Written by Alessandro Rizzuti.
We have less than two months until the start of the new endurance season in 2023. Among the various novelties we are about to see, the biggest one is undoubtedly about the new constructors on track. Let’s see the new LMDh and Hypercars that will partecipate in the FIA WEC and IMSA.
PORSCHE
Everyone knows about the Porsche 963 at this point. Built around the LMDh regulations, it has a chassis built by Oreca with a 4,6L twin-turbo V8. The German manufacturer comes with a big and very high-skilled squadron of drivers, with ten confirmed for this season: Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr, Kevin Estre, Michael Christensen, Laurens Vanthoor, Mathieu Jaminet, Matt Campbell, Andre Lotterer, Nick Tandy and Frederic Makowiecki. The official team will be co-managed by Penske, while JDC-Miller, Jota and Proton will take part in the various competitions as private teams.
FERRARI
Let’s address the elephant in the room: the Ferrari 499P. This time a Hypercar, built entirely by the Italian manufacturer and with a 3L V6 based on the engine used on the 296. We don’t know yet who will be the official drivers, but we know that the team will be managed by AF Corse, two-streaks winners in GTE Pro.
CADILLAC
The Cadillac V-LMDh is the successor of the DPi used in IMSA until this year, again built in partnership with Dallara for the chassis and with a 5,5L V8 engine. For the FIA championship the car will be managed by Chip Ganassi Racing with the drivers Earl Bamber, Richard Westbrook and Alex Lynn. In IMSA the teams will be again Chip Ganassi (with Sébastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande) and Action Express Racing (Pipo Derani and Alex Sims).
ACURA
The other successor of the old DPi, te ARX-06 has a chassis built by Oreca and a new engine developed by Honda, a small but powerful 2,4L V6. It will partecipate only in IMSA with Meyer Shank Racing (Felipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor, Louis Delétraz and Brendon Hartley; the last two only for the longest races) and Wayne Taylor Racing (Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud; again, the last two only for the longest races).
BMW
Entirely new car, the BMW M Hybrid V8 has a Dallara chassis and an upgraded 4L V8 engine taken from the M4 DTM. In the States the car will be managed by Rahal Letterman Racing (Conor De Philippi, Nick Yelloly, Augusto Farfus and Philipp Eng), while for the WEC we will see the team WRT.
LAMBORGHINI
Not for 2023, though. A LMDh with a Ligier chassis and a twin-turbo V8 engine. We already know the official drivers that will race with this prototype: Mirko Bortolotti, Andrea Caldarelli and, fresh of announcement, Romain Grosjean. We also know that Iron Lynx will manage the car, so we’re allowed to imagine also a full-women crew like Iron Dames in GT.
VANWALL
The great hero of Le Mans. The mythical warrior of the endurance races. The fastest finishing 24-hour of the 21th century (17 seconds). ByKolles will be back on the grid with a Vanwall-badged Hypercar. More or less. The car does exist and it has completed various practice sessions this year, with Tom Dillman and Jacques Villeneuve. Development is, however, behind schedule and we do not have an official deadline. In classic ByKolles fashion, this story can not be anything but troubled and exciting.
ISOTTA FRASCHINI
Yep. You read it right. Isotta Fraschini is back into business with a Hypercar, the Tipo 6 LMH-C. With a 3L V6 engine, it should debut at the 6 hours of Spa-Francochamps in May.
