at the most iconic race circuits. I can’t wait to get started at Daytona in January.”
Ford’s group of nine sports car factory drivers will bring their endurance racing experience and knowledge to the various Mustang GT3 programs around the world. With teams slated to go racing in the three series previously mentioned and plans for more race series later in 2024, the sports car factory drivers are available to all of Ford’s customer teams, which so far include Proton Competition and Dinamic GT, subject to scheduling. The full driver lineups for these programs will be announced by the customer teams next year.
British driver Barker has competed regularly in WEC and GTWC-E, in addition to taking four class wins at the Bathurst 12 Hours. German racer Mies is a double ADAC GT Masters champion, a double winner of the Bathurst 12 Hour and also boasts two victories in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Olsen has spent the past two years in DTM. He also has an Intercontinental GT Challenge Championship victory under his belt.
Priaulx is best known for his three FIA World Touring Car championships, but he has also been part of the Ford and Multimatic Motorsports family since 2016 when he signed up to race alongside Tincknell in the Ford GT in WEC. Since the GT program concluded in 2019, he has been immersed with Multimatic, working on a number of special projects. He will act as a “super sub” and will be a pillar of knowledge in this factory squad. Belgian driver Vervisch, has been winning since the start of his career. He is also a two-time Nürburgring 24 Hours winner and a multi-championship winner in his Formula 3 career.
The Rolex 24 At Daytona will mark the competition debut of the Mustang GT3, the first GT3 car produced by Ford in conjunction with Multimatic.
South African racer Kelvin van der Linde has signed with AKKODIS ASP Team for its 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 campaign with Lexus. The 27-year-old will serve as a pro driver in one of the French team’s two factory-supported RC F GT3s …
South African racer Kelvin van der Linde has signed with AKKODIS ASP Team for its 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 campaign with Lexus. The 27-year-old will serve as a pro driver in one of the French team’s two factory-supported RC F GT3s in the new LMGT3 class.
The opportunity, van der Linde told RACER, took him by surprise, in the form of a phone call to ask if he was available for a two-day test in the Jerome Policand-owned team’s RC F GT3 at Barcelona earlier this week. He was signed for the 2024 campaign within two days of taking the call.
“Ritomo Miyata was planned for this, but he had clashes so they said they needed a Platinum driver to lead the lineup and they were interested because I was manufacturer-neutral,” he explained. “At that point I wasn’t looking for anything — I was on holiday in South Africa preparing for next season.
“I spoke to my manager, I spoke to them, and the whole contract was sorted in two days. It’s the quickest deal I’ve ever done in my life! I am very thankful.
“I guess our association comes back to ASP vs WRT and that rivalry, as we were always competing together for wins in GT World Challenge. We have been aware of each other, and each other’s strengths, so maybe that’s the reason I’m here?”
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The deal for van der Linde adds to his 2024 commitments in DTM with ABT and his Formula E reserve driver role, and will see him compete in the FIA WEC and at the Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time.
“Le Mans is one of the last endurance races I haven’t done,” he said. “I’ve done Bathurst, Nurburgring, Spa and Daytona — it was missing from my bucket list. It wasn’t on the cards at the beginning of the year but things happen. But when Jerome called and said there would be good support from a manufacturer, I knew it was interesting.
“Toyota knows how to succeed in Hypercar, so if that translates into Lexus we will be competitive.”
Signing a factory contract with Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe for WEC feels like the start of a new chapter for van der Linde, whose eight-year stint as an Audi works driver came to an end earlier this year. During that time there were many highlights, including a pair of victories at the Nurburgring 24 Hours.
Reflecting on his departure from Audi, van der Linde describes it as “frustrating” and “sad,” particularly as he was initially signed up to form part of its ill-fated LMDh WEC program.
“The whole Audi situation from the outside looks like a bit of a shambles,” he said. “It’s a massive shame. I remember early on in the LMDh project I was involved in the simulator stuff. We were a week away from the first rollout of the car when they pulled the plug on the project.
“Everyone was so shocked, including myself. I put in so much effort for eight years at Audi, and in the last 12 to 20 months the brand hasn’t been able to make a decision on anything. They’ve lost a lot of their top drivers to other manufacturers. It’s a massive shame for a brand with such history.
“I love the brand — they put me on the map and gave me the opportunity to showcase what I can do in a race car, but at the moment it’s doom and gloom and disappointing. At some point you need to look elsewhere — you can’t hang around and wait. I carried on with ABT, which has run with Audi this year and at the Nurburgring with Lamborghini, but I have no link to Audi, so they’ve been happy for me to go ahead with this project.”
