Porsche has now confirmed its drivers for the LMDh programme: 2018 and 2021 IMSA DPi champion and former Sauber F1 driver Felipe Nasr has been signed up for one of the berths, with Dane Cameron – 2016 and 2019 title-winner in the same class – joining him.
André Lotterer, one of Porsche’s Formula E drivers, has also been confirmed. The most experienced and high-profile of all the drivers, the German has won Le Mans three times for Audi in ‘11, ‘12 and ‘14.
Porsche has looked to its GT team for the rest of the line-up: Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet step up, along with Kevin Estre, Michael Christensen, Laurens Vanthoor.
The ACO dreams of the large fields of the ’80s and ’90s, when 956s widely populated packed grids. Stuttgart is on board with this idea, having now announced two customer LMDh car programmes so far for 2023, one in WEC and the other IMSA.
This year’s Le Mans LMP2 champions JOTA will field a car in the former, with title-sponsorship from Hertz – with Antonio Felix Da Costa, William Stevens and Yifei Ye driving –
while JDC-Miller will operate an entry in IMSA.
Alpine – confirmed
Alpine has now unveiled its ß (Beta) LMDh Hypercar
Alpine
Alpine has finally made the long-expected announcement that it will build its own LMDh machine, entering the Hypercar class with two cars in WEC from 2024.
The French challenger will be based on an Oreca chassis, with an engine developed in-house at Alpine, with a prototype The cars will be run by the Signatech team, which has taken LMP2 class honours at Le Mans in ’16,’18 and ’19 – it unveiled a prototype labelled “ß” (Beta) at the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Alpine currently runs in the LMP2, stepping up with its LMDh programme for 2023.
The current Alpine line-up includes André Negrão, four-time Le Mans LMP2 class winner Nicolas Lapierre – whose CV also boasts two wins at the 12 Hours of Sebring – and Le Mans LMP2 podium finisher Matthieu Vaxiviere in the N035
The N036 features Matthieu Vaxiviere, Charles Milesi and Julien Canal.
Alpine has heavily implied it intends to supply customer teams with its LMDh car also.
Acura/Honda – confirmed
Acura won out on debut at Daytona
Honda confirmed its Acura-branded LMDh entry into IMSA, where it currently races the ARX-05, with a single-sentence press release, but has since revealed fire-up footage and renders of its ARX-06 prototype, keeping its familiar nose design from the DPi era.
“The process we used in creating the exterior design for the Acura ARX-06 is exactly the same as how we create a new Acura passenger vehicle,” commented Acura Executive Creative Director Dave Marek.
“The same world-class stylists that lead Acura production car design created initial sketches, then pared those down to several potential designs. Next we created a scale model, did aero and wind tunnel model testing, and brought HPD and our partner teams in for their feedback.”
In the hands of Meyer Shank Racing, the car won out on its debut at the 2023 Daytona 24 Hours, beating the likes of Porsche Cadillac and BMW.
BMW – confirmed
An Instagram post by BMW M CEO Markus Flasch indicated the Munich marque was on its way back to Daytona and IMSA, which was followed by official confirmation, with the German marque then revealing the car in testing.
Its IMSA driver line-up has now been announced too, with Nick Yelloly, Augusto Farfus, Phillip Eng and Connor de Phillippi all set to get behind the wheel. IndyCar star Colton Herta will also join the line-up for the Daytona 24 Hours.
“My team’s job was to make the BMW M Hybrid V8 look like a BMW, and embrace every opportunity to make it also perform like one on the race track,” BMW Designworks Global Automotive Director Michael Scully said.
“The design is rooted in BMW’s DNA of purposeful, efficient performance, and the exterior’s bold, determined character invokes BMW’s frontiersmanship of turbo power, now united with an optimized hybrid electric powertrain.
“The camouflage livery celebrates the 50 Years of M by commemorating the great cars of BMW’s storied history in IMSA racing while uniquely cloaking the BMW M Hybrid V8’s future-facing exterior geometry and technologies during the critical on-track development phase of the project.”
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing operates the IMSA team. The outfit, run by 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, already campaigns BMW GT cars in IMSA, in addition to running its own IndyCar team.
On top of its IMSA project, BMW will also compete in WEC from 2024 with WRT, which will mark 25 years since it won Le Mans with its last prototype appearance.
The #BMWMHybridV8 is ready and rolling: Joining @FIAWEC from 2024. See you in Le Mans!
Read the whole story: https://t.co/1zqNMsFq4u pic.twitter.com/bw0TWSp5OU
— BMW M Motorsport (@BMWMotorsport) July 26, 2022
“All of us at Team WRT are extremely happy with the start of this new partnership with BMW M Motorsport and feel honoured to be associated with a brand that has such an awesome pedigree in motor racing,” said WRT’s co-owner and team principal, Vincent Vosse.
“Team WRT was launched thirteen years ago and has enjoyed continuous success in different categories, mainly GT3 and endurance racing.
“Since the very beginning, the 24 Hours of Le Mans has been in our plans and in our dreams and being part of the new Hypercar era of the FIA WEC that is about to open, was our strongest desire.
“To prepare for that, we have launched a program in LMP2 two years ago, where we have proved to be competitive and successful, taking ELMS and FIA WEC titles, and also a class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in our maiden participation.
“Entering the LMDh arena with a strong partner such as BMW M Motorsport was the logical next step and we are not only thrilled about the challenge ahead but also thankful for BMW M Motorsport’s trust in us.
