Tag Archives: WEC

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2023 WEC – World Endurance Championship more exciting than ever

The new season of the 2023 WEC – World Endurance Championship starts on March 17 and is expected to be more exciting than the previous ones. This season (which also marks the centenary of the first 24 Hours of Le Mans), as many as 13 superfast hybrid prototypes from nine teams will participate in the battle for glory in the most powerful class (Hypercar). This is what endurance racing fans have been waiting for for years.

This year, Ferrari returns to the strongest class in which the Italian team has not participated in decades, and the two red 499P prototypes will face the Hypercar prototypes of Toyota (GR-010), Cadillac (V-LMDh), Porsche (963), Peugeot ( 9X8), Glickenhaus (007) and Vanwall Vandervell (680).

Porsche will have four cars in the most powerful class, two from the team Porsche Penske Motorsport and one each from the private teams Hertz Team Jota and Proton Competition. In the fight for the very top, the Penske Porsche 963 with number 6 with drivers Frenchman Kévin Estre, German André Lotterer and Belgian Laurens Vanthoor have the best chances. Cadillac, Glickenhaus and Vanwall Vandervell will each have one car in the game, and Ferrari, Toyota and Peugeot will each have two cars.

The LMGTE Pro class in which teams from Porsche, Ferrari, Ford, Aston Martin, Corvette… no longer exists. GT cars will be present this season only in the LMGTE Am class, in which 12 teams will have six Porsche 911 RSR-19s, four Ferrari 488 GTE Evos, three Aston Martin Vantage AMRs and one Corvette C8.R.

11 cars from seven teams will participate in the LMP2 class. This year’s calendar has seven races, among which, definitely, the most important jubilee race is the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which starts on June 10, and the season will start with the 1,000 miles of Sebring (USA).

Endurance racing is returning to its roots, and this is confirmed by the previously published information that Lamborghini and BMW will be in the Hypercar company starting next year.

Gallery:

Source: WEC

Hybrid, News

2023 Ferrari LMH 499P

At the beginning of the year, the head of Ferrari Attività Sportive GT Antonello Coletta announced that after half a century, Ferrari is returning to the WEC (World Endurance Championship). Their new race car, the 2023 Ferrari LMH 499P, has undergone many tests and is now finally unveiled to the public.

Earlier it was said that the experienced AF Corse team will be in charge of the LMH prototype of the manufacturer from Maranello. “We are proud of this announcement. It is the crowning of a dream and recognition of the great effort made over the years. Our partnership with Ferrari is a winning one that began in 2006, and I am delighted to continue it in the LMH project We have immediately kicked off with great enthusiasm aiming to raise the bar even further and to be ready for this new challenge,” said AF Corse team owner Amato Ferrari.

The Ferrari 499P is powered by a twinturbocharged 3.0-liter V6 engine with 680 hp (500 kW), which in combination with an electric motor with 272 hp (200 kW), produces a total of 952 hp (700 kW). The engine is paired with a seven-speed sequential gearbox. It is equipped with a 900-volt battery from Formula 1, which is charged by deceleration and braking.

The design of the car is reminiscent of the Deyton SP3, and it is decorated with a red color with yellow details, like the 312PB model from the seventies of the last century. The two cars will have the numbers 50 and 51, which pays tribute to Ferrari’s return to the WEC, but also to the number 51 worn by Ferrari racing cars throughout history.

Ferrari hopes that LMH will have the same success as the F430 GT2, which won all three titles in its debut season (team, drivers and constructors).

Source: Ferrari

News

2023 BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh

After Ferrari and Lamborghini recently unveiled their LMDh prototypes, BMW has finally presented its M Hybrid V8 LMDh prototype, which will compete in the IMSA championship next season, and will return to the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2024.

The BMW LMDh is considered the successor to the winner of the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, the prototype V12 LMR. It is based on the Dallara chassis, and under the hood is a 4.0L twin turbo V8 engine with 640 hp (471 kW) and 479 lb-ft (650 Nm) of torque, assisted by hybrid technology. The car will be tested at Petit LeMans, and its first official race will be at the Daytona 24 Hours in January 2023.

The car is covered with foil in blue and purple colors that imitate the natural colors of electricity. There is also a matte black foil that covers the extension under the windshield on the driver’s side, while the other dark surfaces will be made of carbon fibers. The front of the car is adorned with a grille that uses a new technological solution that generates light using a nano-active optical fiber powered by a laser. Between the kidneys there is an inverted ‘Y’ configuration, while on both sides there are twin headlights.

Source: BMW