At the moment, the contract for van der Linde is for a single season and he is unsure where it will lead beyond 2024. However, he clearly sees this as an opportunity to break into the FIA WEC in the long term.
“As a driver, you have a five-year horizon. DTM was where I wanted to be to present myself as a driver, as the sprint format is something I enjoy. But naturally, I am looking for a long-term perspective and Toyota and Lexus are giving good signals,” he noted.
“Hypercar also interests me, if there’s the potential to move there full time it’s something I would look at. There are a lot of options and I regard myself as very privileged.”
At Barcelona, van der Linde shared the Lexus RC F GT3 with fellow 2024 AKKODIS ASP driver Jose Maria Lopez, where the team completed plenty of mileage in what was the team’s second outing with the car.
While there is still plenty of work to be done as Policand’s outfit is still so new to the RC F GT3, van der Linde told RACER that his first two days spent behind the wheel of the Lexus were encouraging.
“I feel the dedication and passion for motorsport with Lexus,” he said. “I feel like a lot of European manufacturers are struggling to make their intentions clear for the future — the Japanese brands are a step ahead.”
Audi Sport Customer Racing is pushing hard for a two-car FIA WEC LMGT3 entry with its longstanding French customer Team Sainteloc, RACER has learned. Last week’s Goodyear LMGT3 tyre test entry for Portimao, which was attended by eight prospective …
Audi Sport Customer Racing is pushing hard for a two-car FIA WEC LMGT3 entry with its longstanding French customer Team Sainteloc, RACER has learned.
Last week’s Goodyear LMGT3 tyre test entry for Portimao, which was attended by eight prospective WEC LMGT3 manufacturers, included an R8 LMS GT3 EVO II fitted with newly developed closed-loop torque sensors required to meet LMGT3 regulations.
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There, the car ran on 2024 Goodyear tyres for the first time with senior Audi technical staff on hand, factory driver Christopher Haase and as well as Sainteloc team director Frederic Thalamy, its owner Sebastien Chetail and additional engineering staff from their outfit.
RACER asked Thalamy if its presence in Portugal was part of its preparations for the 2023/24 Asian Le Mans Series season. There, Sainteloc hopes to win the GT class title and secure a Le Mans invite. This is because over the summer, prior to the Asian Le Mans entry list being revealed, Thalamy described that effort as the team’s one and only chance to get to Le Mans with the R8. “After next year it’s finished,” he told RACER.
However, Sainteloc’s plans have developed and now extend further than an Asian Le Mans Series campaign. The French team, with the full support of Audi, was keen to test on Goodyear tires with a car that meets the 2024 regulations because it is planning to run in the full FIA WEC season, not just at Le Mans.
Thus, it opted to run exclusively on Goodyear rubber in Portugal, unlike AF Corse which turned laps with both Goodyear LMGT3 tires and Michelin’s Asian Le Mans Series GT product to prepare for customer entries in both ACO championships.
“We are here to achieve something, to get into the FIA WEC,” Thalamy told RACER. “It is WEC or nothing. Everybody is pushing very hard to get entries, we are pushing for two, we would like two cars, but we would take one.”
The feedback RACER received from Thalamy and Haase at the test was overwhelmingly positive. Thalamy was keen to comment on how impressed he was with the level of service Goodyear provided, and Haase was hugely complimentary of the tyres. “I have been really surprised, the car worked straight away out of the box. I was so happy with the level of grip and feedback. It was joyous,” Haase said.
If successful, it would mark a return to the World Championship for the German brand for the first time since its LMP1 Hybrid R18 program came to a close in 2016. The hope is that Audi’s previous loyalty to the ACO during the LMP1 era, plus Sainteloc’s level of ambition to compete, will be enough to secure places on the grid.
However, LMGT3 in 2024 is going to be oversubscribed in both the FIA WEC and ELMS (and Sainteloc has no plans to compete in the ACO’s European series). With no Hypercar program or customer team currently competing in the FIA WEC, Audi’s current plan doesn’t fit either of the publicly stated selection criteria, which will give priority to OEMs in Hypercar and teams that have been loyal to the FIA WEC.
If the WEC’s full-season entry cap is 36 cars and the split between the two classes is 18-18, then Audi, like Mercedes-AMG, would appear to be on the outside looking in. This is because Aston Martin (Prodrive/Heart of Racing), BMW (WRT), Corvette (TF Sport) Ferrari (AF Corse), Ford (Proton), Lamborghini (Iron Lynx), Lexus (ASP), McLaren (United) and Porsche (Manthey) are all seeking two-car entries.
