Hypercar, LMP2 and hydrogen updates from ACO

The Automobile Club de l’Ouest has held their traditional press conference prior to the 24 hours race, where they were revealing some of the future plans for 2025 and beyond. The FIA World Motor Sport Council has officially approved the demand for the Hypercar manufacturers to enter at least two cars each, if they want to compete in the FIA WEC. The two cars will score points for the FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship, while any additional entries will run for the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams. The FIA…

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Gibson continues in LMP2

The future for the LMP2 engines has been announced. It will once again be Gibson Technology, who will deliver the engines for the popular prototypes. The deal is for five more seasons, starting in 2026, and will be a 4,2 liter naturally aspirated 4,2 liter V8, just like the current GK428 engine is. This is an exclusive deal, just like the one that Gibson got in 2017, when the current generation of LMP2 cars were introduced. Prior to that, there was a free choice of engine manufacturer, as well as…

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UA moves to full American season

United Autosports has announced their overall plans for the 2024 season. The British-American team has been a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship for the past many seasons in the LMP2 category, but that category will disappear after the 2023 season, so their focus moves towards a full IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaign. They have only done selected races so far, including the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours, but now they want to compete at all the rounds, that LMP2 cars are present at. The team will…

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LMP2 no longer part of FIA WEC

It has been rumoured for a long time, but it was made official today. The LMP2 category will no longer be part of the FIA World Endurance Championship, following the conclusion of the 2023 season. The category has been there from the very start of the championship back in 2012, and has been a platform for many drivers, to make a step up to the LMP1 or the current Hypercar category. The reason for the category to disappear is down to physical space for it in the FIA WEC. The…

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Asian LMS schedule 2023-24 revealed

The Asian Le Mans Series has revealed their 2023-24 racing schedule. The series will stick to their concept of four-hour races, but will expand to five races, on three different tracks. The season starts at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia in December, where two rounds will be run. That is the first step towards Southeast Asia, which was the original area for the series, until COVID-19 put a hold to that. All the cars and equipment will then be packed down again, and moved to Dubai Autodrome for a single…

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The 62 cars at Le Mans 2023

The centenary edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will have 62 cars on the starting grid. It’s been a hundred years since the very first edition of the race will be celebrated in all sorts of ways, on June 10-11 2023. The entry list has just been revealed, one of the most interesting things is the total number of 16 Hypercar entries. That number will be reached with a combination of LMH and LMDh cars. Porsche will be represented with four cars, while Caddilac has three. Toyota Gazoo…

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Very few spots left for Le Mans

Despite it still being more than a month until the closing date entry submissions, it’s already clear that there are only very few spots left for the 2023 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That is of course depending on all the new Hypercar competitors being ready to compete, when we get to June. But if we look at the entry list for the FIA World Endurance Championship, which was announced last week, as the basis, we might end up with less than a dozen of available spots,…

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Beche new driver at Nielsen Racing

Mathias Beche is a new driver at Nielsen Racing. The Swiss racer will share the ORECA 07 Gibson with Ben Hanley and Rodrigo Sales in the upcoming Asian Le Mans Series, which starts on 11 February in Dubai. Beche has loads of sportscar experience. He has raced many LMP2 races, but was also part of the Rebellion LMP1 outfit. He took a break from ACO racing, but returned for the 2022 season with TDS Racing x Vaillante in the European Le Mans Series, and instantly returned to top form. He…

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Three LMP3 teams will full line ups

Another three teams in the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series have filled all their LMP3 seats. Nielsen Racing will bring Tony Well another time. This will be the fifth season for Wells in Asian LMS, where he previously always raced with Colin Noble as his teammate. Matt Bell will jump from the LMP2 car into the LMP3 car. This will be the third season for Bell in Asian LMS with Nielsen Racing, where the first season was with LMP3 material, before moving into LMP2, claiming a Le Mans entry in…

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Shahin, Patterson and Jarvis for UA

United Autosports has announced the three drivers for their second entry in the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series. Oliver Jarvis will be the experienced driver in the car, and he will guide Yasser Shahin and Garnet Patterson to success with the #23 ORECA 07 Gibson. Shahin and Patterson tested for the team during the Rookie test in Bahrain in November. Shahin has a lot of experience in GT racing in Australia, where he has won several championships. On top of that, he is the part owner of The Bend Motorsports…

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APR ready with Asian LMS drivers

