Yahoo Autos Ferrari Is Building a Le Mans Hypercar
The last time Ferrari challenged for the overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans was in 1971, with the 512M (pictured above). In 2023, the most iconic manufacturer in racing will once again aim for top honors with a new Le Mans Hypercar. Ferrari announced today that it has just started preliminary work on a new Hypercar, with drivers and more to be announced later.
"In over 70 years of racing, on tracks all over the world, we led our closed-wheel cars to victory by exploring cutting-edge technological solutions: innovations that arise from the track and make every road car produced in Maranello extraordinary," Ferrari chairman John Elkann said in a statement. "With the new Le Mans Hypercar program, Ferrari once again asserts its sporting commitment and determination to be a protagonist in the major global motorsport events."
The Hypercar class is a new creation by the FIA and the governing body of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the ACO. Cars are supposed to bear some resemblance to road cars and sport a combination of an internal-combustion engine driving the rear wheels and a KERS hybrid system on the front axle. Hypercars are limited to 680 hp and are slightly larger and heavier than their LMP1 predecessors. Toyota and Glickenhaus will run Hypercars in this upcoming World Endurance Championship season, with Peugeot set to join in 2022 along with privateer team ByKolles. Ferrari will contest the entire WEC season as well, which will mark its return to top-flight global sports-car racing after 50 years of abscense.
