Ferrari Le Mans Hypercar teased | GRR
Ferrari has given us a sneak peek of its 2023 Le Mans Hypercar challenger that will be racing at La Sarthe next year. We can’t see much but even such a sliver of the car is enough to get us excited for the Scuderia’s return to top-level endurance racing after a 50-year absence.
Unsurprisingly it’s red but more importantly what we can see is blade-like horizontal LED lighting, not dissimilar to what we recently saw on Ferrari's SP3 limited-run supercar. The conclusion: this car really will, like some of the cars it will be racing next year, bear a resemblance to its road-going cousins. This is confirmed by the statement accompanying the teaser on the marque’s website, reading:
“The car, which will begin its first development tests in the coming weeks, shows strong design references to the stylistic features that distinguish the models in the Prancing Horse range.”
Other than that, we can see the two Ferrari badges as is custom on all GT racers and the road cars, as well as a jutting front splitter, dropping dramatically at both sides. The car is due to go testing this month, so we expect we’ll be analysing the whole thing before too long.
Crucially Ferrari took the decision to go with the LMH formula, rather than the cheaper LMDh route of a number of rivals. This means it won’t be bound to an existing LMP2 chassis. Instead, it’ll be developing its own, albeit with some outside help. It also means that the hybrid system in the Ferrari will be able to deliver power to the front or the rear wheels, or both, per Ferrari’s choosing. The stock hybrid system in LMDh cars, on the other hand, will be delivering power exclusively to the front wheels. The freedom of LMH also implies an extra bit of creativity aerodynamically speaking – see the wingless Peugeot 9X8 for proof.
Ferrari’s last factory-backed efforts at Le Mans were of course in the early 1970s during the 3.0-litre sportscar era. The 312PB was a formidable but at times unreliable machine but finished a respectable second behind a Matra at the 1973 Le Mans 24 Hours. Its previous history is of course well known, with, among others, six wins on the trot from 1960 to 1965, before Ford spoiled the party in 1966. We can’t wait to see what one of the most iconic names in endurance racing has come up with for its illustrious return. It really will be as Ferrari said in its statement, an “appointment with history”.
312 image courtesy of Motorsport Images