[WEC/IMSA] 2021 - 2024 Hypercars LMH/LMDh (all Hypercar cars untill now)

[erwin greven]

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Possibility of 2022 Race Entry “Interesting Option” for Porsche
Porsche open to feilding LMDh in 2022 WEC race depending on development progress…

by Daniel Lloyd March 19, 2022


Porsche’s Head of Motorsport Thomas Laudenbach has described the recently-confirmed eligibility of LMDh cars in this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship as an “interesting option” for the manufacturer.

The FIA on Saturday announced that LMDh cars will be allowed to enter 2022 WEC rounds on a “race-by-race” basis as part of their development ahead of the platform’s full inclusion next year.

Any appearances would likely be made with cars running in their pre-homologation state and the FIA has stated that no championship points would be awarded.

Porsche is currently working on the development of its new LMDh hybrid prototype developed in conjunction with Multimatic.

Testing took place at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last month where the publicly unnamed Porsche racked up more than 1,200 miles over multiple days.

It’s understood that the manufacturer’s next test will take place in Europe before it looks to send its LMDh car to a track in North America later this year.

A Porsche LMDh appearance during the 2022 WEC season would depend on how the rest of the development work progresses.

“We welcome the decision of the FIA World Motor Sport Council,” said Laudenbach in a statement provided exclusively to Sportscar365.

“It could be an interesting option for Porsche. We will take a close look at this possibility and decide at a later date based on the development status of our LMDh car.”

While IMSA has confirmed a homologation timeline for cars racing in its GTP class, the WEC has been tight-lipped on the schedule for LMDh in the Hypercar category.

IMSA has set up two sanction tests in October and December for LMDh and LMH manufacturers wanting to homologate cars for the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January 2023.

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/pos ... r-porsche/

[Everso Biggyballies]

ByKolles-built Vanwall Le Mans Hypercar rolled out

ByKolles has successfully completed the roll-out of its Vanwall Le Mans Hypercar, as the outfit steps up its preparation for a potential assault on the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2023.

1993 Le Mans 24 Hours winner and sometime ByKolles driver Christophe Bouchut drove the Vanwall Vandervell LMH at an unknown airport in Germany on March 31, just days after the Colin Kolles-led team revealed the first images of its Gibson-powered hypercar.

On-track testing is scheduled to begin in April, likely at the Most circuit in the Czech Republic, with ByKolles test drivers Tom Dillmann and Esteban Guerrieri set to take over driving duties.

ByKolles had initially been planning to return to the WEC in 2022, but its one-car entry in the Hypercar class was turned down by the selection committee in January.

No explanation was ever provided for why ByKolles failed to secure a berth on a bumper 2022 WEC grid, with team boss Kolles only saying that his squad would be ready to race next year if it “receives a welcome”.

Had the team secured an entry for the 2022 season alongside Toyota’s pair of Le Mans hypercars, Peugeot’s new LMH contender due for Monza and Glickenhaus’ similar non-hybrid car, it would have skipped the opening round at Sebring and joined the championship from May's Spa round onwards.



ByKolles had been a staple of the WEC since the series was reborn in 2012, initially competing in the LMP2 ranks before moving up to the flagship LMP1 class with the self-built CLM P1/01.

However, despite a number of upgrades and engine changes, the car remained unreliable for most of its tenure in the series, failing to register a classified finish at Le Mans before being retired after the 2020 edition of the French classic following the WEC's switch to LMH rules.

ByKolles is now hoping to return to the WEC next year having secured the naming rights to the Vanwall team that raced in Formula 1 between 1954-60, winning the inaugural constructors’ title in ‘58.

The team's car, designed entirely-in house at its headquarters in Germany, is named after Vanwall boss Tony Vandervell.

A potential entry from ByKolles would further expand WEC’s burgeoning Hypercar class, which is already expected to welcome LMH cars from Ferrari in addition to LMDh contenders built by Porsche and Cadillac next year.

Acura and BMW have also firm plans to build LMDh cars for 2023, but their main programmes are likely to be based around the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with possible additional entries at Le Mans.

https://www.autosport.com/wec/news/byko ... t/9539984/

[DoubleFart]

The livery is terrible, but I like the shape.

[erwin greven]

Lamborghini Announces LMDh Program for 2024

Italian manufacturer becomes latest to confirm LMDh program with 2024 debut projected…

Lamborghini has officially announced its development of an LMDh car that will enable the Italian marque to compete for overall wins in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship beginning in 2024.

