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Porsche WEC entry

Later this month the 2021 WEC, World Endurance Championship, will start with a prologue at the famous Spa Francorchamps track in Belgium (26-27 April) while the first actual race for points will be the 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps on May 1, but it won’t be until the 8 Hours of Partimão in Portugal before Porsche puts three drivers behind the wheel of their impressive 911 RSR.

Porsche wants to create a perfect synergy between these six drivers (three for each car entered) ahead of the 24 Hours of Lemans which was originally intended to be held on June 13 (which is now the date for the race at Partimão) but was postponed to August 21-22, and with this driver line-up, Porsche went for a proven setup, among them, these six drivers have 59 LeMans participations under their belt.

The Porsche 911 RSR starting number 91 will see French driver Frédéric Makowiecki join Gianmaria Bruni from Italy and Richard Lietz from Austria (the latter two being the pilots for the shorter races already) in Portugal to do a test run for the major event at LeMans in August, Makowiecki has been driving at LeMans for the last three consecutive years already.

The second Porsche 911 RSR, wearing number 92, driven by Neel Jani from Switzerland and Kévin Estre from France will see Michael Christensen from Denmark joining the team, he won the GTE-Pro class at LeMans back in 2018, Neel Jani won the overall classification of the 24-hour French classic in 2016 at the wheel of the Porsche 919 Hybrid, together with Romain Dumas (France) and Marc Lieb (Germany). His five teammates have harvested eight class victories so far with the 911 RSR at the tradition-steeped endurance race at the Sarthe.

The second round of the 2021 World Endurance Championship, held in Portugal, is a perfect opportunity to do a rehearsal run with three drivers in each car. An 8-hour race on the 4,692-kilometer circuit in Portugal’s Algarve is ideal to offer each driver ample track time at the wheel of the 515 hp Porsche 911 RSR to get things finetuned for the 89th running of the long-distance classic in France in August this year.

April 13, 2021 / Comments Off

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Street legal LMH from Glickenhaus?

For the 2021 edition of the 24h of Le Mans, Glickenhaus Racing already has a car on the test track, called the SCG 007 LMH, and they intend to enter two of these next-generation hypercars into the most famous endurance race in Europe … but things got even better, Glickenhaus also has at least one customer put in an order for an SCG 007 LMH too, so we might be seeing three or more of these cars battle it out on the Circuit de la Sarthe in late August this year (the initial date for June has been postponed due to COVID 19).

There is a Prologue for the 2021 FIA WEC championship on the famous Belgian track at Spa Francorchamps in late April (26-27), but at this point, it is uncertain if the SGC 007 LMH will be present at the prologue with all the restrictions and regulations in place worldwide these days, the first actual race in the 2021 World Endurance Championship is the Total 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps on May 1.

In a recent Instagram post by Glickenhaus we learned something really interesting … aside from the SGC 007 LMH race cars they will be building, the intention is to also offer a limited production run of 24 street-legal versions, called the SGC 007S, it will be closely related to the race car, but come with all the requirements for it to be allowed on the open road, initially for the US market, but Glickenhaus is thinking about making it meet regulations for other markets too.

Glickenhaus calls it a “once in a lifetime chance” to obtain a race car for the road, and he’s thinking about a three-seat configuration for the cockpit, with the driver in the middle … now where did we see that before? But it gets even better, while the race car is powered by a 3.5-Liter, twin-turbo V8 engine that has to be limited to 680 hp to comply with FIA WEC regulations, there is no limit set for a street version … and for the SGC 007 Stradale they list a massive 1,400 hp … in a 2,800 lbs car!

The Glickenhaus SGC 007S will come with aerodynamics almost identical to the LMH race car, the intention is you can just drive your SGC 007S to the track on street tires, pull into a pit box and raise the car on its own, onboard air jacks to fit racing slicks so you can to lots of laps on the track, only to come back into the pits, replace the tires with the threaded once for the street … and drive home, all while enjoying bespoke Traction Control, ABS and even ESC.

But there is one catch … Glickenhaus requires all 24 SGC 007S to be ordered in advance, at US$2,300,000 each, with a deposit, before they even start on the first chassis, with a delivery time of two years, starting when the 24th order is signed and paid for … so taking delivery of your SGC 007S might be a while.

It seems Glickenhaus already has three signed orders for their SGC 007S, only 21 more to go … and in case they don’t reach their 24 car goal, the deposits are refundable … and all this before anyone has even seen a 3D render on how the street-legal SGC 007S will look.

March 26, 2021 / Comments Off

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US car to win the 24h of Le Mans?

Remember our Ford GT Heritage article from last week, where we mentioned the 2006 edition to be a celebration livery of the classic Ford GT40 that managed to win the grueling 24 of Le Mans race not once, but four times in a row between 1966 and 1969 … unfortunately that would mark the last time a car made in the USA won the French endurance race.