“I can still remember when BMW M Motorsport won at Le Mans in 1999, as I was one of the drivers of the team in the neighbouring box. We will work hard to repeat these moments and live them together.”
Cadillac
Cadillac is taking n both WEC and IMSA
Andrew Bershaw/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Cadillac has now hit Le Mans, WEC and IMSA, after a twenty year-plus absence in the top class at La Sarthe.
The Cadillac Project GTP Hypercar uses a Dallara chassis, the American/Italian combination creating the DPi-V.R which won the Daytona 24 Hours four times consecutively between 2017 and 2020.
An all-new V8 5.5-litre engine, along with the spec hybrid system, powers the car.
We have liftoff… the 2023 Cadillac race car is coming to a race near you 🚀#CadillacRacing // #BEICONIC // @CadillacVSeries pic.twitter.com/9oZZus0JLS
— Chip Ganassi Racing (@CGRTeams) July 12, 2022
Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express Racing run the cars, debuting at Daytona 2023.
The American team is made up of four-time Champ Car champion Sebastian Bourdais, two-time Le Mans winner Earl Bamber, former Formula E driver and Le Mans GTEPRO winner Alex Lynn and two-time Daytona winner Renger van der Zande will compete for the team in IMSA next year, with all likely to compete at some point in LMDh for the brand.
Scott Dixon and Richard Westbrook fill out the team for Le Mans.
Lamborghini – confirmed
Lamborghini has announced 2024 LMDH entry
Lamborghini has now confirmed it will run an LMDh programme from 2024, intending to enter both WEC and IMSA.
This will be the first time a Lamborghini has vied for top honours at any of the endurance classics.
“This step up into the highest echelon of sports car racing marks an important milestone for our company,” commented Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini chairman and CEO. “We will be measuring ourselves against the very best, on the most demanding proving grounds.
“On one hand, this will give our successful motorsports program even more visibility, but it will also allow us to test future technologies: our LMDh prototypes will become our most sophisticated open laboratory on four wheels.”
Without officially confirming it, the Italian firm has implied it will make use of customer teams, as it does in its GT3 exploits, instead of running a works outfit.
“LMDh will play a special role in Lamborghini’s motor sports strategy, giving us the unique opportunity to expand our customer racing activities to new platforms and enforce our long-term partnership with customer teams and drivers,” the company’s head of motor sport, Giorgio Sanna, said.
It has also announced Mirko Bortolotti and Andrea Caldarelli as well asformer F1 men Romain Grosjean and Daniil Kvyat, the former two already involved in GT competition with Lamborghini.
Bortolotti is a two-time Rolex 24 at Daytona GTD-class winner with Grasser Racing Team, while Caldarelli was part of Paul Miller Racing’s GTD win in 2020 at Daytona.
“We are especially proud to announce Mirko and Andrea as the first drivers for the LMDh programme,” said Sanna.
“Both have contributed substantially to achieving historic results for Lamborghini in GT racing and their addition to the LMDh project also rewards their continued commitment to the Squadra Corse [Lamborghini’s racing division] family.
“I’m sure that their talent and experience will be an added asset to our competitiveness in the premier endurance class.”
Lamborghini will be the second Volkswagen Group company represented in WEC’s top tier, with Porsche confirmed but with Audi pausing its project.
McLaren – rumoured
McLaren F1 GTR took a shock win in 1995
DPPI
McLaren shocked the motorsport world by taking overall 1995 Le Mans victory with their F1 GTR – run in the LM GT1 category and technically the third fastest class that year.
Could McLaren return to the endurance fold at the highest level?
The current F1 and IndyCar team has said that it’s “very happy” with the latest LMDh regs, with boss Zak Brown declaring “We’re very interested in sportscars. I think it’s a great fit for the McLaren brand and we like it a lot.”
The brand wants assurances of parity with LMH though. “One car can be four-wheel-drive and another [LMDh] is not, so it’s one thing to balance two cars in the dry with new tires.” Brown notes, “But how do you balance them at 2am in the wet at Le Mans?”
Hyundai – rumoured
Hyundai could soon be trading mud for the Mulsanne
DPPI
Hyundai is hardly the first name that comes to mind when one thinks of sports car glory.
However, the Korean marque has become frustrated with the FIA’s determination to implement hybrid regulations in the new generation Rally1 cars next year.
Unwilling to be rushed in the development of its hybrid technology, a 2023 move to sportscars with either a Hypercar or LMDh challenger could be on the cards instead, with its Motorsport director Andrea Adamo saying “Any sort of motorsport that can show the capability, the technology and the things Hyundai can do in the world are welcome.”
Ford – has chosen GT over LMDh
Ford pulled out of Le Mans competition in 2019 but has hinted at a Hypercar or LMDh future
DPPI
Ford has previously expressed interest in building a Hypercar, before the LMDh regulations then offered a more cost-effective entry.
The Detroit-based brand was involved in the development of the Hypercar rules, where it pushed for a convergence of rules across WEC and IMSA. It has finally got its wish, but then decided instead to go down the GT route, committing its new Mustang to the GT3 rules for IMSA’s GTD Pro class in 2024, instead of an LMDh programme.
“For us, having something that is more relevant or tied to a production car is what put our decision in favour of Mustang and GT3,” said head of Ford Performance Mark Rushbrook.
“It’s [LMDh] not the right programme for us at this time.”