Nevertheless, Audi Sport is pushing hard to be a part of the FIA WEC next season, despite its plan to scale back its customer sport program significantly from 2024 onwards.
RACER understands that it will provide both factory driving and engineering talent for Sainteloc’s WEC bid, and is fully supportive of Sainteloc and Attempto Racing’s Asian Le Mans Series plans.
As the FIA WEC teams pause for the summer after the final European round of the season at Monza, the entry process for the 2024 season is getting higher up on the agenda for everyone in the paddock. With much uncertainty around the total number of …
As the FIA WEC teams pause for the summer after the final European round of the season at Monza, the entry process for the 2024 season is getting higher up on the agenda for everyone in the paddock.
With much uncertainty around the total number of Hypercar entries that will be applied for and therefore the number of LMGT3 slots left available, there has been a lot of movement behind the scenes as teams and manufacturers scramble to work out how good their prospects are.
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For LMGT3 hopefuls, priority will be shown to manufacturers with hypercar programmes, this is clear. FIA WEC CEO Frederic Lequien told the media at Le Mans, “If you are a hypercar manufacturer I do not see how it’s possible to refuse the entry of a GT3.”
RACER expects the size of the Hypercar class to top out at around 20 in 2024. If that is the case, then the number of LMGT3 spaces would be 18 (with a maximum of two cars per make), if the maximum number of spaces for the full season remains at 38.
However, that isn’t by any means a certainty. Multiple paddock sources have told RACER that the full-season entry may be restricted to 36 or even 34 due to the switch from sea to air freight for the expanded eight-round schedule in 2024. 38 is believed to be either too tight for a single plane, and it would be likely too expensive if the FIA WEC were to decide on utilising a second.
If that’s the case, then the manufacturers on the bubble without a Hypercar programme are significantly less likely to be handed grid spaces.
So how many of the current and future Hypercar manufacturers will take up the offer to race in LMGT3 and hand customer teams spaces?
BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche appear to be nailed in. Amongst those, AF Corse is most likely to run the 296 GT3s, Iron Lynx will campaign a pair of Lamborghini Huracans and WRT will almost certainly take up the option of running BMW M4 GT3s with Valentino Rossi headlining the effort.
Valentino Rossi could lead a BMW effort. Motorsport Images
At Porsche, with Proton Competition making the surprise move to Ford, working out which team – or teams – will compete with the 911 GT3 R 992 is a complex task. At first glance, GR Racing and Project 1 from the current WEC roster appear to be leading candidates. However, longtime partner organisation Manthey is understood to be actively recruiting for an LMGT3 programme, which suggests it is either supremely confident or has already quietly been given the nod.
Then there’s General Motors, which with longtime Aston Martin customer team TF Sport now signed up, will be represented by a pair of Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs alongside Cadillac’s Hypercar effort with the V-Series.R.
The outlier from the current Hypercar crop is Toyota, which can gain entries via Lexus. Currently, RACER understands that the new Lexus GT3 car has already been out testing, but will not be homologated in time for 2024, meaning its debut may have to wait until at least the 2025 season.
In the meantime though, there is the prospect of the ageing RC F GT3 being campaigned, as it is by Vasser Sullivan in IMSA GTD. Initially, this prospect seemed unlikely, though RACER now believes the chances of a programme from left field have become more likely in recent weeks. There are murmurs that AKKODIS ASP, a significant player in the GT3 marketplace with Mercedes-AMG, is firmly in the mix.
If all six Hypercar manufacturers with current GT3 machinery take up their entries, and there are fewer than 38 grid slots, that would leave fewer than six spaces remaining and as many as six non-Hypercar manufacturers in play.
From the outliers, Ford’s Proton-led effort looks as good as nailed in with the brand-new Mustang GT3, due to the heritage of Ford in the sport, its level of ambition and Proton’s loyalty to the WEC.
That leaves Aston Martin, Audi, Honda, McLaren and Mercedes-AMG on the list of additional brands understood by RACER to be exploring realistic opportunities. Beyond that, RACER is aware that at least one team has looked into running a Bentley, but the odds are stacked against a team running Continental GT3s being granted a place, with the customer racing programme wound down.
Mercedes and McLaren are two of the manufacturers on the outside looking in. Motorsport Images
At least two of McLaren’s current customer teams have expressed a desire to run the 720S GT3 and Danish outfit GMB Motorsport is known to be a candidate for Honda (with JAS Motorsport backing).
