So ... who's getting weirdly excited about 2023 LMh and LMDh racing?

[cantunamunch]

In a lot of ways, I think it will be *better* than F1. And, of course there will be more manufacturers,

The graph to explain why it could be awesome (credit Buchan Autosport):

And, of course, Ferrari shows us what a bunch of pre-2021-F1 engineers can do when seconded to an LMH team:

This Is Ferrari's New Le Mans Hypercar, The 499P

The four-wheel-drive hybrid celebrates Ferrari's 1972 World Sportscar Championship with the hopes of bringing the brand a 10th overall Le Mans victory.

jalopnik.com

And, yes, the 24 hours of Daytona is only 86 days away. Anyone wanna call Netflix and tell them to get ON this?

 

[scott43]

LMH and other prototype races lately have been handicapped by lack of mfg participation. Like one mfg goes whole hog to win and the rest are not existent. Like Audi diesel or Toyota hybrid. If there is more widespread buy in and less amateur drivers it would be better I think.

 

[cantunamunch]

LMH and other prototype races lately have been handicapped by lack of mfg participation.

I'd say this is a promising start.

List of manufacturers racing in WEC and IMSA 2023 with an LMDh or LMH:​

Manufacturer	Car type	WEC (Hypercar class)	IMSA (GTP class)
Toyota	LMH	Yes	No
Glickenhaus	LMH (non-hybrid)	Unconfirmed	Unconfirmed
Peugeot	LMH	Yes	No
Ferrari	LMH	Yes	No
Porsche	LMDh	Yes	Yes
Cadillac	LMDh	Yes	Yes
Acura	LMDh	No	Yes
BMW	LMDh	Yes (2024)	Yes
ByKolles / Vanwall	LMH (non-hybrid)	Unconfirmed	No
Lamborghini	LMDh	Yes (2024)	Yes (2024)
Alpine	LMDh	Yes (2024)	No

 

[scott43]

Toyota and Peugeot were already in LMH. Hopefully they continue with some level of competition. The Daytona class had more mfgs. Again, I hope there is money there. Those are great classes and crossover between IMSA and LMH is welcome. We'll see. Fingers crossed.

 

[scott43]

Remember how great these days were?

 

[cantunamunch]

Yeh, I loved how Peugeot triggered all the rear wing lovers into cataplexy. Funny how that downforce to drag rule metric works.

 

[SpeedyKevin]

Me me me! Little bummed Audi won't be in due to their F1 commitments but excited to see the other manufactures duke it out.

 

[cantunamunch]

Me me me! Little bummed Audi won't be in due to their F1 commitments but excited to see the other manufactures duke it out.

Yeh, not sure about that excuse, after all Ferrari are doing both F1 and a full hybrid protype

One of the things I am rather excited about is the new allowance for fastcharging a hybrid during a driver change - that is going to be a technology driver for fast charge development, at least with the LMH teams.

In the mean time, here is some noise:

 

[scott43]

The hybrid WRC cars were spectacular. I expect similar fun here.

 

[cantunamunch]

Isotta Fraschini - aero by Williams and build by Ferrari contractors?

Anyone know much about this?

Isotta Fraschini Presents Michelotto-Built Hybrid LMH Car – Sportscar365

Classic Italian automaker Isotta Fraschini presents hybrid LMH car for 2023 Le Mans bid...

sportscar365.com

 

[Tom K.]

Not much of a car racing guy, but hasn't it been 20 years or so for Cadillac?!

I must have something wrong.

 

[cantunamunch]

Not much of a car racing guy, but hasn't it been 20 years or so for Cadillac?!

I must have something wrong.

You're not wrong - that's when they went to Le Mans. They've been to Daytona a lot more recently than that.

 

[cantunamunch]

Well. I take it people are still processing what happened