24h Le Mans
Competitors in the head class, Hypercar, go after the overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Sixteen Hypercars fielded this year by seven manufacturers are gearing up to hit the track. By they way, can Hypercars take to regular roads?
The 24 Hours has provided 100 years of innovation and research and development that have greatly benefitted the vehicles we use in our daily lives. Since the first running of the race, there has been an inextricable link between the cars fielded at Le Mans and those sold for road use. The Centenary will carry on this valuable tradition.
Race-ready road cars have competed for a century in Sport or Grand Touring. Their successors, the 2023 GTEs, are derived directly from sports cars that can be found in any Aston Martin, Corvette, Ferrari and Porsche dealership.
The Sport Prototype and LMP predecessors to Hypercars also made it possible to develop technologies subsequently adapted for the road. A Hypercar is solely destined for competition, not the road, and requires extensive modifications to be able to attempt driving legally and “almost” normally on public roads.
"Almost" because a racing car as complex and innovative as a Hypercar is obviously not designed for everyday use and would be inconvenient at best for shopping, commuting to work or picking up the kids. A Ferrari 499P or Porsche 963 would not make a good day-to-day car. Why not? Plenty of reasons: from the body height lowered to a few centimeters, to the steering angle unsuited to the city, to the very low riding position and the noise...a Hypercar belongs on a circuit! But, these prototypes do still have a lot in common with our cars. Lighting, wipers, signalling elements and mechanical components are often quite similar. The Hypercar regulations also allow manufacturers to customise the aesthetics of their cars, with specially designed features on the front end, for example. The Peugeot 9X8 reflects this in Peugeot's current line with "claws" and the Ferrari 499P perfectly borrows features from its 296 and Daytona SP3.
Are all Hypercars therefore destined to remain within the confines of circuits? No! A handful of resolved manufacturers still and always will resist the idea, opting to offer road versions of their Hypercars. Among these constructors are Glickenhaus and Vanwall. The first with its SCG 007 LMH (now Glickenhaus 007) available for purchase in a road model under the name SCG007LMH/S. The latter with its Vanderwell 680 developed into a road version under the moniker Vanwall Vandervell 1000 (with more than 1,000 under the rear bonnet).
Two additional examples – which nothing prevents other marques from imitating – were among the GT1s and other GTPs of the 1990s and 2000s. The McLaren F1 GTR, Mercedes CLK-GTR, Porsche 911 GT1 and Toyota GT-One were all given at least one road model. At the time, it was a legal obligation in order to approve the car.
And who knows, maybe after they retire from competition, some Hypercars might be converted into road cars by their new owners. It's happened before! Several McLaren F1 GTRs are registered and circulate today in the U.K. and U.S. Road legal Porsche 917s and 962s also exist, sometimes with a simple change of rims and tyres to withstand the more brittle surface of street roads. Soon you may pull up next to a road-going 963 or Cadillac V-Series.R!
The 24 Hours of Le Mans allows constructors, engine suppliers and equipment manufacturers to use the demands of the race to test innovations before approving them for road cars. Taking on the Tertre Rouge, Mulsanne Straight, Indianapolis Corner and Porsche Curves gives them an opportunity to test specific parts that will be found on future production vehicles.
For slightly more than 10 years (2012), hybrid technology has been tested and validated in extreme conditions over the course of 24 hours of racing. Audi, Porsche and Toyota – whose models are largely electric today – learned at Le Mans to push hybrid to its limits.
The connection between racing and road cars is even stronger in 2023. Cadillac has decided to name its Hypercar the V-Series.R to affirm the link with its current line and the V-Series badge launched in 2004. Cadillac's Executive Chief Engineer Brandon Vivian: "All V-Series vehicles have benefitted from the technologies, performance and lessons learned for nearly 20 years through our wins at circuits. Our racing team brings a true attention to detail that is reflected in every production model."
Another example is Peugeot: the 9X8 is a hybrid, as are some of the French marque's high-end models, namely the 508 PSE (for Peugeot Sport Engineered). The hybrid sedan provides the thrill of low-emission high performance. Both the 508 PSE and 508 SW PSE are similar to the 9X8. The Hypercar itself is included in the constructor's line on its official website (click on 508 PSE and choose Nos modèles at the top to see it). It's a fun nod underscoring that while Hypercars are not destined to roll on our roads, their technology, philosophy and innovation are important to us all.