The manufacturer’s Squadra Corse racing department will develop the 500 kW prototype, which will use the common hybrid system required for all LMDh cars.

The program’s confirmation after more than a year of speculation returns the total number of active LMDh programs to six with Lamborghini joining Acura, Alpine, BMW, Cadillac and Porsche in the global platform created by IMSA and the ACO.

It will also race against LMH cars thanks to the global prototype rules convergence.

Technical details of the publicly unnamed Lamborghini LMDh are limited at this stage, with the bespoke internal combustion engine and LMP2 chassis partner not mentioned in Tuesday’s official announcement.

However, Sportscar365 understands that Ligier Automotive is set to provide the base chassis while the engine is expected to be a Lamborghini unit.

“This step up into the highest echelon of sports car racing marks an important milestone for our company,” said Lamborghini chairman and CEO Stephan Winkelmann.

“We will be measuring ourselves against the very best, on the most demanding proving grounds.

“On one hand, this will give our successful motorsports program even more visibility, but it will also allow us to test future technologies: our LMDh prototypes will become our most sophisticated open laboratory on four wheels.”

Lamborghini’s LMDh program will bring the company back to Le Mans for the first time since 2010 and will pave the way for its first attempt at overall victory in the race.

Lamborghini has been heavily active in the GT3 formula since 2015 and has established a customer sales program there with the Huracan model and its Evo variants.

It will continue to be involved in GT racing alongside its arrival into prototypes, both in Super Trofeo where an updated Huracan was introduced earlier this year, and in GT3 where the STO-based Huracan EVO2 is due to arrive in 2023.

Lamborghini’s Head of Motorsport Giorgio Sanna suggested that the LMDh program will complement Lamborghini Squadra Corse’s existing customer racing activities.

“I am absolutely delighted that Lamborghini will be taking the next step in our motorsport journey, the step into LMDh and the top level of sports car racing,” he said.

“LMDh will play a special role in Lamborghini’s motorsports strategy, giving us the unique opportunity to expand our customer racing activities to new platforms and enforce our long-term partnership with customer teams and drivers.”

Debut Projected for “First Quarter” of 2024

The Lamborghini LMDh car’s race debut within the 2024 season is loosely projected to take place in the “first three or four months of the year” according to Sanna.

The plan is for track testing to begin at the start of next year, giving a period of around 12 months for the manufacturer to complete a complex timeline of development, validation, endurance testing and homologation.

“The program is for the WEC and IMSA, starting from 2024,” Sanna said.

“The target is clearly to be at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2024 and then we will evaluate, probably within the end of this year, if and when it will be possible to debut.

“I expect in the first quarter of 2024, but we have to evaluate where and when, and it all depends on the development process. At the moment, it’s difficult to say.

“Where and when [the car debuts] is probably something we will define in the next 12 months.”

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/lam ... -for-2024/

[erwin greven]

[erwin greven]

Peugeot 9X8 to Debut at Monza; Rossiter Joins Race Lineup

Peugeot confirms Monza as venue for 9X8’s debut, with Rossiter joining race lineup…

by Daniel Lloyd
May 20, 2022



The Peugeot 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar will make its FIA World Endurance Championship race debut at the 6 Hours of Monza in July, the manufacturer has confirmed.

Peugeot is missing next month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as it focuses on the final stages of validating and homologating its hybrid-powered prototype but will join the WEC grid four weeks later in Italy.

Two cars look set to compete at Monza, with Stellantis Head of Motorsport Jean-Marc Finot stating that James Rossiter will form part of a six-man driver lineup.

“James Rossiter will be the sixth driver and he will race at Monza with the Peugeot team,” Finot declared.

Rossiter effectively replaces Kevin Magnussen who left the Peugeot program in March due to his late Formula 1 call-up from Haas.

The British driver joins Paul di Resta, Jean-Eric Vergne, Gustavo Menezes, Loic Duval and Mikkel Jensen in the roster, with lineup combinations yet to be confirmed.

During Friday’s online presentation of the Peugeot 9X8, the names of Rossiter, Duval and di Resta were shown together on the side of the No. 93 car.

A key member of Peugeot’s LMH simulator and track testing work, Rossiter is set for his first WEC outing since the 2018 round at Shanghai International Circuit which he contested with ByKolles Racing in the LMP1 class.

