2023 Random Sportscar & GT Racing News

[theracer120]

Bottom post of the previous page:

The GT4 cars are running with the Production Cars this season which is why there's 29 cars entered. I think there's only 7 or 8 GT4s racing atm.

[erwin greven]

After Jacques now Tom Dillmann and Vanwall part ways.

[Michkov]

Was he pushed or did he jump?

[Everso Biggyballies]

Vettel could enter the WEC and the 24 Hou rs of Le Mans with BMW
A Hypercar program from 2024 for the German?

This I know will please at least two people here, @Star @Aty, both huge fans of Seb and missing his involvement. Of course a few things that may not be ideal.... its not in F1, but I think even the biggest fans of his know inside there are too many things in F1 that Seb is no longer comfortable with, namely the length and intensity of the calendar along with the travel, promotional activity on top, and the time awat from home and family. On top of that F1 is not even looking at becoming anywhere near online to fitting in with Seb's sustainable eco platform he is so committed to. We all know an F1 return is not going to happen. Not even as a Team manager. They still have the same travel and perhaps even more away from home time. As a driver they can FIFO whereas the management side have to be there for set up and breakdown.

What works with WEC is that they have a much reduced calendar, 8 rounds, 6 of which are only 'local' (Europe / Middle East.) The 'Flyaways' are Sao Paulo and Fuji. Many drivers of note just run in the flagship Le Mans 24 hr race.

The major benefit in Seb's eyes are that WEC already run on fully sustainable fuel.... made from discarded grape / winery pressings.

Lets not get ahead of ourselves at this time.... Its in the rumour stage at the moment but something tells me at least an LM24 start will happen next year. He has always said Le Mans as an event, and its history holds a special attraction to him
Oh, did I say key members of his advisors and confidants were seen discretely talking to people at Le Mans.
Seb himself is known to have devoted his Le Mans weekend to following the race closely at home.
BMW are already committed for next years WEC and looking no doubt for drivers....... BMW is where his professional motorsport started.... Formula BMW, they backed him, then offered his first F1 test in the Sauber BMW, first GP etc


Anyway I saw this article which I thought worth sharing.

A Hypercar program from 2024 for the German?

Sebastian Vettel looks set to relaunch a career in motorsport.

The four-time world champion retired from Formula 1 at the end of last year, but he has always left the door more than open for a return.

"It's possible that in six months I'll go crazy, I can't sit on the couch anymore and I want to drive again," the 35-year-old German recently said.

While he will demonstrate at Goodwood and on the Nordschleife at the wheel of old F1 cars ( read here ), he would be ready to join Endurance in 2024, a series which also focuses on hybridization and sustainable fuels.

"Synthetic fuels offer a solution so you can enjoy yourself responsibly. A lot of people don't know that yet and if I can commit to a series that wants to develop them I would highly consider it."

According to several sources in Germany, Vettel plans to start the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans race and do some races in the WEC. He is linked to a place at BMW in Hypercar, one of the manufacturers of his debut.

https://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/fr/ ... 82301.html


and Twitter is on to it. (click on the full conversation for more)

[Aty]

Thanks. I think you appraised Seb's position quite accurately. (I am surprised by it, but maybe I shouldn't be, considering your in-depth knowledge of the F1). His "return" was reported as one-off.

[MonteCristo]

Seb's 92 Williams as a Garage 56 entry.

Do it.

[Star]

Aww thanks @Everso Biggyballies. I am happy to know Seb hasn't given up racing completely. Of course I can't follow him if he takes part in the in the same way as I did with F1, but I will keep an eye on it. You're a pal

[erwin greven]

Bangsaen Grand Prix weekend has started yesterday.

Today, they also have English commentators.

[erwin greven]

ELMS calendar revealed.

[Everso Biggyballies]

ELMS calendar revealed.

Hoping to see Silverstone back on the calendar but not happening..... no Monza either. Why Imola though. It is very Italian skewed.
Having said that Mugello should be goiod though by all accounts.

[erwin greven]

Hoping to see Silverstone back on the calendar but not happening..... no Monza either. Why Imola though. It is very Italian skewed.
Having said that, Mugello should be good though by all accounts.

I still don't know why Silverstone is ignored by both WEC and ELMS. Both races I can remember 2014 and 2015 were classics, when the WEC raced there.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Hoping to see Silverstone back on the calendar but not happening..... no Monza either. Why Imola though. It is very Italian skewed.
Having said that, Mugello should be good though by all accounts.

I still don't know why Silverstone is ignored by both WEC and ELMS. Both races I can remember 2014 and 2015 were classics, when the WEC raced there.

This. Its a great shame Silverstone is ignored yet again..

[erwin greven]

[erwin greven]

[erwin greven]

Glickenhaus will not return to WEC in 2024 with Le Mans Hypercar

The Glickenhaus Racing team will not return to the World Endurance Championship next year with its Le Mans Hypercar.




Team founder Jim Glickenhaus has revealed to Autosport that he does not intend to file an entry for next year’s championship ahead of the closing date on 20 November.

The news follows the team’s decision to again skip the Asian leg of the WEC made up of Fuji in September and Bahrain in November with the Glickenhaus-Pipo 007 entered for the full season.

Glickenhaus suggested after the team was absent from the Fuji entry list that it would only continue in the series if sponsorship was found for a 2024 campaign.

Finding the necessary sponsorship isn’t realistic, as Glickenhaus told Autosport: “No, we won’t be entering - it doesn’t make sense for us.

“To be competitive we’d need to do an evo version of the car and to run two of them.

“That’s not viable for a privateer: the only way we could do it would be with sponsorship or if a customer wanted to run a programme with our car.”

He also pointed out that the priority for his Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus company was now making road-going vehicles, including the 004 sportscar based on its Nurburgring 24 Hours racer.

“We have a certain capacity and we have sales up to that amount, but even if we could build more, racing in the WEC isn’t going to help us sell them.

“For our little company competing in the WEC just doesn’t make sense.”

A return to the German enduro on the Nurburgring-Nordschleife is on the cards at some point with the SCG 004C that last contested the race in the SP-X class in 2022, Glickenhaus stressed.

“We will go back to the ‘Ring one day, because we would be promoting what we sell,” he said.

Glickenhaus said he believes the team is retiring from the WEC with an enviable record, which includes a podium at Le Mans in 2022.

“We were a legitimate effort and we did just great for a privateer,” he said.

“We got on the podium in 2022 and this year we beat the likes of Porsche and Peugeot [by finishing sixth and seventh] — it really doesn’t get any better than that.

“We were an important part of the championship when they needed us.”

The Glickenhaus 007 developed by Podium Advanced Technologies in Italy began racing in WEC from the second round of the championship at Portimao in the first season of the Hypercar era in 2021.

It went on to finish fourth at Le Mans that year after a close battle with the Alpine A480 grandfathered LMP1.

The following year the 007 driven by Richard Westbrook, Ryan Briscoe and Franck Mailleux finished best of the rest behind the Toyotas at the head of Glickenhaus 3-4 result.

Glickenhaus notched up a further three podiums with the 007 and two pole positions across its three seasons in WEC, and was looking good for victory at Monza last year before a turbo failure intervened.

https://www.autosport.com/wec/news/glic ... /10533885/

[Everso Biggyballies]

Sad news but not unexpected given previous comments and statements from Glick that a major sponsor was required..
I shall miss them. That thad had both cars beat the might of Porsche and Peugeot at Le Mans last year was great reward for all the money and effort thrown at the project. Plus of course they did score a podium in their Le Mans efforts. There is always something I like in an underdog competing at the top level.