Glickenhaus to enter two Hypercars in WEC and 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours

Glickenhaus confirms that it will enter two cars in the new Le Mans Hypercar category for the 2021 World Endurance Championship, including Le Mans

Glickenhaus Le Mans render

Glickenhaus' vision of Le Mans in 2021

Glickenhaus has confirmed that it have a two-Hypercar entry in next year’s World Endurance Championship (WEC), as it competes for the overall title and victory at Le Mans.

The American team’s 007 sports car is set to begin testing at the end of the year, before its first race, expected to be held at Sebring.

It is due to battle with Toyota’s Le Mans Hypercar at the start of a new era for endurance racing – delayed after this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours was pushed back to September.

“In 2017 we stood up and said we would race the new Hypercar class,” said Glickenhaus in a statement. “We are moving rapidly to fulfil that goal. The engineering of our chassis is complete, and we are finalising engineering on other components.

“We have completed our first set of physical wind-tunnel testing, in one of the world’s top wind tunnels. We have already met several of our engineering targets, and are applying the lessons learned to move us towards additional targets. We will start dino testing our Pipo engine next month, and we will be testing our 007’s before the end of this year.”

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The statement also said: “Incredibly excited to announce that we will adding a second car and racing a two-car factory team with our 007s starting with Sebring, Spa, and then of course, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”

Confirmation that Glickenhaus will be entering two Hypercars, was welcomed by WEC organisers, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO).

Support for the new regulations has appeared shaky since when Aston Martin announced that putting plans to build a Hypercar on hold earlier this year, in response to news of a new LMDh class. These cars will be eligible to compete in the top category in WEC and American IMSA races, unlike Hypercars, which are not accepted by IMSA.

“This exciting announcement emphasizes the allure of our new top class,” said Pierre Fillon of the ACO. “Incidentally, I should underline Glickenhaus’s great achievements both in building and promoting this machine. I would also like to thank Glickenhaus and all our manufacturers for their contribution to the discipline and their faith in our plans for the future of endurance racing.”

Jim Glickenhaus, the company founder said: “Founder of SCG said, “Ever since I listened to the 24 hours of Le Mans on my ham radio as a young boy I’ve dreamed of building a car to compete at Le Mans. I’m so happy that we are getting there.”