What can I say? This was a given 😷. According to WEC’s website the race will occur on September 19th and 20th. I think it’s pretty logical to assume that by June the COVID-19 epidemic will be dying down, but it will take longer for the world to get back to normal again. So September is probably a safe bet.
ACO released this afternoon (02/28) the entry list for the 24 Heures du Mans of 2020. We will only have six LMP1 cars – two Toyota, two Ginetta and two Rebellion. The grid will consist of 62 cars in total, and the other 56 are 24 LMP2, 11 GTE-Pro and 20 GTE-Am cars.
This year will be the last hurrah of the LMP1 class, and I’m sad to see only six cars. The class has been around since 1994 and I thought they deserved a grander going-away party 😥.
Motorsport.com has the full list here.
Earlier this week we heard that Aston Martin is pulling out of the new Hypercar class, and therefore the Valkyrie project was put on hold (canceled?). So far only Toyota has what looks to be a “working project”, but nothing yet from McLaren, Peugeot or Glickenhause. Well, the later, on Tweeter, said they do have something in the oven. We’re almost in March now, and Le Mans is in June, so with all that (lack of) news I’m worried.
Jalopnik has a much better story on this. And unfortunately, it’s a troublesome read.
According to Road & Track, this weekend both race bodies announced that from 2021 onward Le Mans and Daytona will be raced with the same rules. That is huge, since it means that the same car will now be able to compete at Daytona and La Sarthe, an immense incentive to race car manufacturers. Starting in 2021, Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) and the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) agreed on a new class, called Le Mans Daytona h (LMDh). There will also be LMP2 and Hypercars, and both classes will be legal in both series.
Everything is all official, so this means that starting next year things will be very interesting for Le Mans. And by that I mean more manufacturers, ergo, more variety and cool cars 🤞.
This morning I was really sad to know that Neil Pert passed away this past Friday, January 10th. A true car guy and drummer from Rush, one of my favorite bands, he was battling cancer for three years.
Rush has too many great songs to list, but without a doubt “Red Barchetta” is my all time favorite. If you ever have the time to listen to it, pay attention to the lyrics.
The world is less bright today 😥.
OH YES! It was just announced that Rebellion Racing will partner up with Peugeot for FIA’s 2022 WEC Hypercar season. There aren’t much details out about the partnership, so it’s not clear if Rebellion will still run their R-13 LMP1 car in 2020.
As I said before, this new hypercar class is going to be awesome. With Peugeot committed and Aston Martin and Toyota confirmed, so far we will have three factory teams running hypercars. I’m really looking forward to next year’s season.
For the third time (!) this season, Red Bull Racing has again broken the F1 pit stop record. At the Brazilian GP this weekend they did a pit stop in 1.82 seconds. Yes, 1.82 seconds to take four tires out and put four new tires in. One. Point. Eighty two. Seconds.
Holy mercaptans, Batman! That is FAST!
The Bloodhound LSR is undergoing test runs at the Hakskeenpan desert track in South Africa. Yesterday it reached 537 km/h for the first time – it went from from 80 km/h to 480 km/h in 13 seconds! The testing has to be done incrementally, so it will take a while for the Bloodhound to get to it’s top speed. And since the current LSR is at 760 km/h, it still has a way to go before it becomes the new King of Speed.
If you want to read more, head to the Bloodhound LSR page. They’re always updating with news of the project.
Yes, a Concours d’Elegance on the top of a building. In New York city. Definitively not a setting that you would expect for a Concours d’Elegance, but très cool nonetheless. Mingling classic cars with modern fashion and a rock show proved to be a winning formula. It happened on October 5th, and was such a success that the 2020 event is already confirmed.
More info and photos at the NYC Concours page.
Yesterday Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus showed renderings for their new SCG007. The SCG007 is James Glickenhaus’ new car for the Hypercar class of the WEC. Not much has been reveled about the new car, other than it will be powered by a biturbo V6 and that it will not be an hybrid.
Differently from what was expected, SCG’s hypercar is not based on the SCG003, being totally new. The new 007 looks a bit like the 330P4, and has a definite 60’s vibe to it. In principle the new hypercars will be a bit slower than current LMP2 cars, but if they’re all gorgeous like this, who cares?
More photos (renderings) at SCG.