It is unclear if his appointment to the race lineup has been made on a full-time basis.

“Regarding Monza, this is incredibly exciting for me,” Rossiter said.

“To be part of the project from day one is really magical, so to get the opportunity to race in Monza with all the crew and drivers is really special.”

Monza will mark Peugeot’s first appearance at the top level of endurance racing since the finale of the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup season at Zhuhai.

Finot described the call to miss Le Mans as “not an easy decision” but said the event’s mid-June date was always going to be tough considering Peugeot’s planned development timeline.

“It was difficult for the team because everyone would have loved to be at Le Mans this year,” he said.

“At the beginning of the program, the season used to start in September and finish at Le Mans.

“The calendar has been advanced [since then] so starting at the beginning of this season would have been very early, and even for Le Mans.

“With the freezing of the car’s design as soon as it is homologated, it would have been very tough to have the expected level of reliability and performance. It was not unreasonable that we made this decision, but just a few weeks after Le Mans, we will be there.”

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/peu ... ns-lineup/

[erwin greven]

BMW Reveals Design, Name of LMDh Car
German manufacturer reveals design of LMDh car christened the BMW M Hybrid V8…






BMW M Motorsport has revealed the design and official name of its LMDh car that will compete in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship’s new GTP class next year.

The BMW M Hybrid V8 features a ‘wide kidney’ on the front end to represent a common design element that is found on road cars produced by the German manufacturer.

BMW has also included classic ‘M’ identifiers such as a nested 50th-anniversary logo on the hood, twin icon lights, M-brand ‘hook’ mirrors and a Hofmeister kink window motif.

The initial announcement of the program described the car as the ‘BMW M LMDh’ however this has been updated to a name that integrates core details of the powertrain.

As reported by Sportscar365 last week, BMW is powering its new sports prototype with a 4-liter V8 turbocharged engine derived from the old P66 unit that raced in the DTM.

This will be coupled to the spec hybrid system used by all LMDh manufacturers.

“The most critical task and the greatest challenge for the design team was that the prototype must be clearly recognizable as a BMW M Motorsport car,” said BMW M CEO Franciscus van Meel.

“And I can say this to all the fans, just one look is enough to confirm that the BMW M Hybrid V8 is a BMW. It clearly carries the genes of BMW M.

“I also love the camouflage livery with its references to the great history of the brand in North America.

“Congratulations to the design and aerodynamics departments at BMW M Motorsport and Dallara on their great work.

“I can hardly wait to see the BMW M Hybrid V8 on the track soon.”

The BMW M Hybrid V8 has been revealed in a camouflage testing livery that will be updated with an official factory racing design for its GTP program with Team RLL.

Embedded in the camouflage are images of notable BMW racing models such as the 1976 BMW 3.0 CSL, the 1981 M1/C, the 1987 BMW 32i Turbo, the 1986 BMW GTP, the M3 E36 GTS-2, the Z4 GTLM and the M8 GTE.

Porsche included outlines of race tracks from around the world in the test livery for its LMDh car, which is due to enter both IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship.

“My team’s job was to make the BMW M Hybrid V8 look like a BMW, and embrace every opportunity to make it also perform like one on the race track,” commented BMW Group Designworks Global Automotive Director Michael Scully.

“The design is rooted in BMW’s DNA of purposeful, efficient performance, and the exterior’s bold, determined character invokes BMW’s frontiersmanship of turbo power, now united with an optimized hybrid electric powertrain.

“The camouflage livery celebrates the 50 Years of M by commemorating the great cars of BMW’s storied history in IMSA racing while uniquely cloaking the BMW M Hybrid V8’s future-facing exterior geometry and technologies during the critical on-track development phase of the project.

“If you look closely you’ll discover multiple winners of the Daytona 24 Hours, as well as the very first purpose-built IMSA GTP car from 1981, the BMW M1/C.

“We’ll follow up this camouflage with a works livery that exemplifies the dynamism and excitement of hybrid electric-powered competition.”

BMW is known to be evaluating an entry for its LMDh car in the WEC’s Hypercar class, however confirmation of such a program has not been made.

Images: BMW M Motorsport

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/bmw- ... -lmdh-car/

[Michkov]

Why does it look like a Caddy with BMW grill? \s

[DoubleFart]

I really hope that comes to Le Mans.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Why does it look like a Caddy with BMW grill? \s

AFAIK they both use a Dallara chassis, with obvious design body changes such as the BMW 'kidney' grille.