Algarve Pro Racing has announced their drivers for the upcoming 2023 Asian Le Mans Series. The Championship winning team from 2016/17, 2017/18, 2019/20 and the 2021 season will once again enter, with the aim of winning the Championship, and by doing so, an automatic invitation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. John Falb and James Allen will continue to work together in the ELMS with car #25, which is the classic APR number. Falb has already won both the ELMS LMP3 and LMP2 Pro/Am titles, and hopes to add…

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48 cars entered for Asian LMS 2023

Asian Le Mans Series have a huge season coming. A total of 48 cars have been entered in 2023, which is a new record for the series. The 2022 season was already a big success, with the series switching to two weeks of intensive running, split between two Middle Eastern tracks. That change was made due to the COVID-19 situation for the past few years, which has made travelling difficult. Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina Circuit stepped in, with no quarantine being needed – as long as negative tests could…

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3 champions return

3 champions will return to the Asian Le Mans Series, when the 2023 season will be run this coming February. The defending champions from CD Sport will run two of the same three drivers, that had a fantastic 2022 in the Asian LMS. They finished 1-2 in the LMP3 standings. Two of the drivers finishing second are once again back with the team. Danish racer Michael Jensen will be joined by his longtime teammate Nick Adcock, in the red and yellow Ligier JS P320 LMP3 car, which is owned by…

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UA back to the Asian LMS

United Autosports will once again enter the Asian Le Mans Series, when the 2023 season is held this coming February. Phil Hanson and Paul Di Resta will once again share the ORECA 07 Gibson car #22, just like they have done so far in several seasons. The pairing actually won the 2018/19 season, and also secured the 2019/20 title in the FIA WEC. They have been running together at selected rounds since, when Di Resta had to sub for Filipe Albuquerque, when the Portuguese driver had some clashing commitments in…

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Inter Europol with four cars in Asian LMS

Inter Europol Competition will be a massive four-car team in the upcoming 2023 Asian Le Mans Series. The Polish squad will be running a single LMP2 car and a total of three LMP3 cars. Charles Crews was super close to winning the LMP3 title in the European Le Mans Series this year, and now he will get the chance to be onboard an LMP2 car. He will be joined in the #43 by Christian Bogle and Nolan Siegel. 21-year-old Bogle raced in Indy Lights in the USA, but did have…

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COOL with Asian programme

COOL Racing will enter the Asian Le Mans Series 2023. The team has been active in Ligier European Series, Michelin Le Mans Cup, European Le Mans Series and the FIA World Endurance Championship. The team has made an announcement of a single ORECA 07 Gibson LMP2 car, to be run by the two team owners Alexandre Coigny and Nicolas Lapierre. They were paired up for the ELMS for several years. But they will have a new teammate, whom they never have shared a car with so far. But it’s still from…

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Asian LMS continues with the same schedule

Asian Le Mans Series has chosen to do another season with the same schedule, for their 2023 season. The series traditionally travelled around Asia between China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and a single trip to Australia, before the COVID-19 situation put a hold on that prior to the 2020/21 season. So a decision was made to go to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with two races in each country. That was such a success in February 2021, so they decided to do the same in February 2022, since there were still restrictions…

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LMDh from 2022, new LMP2 from 2025

World Motorsport Council held a meeting last weekend, and there were two important subjects on the agenda regarding the FIA World Endurance Championship, European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series, plus the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The first decision was only regarding the FIA WEC in 2022, where LMDh cars will be allowed in this year’s World Championship rounds. The original introduction of LMDh was scheduled for 2022, but due to the COVID-19 situation, it was all postponed for a year, so all the suppliers were able to get…

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Dubai qualifying for Asian LMS

The Asian Le Mans Series 2022 season finally got another with the qualifying for the first weekend. Just like last year, the season consists of two races at Dubai Autodrome, followed by two races at Yas Marina Circuit this upcoming weekend. The qualifying today would set the grid not only for today’s race, but also the race tomorrow. So every category of cars was split into two parts. First up was the GT category, with their two times 10 minutes qualifying. The 23 participating cars took a bit of time…

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Inter Europol got Asian LMS and some ELMS drivers ready

Inter Europol Competition has announced their Asian Le Mans Series drivers, and three of the seats for the European Le Mans Series 2022. For the two times Dubai and two times Abu Dhabi races in the Asian Le Mans Series, their crew will consist of Nico Pino, James Dayson, and Guilherme Oliveira in the lone Ligier JS P320 #13 in the LMP3 category. Chilean racer Pino is the new hot name in sportscar racing year 2022, with him competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as well. He did a…

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