Meanwhile, RACER spoke to a prominent Audi Sport GT3 customer that was confident of its chances and keen to run the R8 LMS GT3 EVO II just a few weeks ago. It said that it would only be looking to file for a single entry, which it believed would it a greater chance of getting in, as the WEC may consider handing single entries to multiple OEMs to increase the diversity of the field. However, Audi’s recent decision to scale back its customer racing support from 2024 onwards is likely to have come as a hammer blow to the team’s plans.
With TF Sport switching to Corvette’s growing customer stable, the likelihood of Aston Martin being present is also somewhat up in the air, especially as the Vantage AMR GT3 is now an elder statesman in this group.
However, AMR has plenty of customer teams, and with TF out of the picture, one or two may see this shift in the marketplace as a rare open door to the LMGT3 class. Heart of Racing and D’Station would be firm favourites here. The long-awaited evo-kit for the car is understood to be close to sign-off and is expected to test over the summer too.
In addition to having demonstrated more than a decade of loyalty to the FIA WEC, Aston Martin’s prospects of gaining entries may also be boosted by the progress behind the scenes for a rebooted Hypercar project with the Valkyrie. RACER understands that a privately-funded engine programme is being worked on, likely in time for the 2025 season. The programme is set to adapt the 1000 bhp normally aspirated 6.5 litre V12 that powers the road car, to the 670 bhp output level required by the Hypercar ruleset.
The final make here is Mercedes-AMG. It has made it clear that multiple customer teams are keen to gain entries. However, AMG’s chances are reduced by the lack of a Hypercar programme and its lack of customer teams with heritage in the FIA WEC or European Le Mans Series. While one of the most prestigious and popular in the world, the brand appears to be a rank outsider, especially as there are no current plans for it to take part in Goodyear’s LMGT3 tire tests this year.
With a significant entry fee required upfront before the end of the calendar year for teams wishing to compete and the start of the 2024 season in March edging closer, everyone looking to get involved is currently in a race against time to secure enough budget, resources and reassurance to compete. It will be fascinating to see who makes the cut.
The ACO and FIA have confirmed a new FIA World Endurance Championship class structure for the 2024 season. As expected, the LMP2 class will be removed from the championship in 2024, due to an increase in the size of the Hypercar class (with …
The ACO and FIA have confirmed a new FIA World Endurance Championship class structure for the 2024 season.
As expected, the LMP2 class will be removed from the championship in 2024, due to an increase in the size of the Hypercar class (with additional entries from Alpine, BMW, Lamborghini and Isotta Fraschini expected) and the previously announced introduction of LMGT3, which will replace GTE Am.
“We have to make choices as a consequence of success,” said ACO President Pierre Fillon at the annual Friday ACO conference at Le Mans. “LMP2 will remain the premier category in the European Le Mans Series and the Asian Le Mans Series.”
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While LMP2 cars will not be eligible for the full WEC season, there will be 15 spaces reserved on the Le Mans 24 Hours entry list for teams running in LMP2 in the European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
This news marks the end of all categories from the inaugural FIA WEC season in 2012, which featured LMP1, LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am machinery. It also means that for the first time, the WEC will feature just two full-season categories (Hypercar and LMGT3).
Richard Mille, president of the FIA Endurance Commission, confirmed the intentions for LMGT3 to be a class for Pro-Am teams. “GT is the heart of Le Mans,” he said. “We will emphasize gentlemen drivers, who are key in the WEC. The GT3 platform is the FIA’s most successful customer racing category. It’s a good platform to build on in the FIA WEC.”
Mille also confirmed that entry will not be exclusively limited to customers of brands who already compete in the WEC’s Hypercar category.
“Hypercar is increasingly important. What we wanted was to focus on the Hypercar automakers so they could intervene in the GT3 category, but we are open to makes which are not in Hypercar. Diversity is a criteria.”
WEC CEO Frédéric Lequien elaborated further on the eligibility requirements for LMGT3 entries into the 24 Hours of Le Mans after the press conference, telling RACER: “We will do the invitations, which is automatically linked to the results. And then, the other invitations — it’s the job of the Selection Committee.
“We want to let it be open, and to have the choice to have the diversity on the grid. We strongly believe that one of the strengths of the championship is to have diversity and different car manufacturers. The question is the number of places available on the grid. If we have enough places, I would say that we’ll be happy to welcome all the GT3 manufacturers — and at the moment they all want to come. So it would have been a negative signal to say that it’s only limited to the Hypercar manufacturers.”
Lequien confirmed that manufacturers can choose two different teams to represent them in the LMGT3 field, with each manufacturer limited to just two cars. Entries will be open from October to December this year.
