I wonder if this is a sign Ferrari will pull back on the GT championship? It would be great if they did both. Also the MC20 is supposed to race so this announcement may help push them faster.
https://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/ferrari-top-flight-le-mans-sportscars-return-/5479312/?fbclid=IwAR3fljsOf3eLe52GsU9IPDvf0TVZlRI7RwMShs-gKai8lLDu0Uz9h-17PEU
At 35 I've literally been waiting my whole for this. Finally a factory effort at LM by Ferrari...#ForzaFerrari
Can’t wait to see this thing! Ferrari back at LeMans.. it warms the heart and makes the imagination run wild! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
In terms of ACO Series, GTE PRO is already dead. the current 488 GTE is homologated until 2023 and as the GTE AM Category has to run with 1 year old spec Cars, the GTE AM will survive most likely until 2023. The new GT Racecar will debute in 2022, its based on the successor of the 488/F8 Platform and will be an entire new Car. This new Racecar will be build under the new upcoming GT3 regulations. (MC20 maybe something you keep in mind ) I'm expecting ACO will adapt the GT3 regulations for the GT AM Class (no more GT PRO) maybe with some changements (no ABS, more aero etc). So we would have: - Top Car Manufacturer in LMD / LMDh, Pro Drivers only - LMP2 with the selected Chassis/Engine and a mix of Pro and Am Drivers - GT with Pro/AM Category (pure Customer Racing, no Factory involvment) does it make sense? To me it does...a lot so far.
I think it is because the F1 budget cap has freed up resources and head count. LMH is the only other category that would allow Ferrari to build their own chassis which is a must for a Ferrari factory effort. Plus the 670hp max on the I.C.E motor gives Ferrari a couple of options as to which of it's road engines to base the race engine on. The current V8 and forthcoming V6 should comfortably operate at that sort of output (the romantic in me would like to see the V12 but I suspect fuel consumption and weight penalties will rule that out).
But there is a big difference: in F1 there are big sponsors and the TV and prize´s money, while in sports cars most of the budget has to come from Ferrari´s pockets. I don´t know how commited to Le Mans they will be.
This is great! Factory cars at Le Mans, a dream coming true... Sent from my SM-G973F using FerrariChat.com mobile app
I very much hope this is a statement to F1 to level the playing field as they aren’t the only game in town.
This is the biggest news in a loooong time. Can’t wait to see this racing! Might be time to start planning a leman trip. I’ve haven’t been for years...!
Considering it seems the LMH series has turned to more of an evolution of LMP cars, I'm definitely eager to see what such a car looks like under Ferrari's guidance.
Not even the official Ferrari website ! https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/competizioni-gt/articles/ferrari-enters-the-le-mans-hypercar-era OK ?
Good summary—thanks. Specifically about the new GT car, do you have any specifics about 488/F8 successor you can share, maybe to the LB thread?
Formula One ... the prize money is peanuts. The TV ad Revenue is shared only with FOM - and then distributed according to placing in the world championship. Sponsor money is big only for a few teams.. Ferrari's Phillip Morris contract is probably the biggest. THe Le Mans effort will be there to absorb work that cant be done for F-1 .. and to protect technical data / personnel from being poached away.... until the technology changes. I would think Ferrari has plenty of resources for a LeMans / WEC program, question is will there be enough private teams to afford the platform. I would think Ferrari will run it as a factory effort only for a year or two, and then sell cars, spares etc.. to other teams.
In F1, the sponsors and TV money is enough for a top team. Some even announced profits (although I guess they did some numbers massaging). I don't know how expensive these LMH cars are going to be. The LMPH cost F1 money, and most teams run almost without sponsors.
or you build 500 Units of a Hypercar Le Mans Road Version as "LM Icon" and you sell it for 2.5M each.... that should pay for a few years of racing.