Insight: How to Turn a Le Mans-Winning Hypercar into a Track Day Car

Sportscar365 speaks with Ferrari development driver Olivier Beretta about the design process for the 499P Modificata…

Even though it’s only been around for two seasons, the Ferrari 499P has already garnered a rightful reputation as one of the most distinctive and successful cars brought forth by the Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) ruleset.

It is thus far undefeated at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning on debut with Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado last year before Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen and Antonio Fuoco added a second consecutive victory for the Prancing Horse.

In addition to that, it captured its fair share of pole positions, while Robert Shwartzman, Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye drove the yellow-liveried No. 83 car to victory in September’s Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of The Americas.

The 499P is clearly as high-performance as an endurance racing car gets, with its V6 engine and hybrid technology. But: what if it could go quicker? What if it could be unshackled from the restraints placed upon it by the FIA World Endurance Championship’s technical regulations?

Thankfully, somebody in Maranello must at some point have asked the same question and decided to find out. The answer is the Ferrari 499P Modificata, a faster, unrestricted version of the Le Mans-winning LMH car intended for non-competitive use.