But all that might be changing for the 2021 edition of the 24h of Le Mans, Glickenhaus Racing already has a car on the test track, called the SCG 007 LMH, and they intend to enter two of these new generation hypercars into the most famous endurance race in Europe … and things get even better, Glickenhaus also has at least one customer put in an order for an SCG 007 LMH too, so we might be seeing three or more of these cars battle it out on the Circuit de la Sarthe in June this year.

The SCG 007 LMH is powered by a 3.5-Liter, twin-turbo V8 engine, and what is really amazing is the fact they only started this new engine for the first time in early February, and only a few weeks later it’s fitted onto the first SCG 007 chassis, and driven on the famous Vallelunga track in Italy for initial testing and fine-tuning.

The Glickenhaus SCG 007 LMH at Vallelunga – Photo credits endurance24.fr

Both Romain Dumas and Franck Mailleux took stints on the Vallelunga track to prepare the new SCG 007 LMH to be entered into the 2021 FIA Endurance Championship, but it seems they will have to pass on the first race of the season on April 4: the 8 Hours of Portimao in Portugal. According to Dailysportscar, Glickenhaus will probably not be able to get the SCG 007 LMH homologated in time for Portugal as they can’t get the required 30-hour test-run done before April 4, and this is a final requirement for homologation to compete, and the worst part in this is … it isn’t even due to the cars not being ready, but due to the current regulation because of COVID-19, it is impossible to get the required parties together in time.

But Jim Glickenhaus made it abundantly clear when he stated: “there will be two SCG 007 LMH cars at the start of the 24h of Le Mans on June 12, no question about that”

The first chassis that performed the initial shake-down testing in Vallelunga after Podium Advanced Technologies developed and assembled the car at its facility in Italy will undergo further high-speed testing on the Monza track over the next days, and the second SCG 007 LMH is already being built at this time, Glickenhaus intends to have their second car ready for testing at Vallelunga by mid-March.

If all goes well we’ll be seeing at least two cars entered by Glickenhaus Racing, and possibly a third one from a private party, into the 2021 edition of the 24h of Le Mans, where these SCG 007 LMH will compete against the new hybrid LMH from Toyota, the V8 powered A480 from Alpine … it won’t be until 2023 before Ferrari joins the LMH ranks with their entry.

And the best is yet to come … as part of the homologation process, Glickenhaus will have to build a street-going version of this SCG 007 too, and rumor has it, the SCG 007 Stradale, with a similar powertrain to the racecar, will be available soon too, listed at a $2,100,000 base price … I for one can’t wait to see one of those drive up at a local Cars and Coffee event.

March 4, 2021 / Comments Off

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Spy Shots: Successor to the LaFerrari Coming Soon

Ferrari has been spotted using a LaFerrari as a test mule for their latest road car to hide its new internal hardware.

The test vehicle is assumed to be next-in-line to the LaFerrari. The successor would likely be the road-going version of the World Endurance Championship’s Le Mans hypercar that Ferrari will use in 2023. In February, Ferrari gave confirmation of its intentions to participate in the WEC’s premier class in 2023. The rules will require the race team to have a similar road car version of the car participating in the race.

The LaFerrari hit the streets in limited numbers in 2013, which makes the timing (once every decade) fit Ferrari’s M.O for the release of a new limited-edition flagship model. This was also the case for cars like the Ferrari F40, F50, Enzo, and most recently, the LaFerarri.

The test mule clearly shows some differences from the LaFerrari. Covers have been removed from the front and rear to promote more airflow. Even with the distracting wrap on the car, you can see the differences in the hood, roof, rear deck, and side intakes. The exhaust on the test mule is also different from the LaFerrari’s as it sits higher on the rear of the test mule.

LaFerrari Spy Shot Test Mule — Picture credit: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien

There has been very little said from Ferrari regarding a successor to the LaFerrari. At this point, there is no mention of the engine that will be powering the car. All we know is that the test mule is electrified in some fashion by the blue stickers on the car. Which gives hope that there may still be a Ferrari V-12 under the hood.

According to Motoauthority, former Ferrari Chairman Sergio Marchionne said it would be “nuts” to add turbochargers to a V-12 in a statement given in 2017, which rules out any chances of running forced induction on the car. The case for the LaFerrari consisted of a hybrid solution deriving from Formula 1, this could also be the case for a successor.

Ferrari may be stepping away from attaining gigantic horsepower and instead focus more on the other aspects necessary to use such power. This includes fine-tuning the aerodynamics, weight, stability, and handling of the car. This route was hinted at by Ferrari Chief Marketing Officer Enrico Galliera in 2019. A route that was also taken by Aston Martin when developing the Valkyrie hypercar.

No matter what Ferrari chooses to do with the LaFerrari successor – it will be nothing short of spectacular. Let’s hope they can come up with a more creative name this time around.

A final reveal of this assumed hypercar should take place in 2022, prior to racing in the 2023 LeMans.

March 3, 2021 / Comments Off

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