High-performance car manufacturer Ferrari has announced that they will rejoin the highest echelons of endurance racing by creating a Le Mans Hypercar (LMH).
The Moderna manufacturer stated in a press release that they aim to launch their LMH competitor in 2023, marking 50 years since their last participation in the top class of a Le Mans event.
Ferrari had dominated the 1960s era of Le Mans along with Ford but pulled out of the series to focus their efforts on the open-wheeled Formula One series. This immediately paid dividends as they would win four out of the next six seasons.
The LMH class is one of two classes that have replaced the Le Mans Prototype (LMP1) class as the top division of the World Endurance Championship, to reduce costs and encourage new manufacturers after Audi and Porsche pulled out due to an emissions scandal affecting the parent company.
The other class, Le Mans Daytona Hybrid (LMDh) also aims to lower costs and bring several high-end motorsport divisions together.
Ferrari is one of just four manufacturers who have agreed to take part, along with Toyota, Peugeot and Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, as the costs of preparing precision tools and manufacturing state of the art racing cars are substantial.
As a result, the LMH proposals are meant to be less for dedicated prototypes and instead more for modified top of the line production hypercars such as the McLaren Senna and the Aston Martin Vulcan.