General Motors has revealed additional details of how its Corvette customer GT3 program with the Z06 GT3.R is coming together for 2024. Over the coming months multiple announcements are expected, confirming customer teams in IMSA’s WeatherTech …
General Motors has revealed additional details of how its Corvette customer GT3 program with the Z06 GT3.R is coming together for 2024.
Over the coming months multiple announcements are expected, confirming customer teams in IMSA’s WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, SRO championships and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Eight cars are expected to compete in year one, explained Laura Wontrop Klauser, GM Sports Car Racing Manager.
“Our desired plan has been to launch in 2024 with four cars racing in IMSA — two in GTD PRO and two in GTD — two cars in the WEC and two in SRO America,” Wontrop Klauser told RACER. “Understanding the timing of the 2024 WEC race schedule helps us coordinate build schedules to ensure we can meet the race timing, assuming our WEC attendance is granted.”
In IMSA, the four cars are likely to be split evenly across the GTD and GTD Pro categories. How the GTD PRO effort will look is still being decided, though Corvette and the Pratt Miller organization behind it are keen to have some form of factory presence if possible.
“There is a plan in place to start confirming our customer teams, and I think fans will be very happy with the organizations we have chosen,” added Wontrop Klauser.
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Tire testing with Goodyear and Pirelli is a key part of the development phase for the car still to come. RACER understands that the Corvette hasn’t yet tested on either Pirelli or Goodyear tires (for SRO and WEC competition), but opportunities are expected to arise over the summer months with both manufacturers.
The prospective GTD PRO team from IMSA will lead the way in terms of testing the car over the months to come.
“We’ve said for some time that we will have factory-supported teams around the world in a number of championships with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R,” Wontrop Klauser noted. “Ensuring all our customers are set up for success is important to us.
“One of the key elements of this is our IMSA GTD PRO team who, with our support, is taking the lead on optimizing the running of the car so we can lift all teams to higher performance.”
Proton Competition has been announced as the first customer team for the Mustang GT3, with intent to campaign a pair of the new Ford race cars in the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans “This is a very important …
Proton Competition has been announced as the first customer team for the Mustang GT3, with intent to campaign a pair of the new Ford race cars in the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans
“This is a very important program and an exciting moment for our organization,” said Proton Competition team principal Christian Ried. “The Mustang is a great brand and this is an important step for our team. We look forward to joining with Ford starting in 2024.”
Proton Competition currently runs programs in a variety of series, including WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, spanning the GTE, GT3 and LMP2 categories. Proton will also introduce a fourth Porsche 963 into the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTP category later this year. The Ehingen, Germany-based company will join Multimatic in racing the Mustang GT3. Multimatic was previously announced as Ford’s partner in GTD PRO in the WeatherTech Championship, where it will campaign two cars.
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“We’re very excited about the partnership with Proton,” Mark Rushbrook, Global Director, Ford Performance Motorsports, told RACER. “What Proton represents as a team, how successful they have been, the way that they approach racing … they’re very focused, great people, great technical resources. So when we had the first opportunity to talk to them to be our first customer team, and for them to be able to apply for entering in the 2024 WEC season, it was a big opportunity for us and we really saw there were a lot of synergies with how they approach racing and and how we approach racing. We’re excited that they will be the first customer team and looking forward to seeing them on track.”
— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) June 9, 2023
From the moment that Ford announced at Daytona in January 2021 that it would produce a GT3 car, inquiries began coming in from teams wishing to race the car in a variety of series, Rushbrook reported, and Ford Performance has been active in talking to them to find the right partners. While Ford Performance will prioritize getting cars to Multimatic and Proton, it is intent on building as many Mustang GT3s for which there is demand, and hopes to see customer teams competing with the car not only in IMSA and WEC, but SRO worldwide and any other series that feature GT3 cars.
“That’s what we like about this convergence, that it’s no longer GT and GT3 separate,” Rushbrook said. “We can compete as a factory as appropriate in IMSA GTD PRO, but we also can have customer teams competing in GTD — or even customer teams competing in GTD PRO if they choose — as well as SRO and WEC.
“We’re excited that we can design and homologate one car that can be sold around the world to compete in so many different series in a very meaningful way. Mustang is a global sports car, and we’re now finally able to go global racing as well. So it’s very important for us what we’re able to do with GT3 and customer teams.”
The 2024 season will be the first time McLaren will contest all three of motor racing’s ‘triple crown” of the Monaco Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans in the same season, though it will not compete for the overall win at La Sarthe in the FIA WEC.