I guess if a standard type of chassis then has a computer aided design added to it, like F1 cars, they will all end up with many similarities if only due to the different computers and wind tunnel data coming up with similar concepts.

[erwin greven]

Why does it look like a Caddy with BMW grill? \s

AFAIK they both use a Dallara chassis, with obvious design body changes such as the BMW 'kidney' grille.

I guess if a standard type of chassis then has a computer aided design added to it, like F1 cars, they will all end up with many similarities if only due to the different computers and wind tunnel data coming up with similar concepts.

It would be a miracle when one of the LMDh entries would design something completely out of the box.

What Peugeot did in the LMH class, deserves respect. For all the LMDh entries, i just can't get a lot of enthusiasm.

[erwin greven]

Cadillac LMDh revealed.

[Vunc1]

The livery is terrible, but I like the shape.

I hope it work… just not so sure about the team running it …..

[erwin greven]

Porsche 963 Revealed with Official Livery, Engine Spec
Porsche christens its LMDh car the ‘963’ and reveals more details about powertrain…



Porsche has revealed more details of its in-development LMDh car including the name, official livery and full specification of the twin-turbo V8 internal combustion engine.

The Porsche 963 will be raced by Porsche Penske Motorsport in the FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar class and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP category next year, with the option for customer teams to purchase and run the car.

The 963’s name alludes to Porsche sports prototypes of the past, particularly the Porsche 962 which along with the 956 has served as inspiration for the new car’s design.

According to Porsche, the color scheme of red, white and black is a “salute” to the manufacturer’s previous racing models, while the company says the LMDh prototype’s DNA goes back to the Porsche RS Spyder LMP2 which Team Penske ran in the 2000s.

The Multimatic chassis on which the Porsche 963 has been developed will be eligible for the next generation of LMP2 regulations starting in 2025.

The Porsche 963’s internal combustion engine will be a 4.6-liter twin-turbo V8 unit derived from the engine found in the hybrid-powered Porsche 918 Spyder road car.

Like all LMDh cars, the Porsche powertrain will include a spec hybrid system consisting of a Bosch motor-generator unit, a Williams Advanced Engineering battery and a seven-speed Xtrac gearbox. The maximum output of the powertrain is 670 horsepower.

Porsche confirmed in January that its LMDh car would feature a twin-turbo V8 engine, however the displacement of the unit had been kept under wraps until now.

“After 7,889 test kilometers during the first half of 2022, we’re on a very good path but there is still work to be done before the start of next season,” said Porsche Motorsport Vice President Thomas Laudenbach.

“Our new Porsche 963 should continue the legacy of legendary models such as the 917, 935, 956, 962 and the 919 Hybrid.

“I’m positive that we’ll be well-positioned when it comes to technology and we’ve also created the relevant team structures to set us up for wins in the thrilling competition between many manufacturers and different concepts.”

Several partners have also been named for the Porsche 963 project including ExxonMobil (oil), Ansys (global technology partner), Penske Corporation (official partner), Multimatic (technology), TAG Heuer (timing), Hugo Boss (outfitter) and Puma (race clothing).

Porsche “Aiming” for Bahrain Dress Rehearsal

In addition to revealing more details about its LMDh car, Porsche has indicated that it is “aiming” to be ready for a test in race conditions at the 8 Hours of Bahrain in November.

This would be as an invitational entry ineligible to score WEC points, under an approval announced by the FIA in March.

Bahrain is the only WEC race this year at which Porsche could feasibly debut the 963, considering it has more track testing to carry out including performance testing.

A non-competitive race debut in the WEC this season would enable series organizers the ACO and FIA to gather valuable data for next year’s Balance of Performance process between the new LMDh cars and the LMHs that are already active.

The car is then due to be homologated in time for its official race debut in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January, which kicks off the WeatherTech Championship season.

“Expectations are extremely high,” said Porsche Penske Motorsport managing director Jonathan Diuguid.

“Not only from the public but also from Porsche and Team Penske, who have written great motorsport chapters together in the past.”

[MonteCristo]

Very nice.

2023 will be fantastic.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Very nice.

2023 will be fantastic.

Looks great but I am a bit worried that there are a lot of red white and black cars now..... the Yodas, Glicks and now the Porkers. All similar colour schemes. A bit of variety might have been nice.

Im also really looking forward to 2023 tbh. So much potential Even with similar liveries.