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LMH: The Countdown Has Started

An exclusive design preview of the Le Mans Hypercar that will mark the return of Ferrari to top class endurance racing in 2023

Forty-nine years ago, the chequered flag fell not only on the 1973 24 Hours of Le Mans, but ultimately on Ferrari’s time in top class endurance racing.

Ferrari fielded three 312 PB cars in the race that year; big, long-tailed sports protypes whose flat-12 engines could propel them down the 6km Mulsanne straight at speeds of up to 320 km/h.
All three Ferrari’s enjoyed time leading the race, but in the end just one, driven by Arturo Merzario and Carlos Pace, crossed the finish line, arriving in second place after a gruelling 349 laps and an excellent pole position.

 

For Ferrari it was decision time, and after two decades in Endurance Racing, with a dominating dynasty of cars that included the 250 LM (the last Ferrari to win at Le Mans), the 275 P and the 330 P2 and 330 P3, they abandoned the top class of the World Endurance Championship to focus solely on Formula 1. 

A first glimpse of the Ferrari Le Mans Hypercar, which will return to top class endurance racing for the first time in fifty years in 2023

And today, after nearly half a century away, the first details of the Le Mans Hypercar which will compete in the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship have been unveiled.


As you would expect from 75 years of racing innovation, the car’s stylistic features show clear references to previous Prancing Horses. The front, in particular, is immediately recognizable as that of the 6.5 litre V12 Ferrari Daytona SP3, itself a nod to the sports protypes of the 1960s and the golden era of wheel racing.  

 

The Le Mans Hypercar begins its first development tests over the coming weeks. With just over a year to go until the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023, the countdown to the appointment with history, fifty years after that last participation, has officially begun.