What is a Le Mans Hypercar? Entries, rules and specs for the sports car category

The Le Mans Hypercar category is reaching new heights in 2024, with nine manufacturers and 23 cars at the Le Mans 24 Hours — marking a new golden age in endurance racing.

Hypercar is the top class in the Le Mans 24 Hours race, which also includes slower LMP2 and LMGT3 cars. These race at the same time as the Hypercars, but have no realistic chance of winning, and are competing for victory within their own category.

Most Hypercars in 2024 look capable of challenging for the Le Mans win — unlike in previous years under different regulations where there was often one dominant manufacturer. This competitiveness is thanks to a thanks to a Balance of Performance system, where officials adjust power and weight for each manufacturer, in a bid to ensure close competition and to cut costs by preventing teams from gaining a large advantage from expensive development.

Ferrari, Toyota and Porsche — with 34 Le Mans victories between them — are once again competing at Le Mans with Hypercars., along with Peugeot and Cadillac which raced last year. This year, they are joined by Hypercar newcomers Alpine, BMW and Lamborghini, along with the single car entry Isotta Fraschini.

For more on which cars look competitive, see our guide to who will win at Le Mans.

The Hypercar category replaced more expensive LMP1 class in the World Endurance Championship (which includes the Le Mans 24 Hours) in 2021, but confusingly, the category is made up of two types of car: one called LMH (Le Mans Hypercar), where manufacturers build their own car from scratch and another called LMDh, which is cheaper because teams must use several off-the-shelf parts. Read more about the latter in our What is LMDh? article.

Hypercar rules

All Hypercars share some similar characteristics, enabling them to compete on a level playing field, and giving each manufacturer enough opportunity to design their cars in the style of their brand — for example with headlights, tail-lights and grilles.

Most teams are manufacturer-run, but Porsche also has customer teams, which buy its 963 Hypercar and run the cars themselves.

• Maximum power: 671bhp
• Minimum weight: 1030kg
• Aerodynamic “performance window” allows teams more design freedom
• Development is frozen once cars enter WEC
• Close racing enforced by Balance of Performance changes

Balance of Performance (BoP)

Officials adjust the power and weight of cars to ensure similar levels of performance and close racing. This is usually based on simulation data, to reduce the chances of teams ‘sandbagging’ — hiding their true performance to avoid an unfavourable decision ahead of a big race.

Teams’ energy allowance can be varied, giving them more performance per lap, and ballast can be added.

Following the 2024 Six Hours of Spa, the race prior to Le Mans and often seen as indicative of performance, the FIA and ACO announced BoP changes for the blue riband race in the form of added or reduced weight as well as a new power gain system, which dictates the amount of power available to each car above and below a certain speed, currently set at 250km/h.

Porsche, which has won two out of the three WEC races staged so far this season, gained 5kg in minimum weight but will be able to run with 4kW more power. Ferrari and Toyota’s Hypercar machines lost 10kg and 9kg respectively, but while the Maranello outfit gained 2kW in power, Toyota lost 7kW.

Peugeot’s 9X8 was permitted to lose 18kg in weight, meaning that it will no longer be the heaviest car in its class, and although its power limit below 250km/h is unchanged, the French outfit will receive a net gain as almost every other car will have 2kW less on average.

The BoP system is only intended to tweak pace, and is applied across Hypercar and LMDh cars. Given the uncertainty over the frontrunner ahead of this year’s Le Mans race, it has been seen as a success, although many fans see it as overly artificial.

Teams are banned from commenting publicly on Balance of Performance to avoid regular complaints from teams who feel that they lost out, which are feared to undermine the system.

Hypercar teams at the Le Mans 24 Hours

Best results only apply to Hypercars

LMH Hypercars

Ferrari 499P
Two factory Hypercars, plus one yellow AF Corse-run car

Best Le Mans finish 1st (2023)

Car 50 – Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen
Car 51 – Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi
AF Corse
Car 83 – Robert Kubica, Robert Schwartzman, Yifei Ye

Toyota GR010 Hybrid
Two factory Hypercars run by Toyota Gazoo racing

Best Le Mans finish 1st (2021, 2022)

Car 7 – Jose Maria Lopez, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries
Car 8 – Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa

Peugeot 9X8
Two factory-run Hypercars

Best Le Mans finish 6 (2023)

Car 93 – Jean-Eric Vergne, Mikkel Jensen, Nico Muller
Car 94 – Stoffel Vandoorne, Paul Di Resta, Loic Duval

Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6
A single car, still being developed and run by Duqueine Racing

Best Le Mans finish n/a (debuts in 2024)

Car 11 – Antonio Serravalle, Jean-Karl Vernay, Carl Wattana Bennett>/p>

LMDh Hypercars

Porsche 936
Three factory Hypercars run by Penske Motorsport; two customer cars with Jota; and a further customer car with Proton

Best Le Mans result 16th (2023)

Penske
Car 4 – Mathieu Jaminet, Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy
Car 5 – Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki
Car 6 – Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor
Jota
Car 12 – Callum Ilott, Will Stevens, Norman Nato
Car 38 – Oliver Rasmussen, Jenson Button, Phil Hanson
Proton
Car 99 – Neel Jani, Harry Tincknell, Julien Andlauer

Cadillac V-Series.R
Two factory cars run by Cadillac Racing, and a third by US factory team Action Express

Best Le Mans result 3rd (2023)

Car 2 – Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Alex Palou
Car 3 – Sébastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, Scott Dixon
Action Express Racing
Car 311 – Pipo Derani, Jack Aitken, Felipe Drugovich

BMW M Hybrid V8
Two factory WRT-run cars

Best Le Mans result n/a (debuts 2024)

Car 15 – Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann
Car 20 – Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns, Rene Rast

Alpine A424
Two factory cars run by Signatech Racing

Best Le Mans result n/a (debuts 2024)

Car 35 – Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg, Charles Milesi
Car 36 – Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxvière, Mick Schumacher

Lamborghini SC63
Two factory cars run by Iron Lynx

Best Le Mans result n/a (debuts 2024)

Car 19 – Romain Grosjean, Andrea Caldarelli, Matteo Cairoli
Car 63 – Mirko Bortolotti, Daniil Kvyat, Edoardo Mortara

Le Mans Hypercar vs LMDh

While LMh and LMDh cars are both classed as Hypercars, with no immediate differences in badging or performance, there are still differences between them.

