Le Mans News Roundup
Catch up on the latest news from Le Mans ahead of this weekend's endurance classic...
The FIA and ACO have confirmed that a new category “based on the GT3 platform” will replace GTE at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and its associated championships from 2024.
FIA Endurance Commission president Richard Mille outlined the shift during the ACO’s annual press conference on Friday on the eve of this weekend’s 89th Le Mans edition.
The current GTE regulations will continue through to the end of 2023 before being replaced by a version of the FIA’s global GT3 formula which is used by most major sports car racing series around the world.
Read the Full Story on Sportscar365
Sebring to Open 2022 WEC Season in Six-Race Calendar
The FIA World Endurance Championship will return to Sebring International Raceway after a two-year hiatus for the kickoff of its 2022 season.
Announced on Friday during the ACO’s annual press conference at Le Mans, the globe-trotting championship will remain at a six-round calendar next year although is set to feature both Sebring and Fuji Speedway for the first time in three years.
Both events were canceled this year due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions and replaced by Portimao and a second race in Bahrain, respectively.
The 1000 Miles of Sebring on March 18 will be part of the so-called ‘Super Sebring’ weekend that includes the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on the following day.
Read the Full Story on Sportscar365
Hydrogen Class Launch Delayed to 2025
The launch of the ACO’s planned hydrogen class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans has been delayed by one year to 2025 due to complications from the coronavirus pandemic.
ACO President Pierre Fillon explained that industry-wide delays and shortage of components have contributed to the reason to push back the category’s debut.
“COVID has made a lot of issues for the manufacturers,” Fillon said. “For us, we lost one year with the development of the H24. It would have run last year.
“We discussed with the manufacturers and it’s difficult today for them to have [parts] with the suppliers. There are a lot of delays. So we made the decision for 2025.”
Read the Full Story on Sportscar365
Toyota’s Kobayashi Takes Fourth Le Mans Pole in Five Years
Toyota’s Kamui Kobayashi earned his fourth 24 Hours of Le Mans pole position in five years by setting the fastest lap during Thursday evening’s Hyperpole qualifying session.
Kobayashi added to his Le Mans poles aboard Toyota LMP1 machinery in 2017, 2019 and last year to claim the first pole of the French enduro’s new Hypercar era.
The Japanese star wasted little time in scaling the leaderboard, with his final attempt of 3:23.900 coming on his first flying lap aboard the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid.
That initially put Kobayashi a huge 1.2 seconds ahead of his teammate Brendon Hartley, but the margin came down over the remainder of the 30-minute session as the New Zealander wound up his No. 8 Toyota LMH machine.
Read the Full Story on Sportscar365
Friday Le Mans Notebook
Corvette Gets Late BoP Break
Alpine Decision By End of Year
ACO GT Class Set to Prohibit Factory Entries
IMSA, ACO Ink Ten-Year Extension