In deciding which type of Hypercar to race, manufacturers must decide whether they want to invest money in developing everything themselves, potentially using what they have learned on road cars and in other racing series, or to take the cheaper LMDh route and by much of the car off the shelf.

One element that can give LMH cars an advantage is that their front-axle hybrid systems provide four-wheel drive, with the combustion engine driving the rear axle and an electric motor at the front. The LMDh cars are rear-wheel drive only.

If it rains — as it is forecast to in 2024 — then the LMH cars should technically be at an advantage. Making efforts to negate this, the ACO has made it so LMH cars can’t engage their electric drive in normal racing conditions when running under 75mph.

While teams are free to develop LMH cars from road-going models, all current teams have developed theirs from the ground up.

Instead of endless rules that stipulate the specifications and dimensions of individual components like in Formula 1, designers are relatively free to choose their own solutions, based on performance windows.

That’s why Hypercars have a range of V6, V8; hybrid and non-hybrid engines to achieve the stipulated maximum of 500kW (671bhp). Aerodynamic simulations are carried out to ensure similar levels of downforce, which left Peugeot free to build a car without a rear wing in 2023, relying on ground-effect to generate downforce. Peugeot has sincew reverted to a more conventional rear wing.

What does LMH stand for?

LM stands for Le Mans, indicating the ACO (Automobile Club de L’Ouest) use of the rules also its adoption for the WEC, whilst H stands for Hypercar.

Slightly confusingly, in WEC, the entrants will be in a class called ‘Hypercar’, which will include both the LMH cars and the LMDh.

Le Mans Hypercar regulations explained

First published in 2021, the sporting regulations of WEC for the Hypercar class remain mostly unchanged, as it specifies that the “basic components of newly developed cars cannot undergo further revisions for a period of five seasons”. This is otherwise known as a homologation cycle, which aims to guarantee a consistent level of performance throughout the field, regardless of when each team joined the series.

The regulations below are due to be revisited in 2025.

Chassis

Along with the powertrain, the chassis is possibly the biggest differentiator from LMDh.

While LMDh teams must purchase a predesignated LMP2 chassis from Ligier, Oreca, Dallara or Multimatic, LMH teams are free to create their own chassis within the above dimensions mentioned, which can be based on a road-going hypercar or a specialised prototype.

Whilst the road-going rule was brought in to accommodate Aston Martin and its now-paused Valkyrie project which is due to enter the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2025, Hypercar manufacturers have so far designed their cars from scratch, without producing any road versions.

Powertrain

Entrants are free to make their own choices on power unit, the only proviso being that it mustn’t be diesel-fuelled.

The maximum power output of the engine must be 500kW (670bhp), also aligned with LMDh cars.

Hybrid system

Whereas in LMDh a spec hybrid system is mandatory, LMH entrants can elect whether to run a hybrid system or not. If they do, the  combustion engine must drive the rear axle and the electric motor powers the front.

If an LMH team opts for a hybrid system, its maximum output must be 200kW (268bhp). Hybrid cars are restricted in their deployment in the dry, with the electric motor not providing drive when under 120km/h (75mph). In the wet, that limit rises to 150km/h (91mph).

Hybrid engines should have an advantage over non-hybrids both in terms of the immediacy of power delivery and fuel consumption.

Aerodynamics

Both LMH and LMDh are required to have a limited downforce to drag ratio of 4:1.

An appeal of LMH is that designers have much greater leeway in terms of styling their own bodywork compared to LMDh, a potential boon to the marketing possibilities of manufacturers, in addition to the freedom it brings to packaging and setting up the car.

Performance

Ferrari’s Hypercar clinched pole at last year’s Le Mans 24 Hours with a 3min 22.982sec lap time, which is already 7sec faster than predicted before the category was introduced.

However, it is still slower than Kamui Kobayshi’s current lap record for Toyota, set in 2020 qualifying at 3min 14.791sec.

Cost

Whilst a host of measures have been brought in as part of an effort to reduce costs, primarily centred around the BoP and restrictive aerodynamic package. The fact remains that there is no hard and fast cost cap for LMH.

As a result, the class’s development costs, through use of its own chassis and powertrains, are far in excess of LMDh.

However, it’s thought unlikely to reach peak LMP1 levels of spending. As an example, Porsche’s 919 LMP1 programme, which was run between 2014-2017 and only eligible to race in WEC, is said to have cost $200m. The new rules are designed in part to negate anything near this kind of outlay.

LMH entries: confirmed teams in detail

Toyota Gazoo Racing

Toyota was first to unveil its new Le Mans Hypercar, the GR010 Hybrid in 2020, and has been racing since the LMP1 era gave way to Hypercars in 2021.

The formidable machine has won every World Endurance Championship since then, scored five out of a possible six WEC race victories in 2023, and has begun 2024 on a strong note: winning the 6 Hours of Imola.

Following on from its recent dominance, Toyota itself admitted to finding little to improve on the GR010 — although under the sporting regulations of WEC, the basic components of newly developed cars in the Hypercar class can’t be revised until 2025. For this reason, the team focused on smaller improvements, which would focus around reliability, drivability and serviceability.