Le Mans Hypercar explained: Entries, rules and specs for the new sports car category

There has always been hope that new Le Mans Hypercars would lead to a new golden age of sports car racing, but Ferrari’s announcement that it would be building its own hypercar raised expectations even higher.

By 2023, when Ferraris will fight for overall victories at Le Mans and in the World Endurance Championship, the Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) grid will include rival hypercars from Toyota, Peugeot, Glickenhaus and potentially ByKolles.

They will also be battling Porsche, Cadillac, as well as potentially Acura and BMW, built to another set of rules in the LMDh class. A Balance of Performance system is meant to offer a level playing field for all teams.

The Hypercar class is open to both specialised prototypes and cars based around road-going vehicles, which are eligible if 20 hypercar production models are produced over a two year period.

Further upping the competitive ante is the announcement that LMH cars will now be permitted to run against LMDh cars in the US-based IMSA series, meaning that Ferrari, Peugeot (potentially under its Dodge brand) and Toyota are now permitted to come Stateside and take on American classics such as Daytona and Sebring.

The more restrictive LMDh regs offer a ‘cut-price’ option to enter both Le Mans and Daytona but LMH is in some ways the opposite. Currently only eligible for entry into the World Endurance Championship, including Le Mans, the Hypercar class is free of the LMDh cost cap rules intended to curb LMP1-style development spending habits by making some spec parts mandatory.

This offers manufacturers greater creative freedom in the design of their cars and powertrains. Perhaps more in the spirit of some of the more pioneering efforts from Le Mans’ past, Toyota, Peugeot and Ferrari have opted for the LMH option. Toyota is basing its car around the road-going GR Supersport whilst the latter is building a racing prototype.

The teams retain greater control over the design of their cars, including the hybrid system, which is a standardised part for LMDh. It offers a tangible link to the hybrid technology in the manufacturers’ road cars. The ‘Win on Sunday, sell on Monday’ mantra lives on.

This said, the intention remains for investment in LMH to be limited compared to LMP1. Aerodynamic controls, a 671bhp power limit, identical to LMDh and Balance of Performance measures, brought in to level out what are essentially two different classes, aim to rein in the sometimes astronomical spending habits that were associated with the LMP1 class.

Aston Martin initially confirmed it would enter its Red Bull collaboration Valkyrie Hypercar into Le Mans, but since put that plan on ice after Lawrence Stroll’s takeover of the British sports car manufacturer, with the focus shifting to his new Formula 1 team.

However, Stroll has since done another u-turn, suggesting the Valkyrie programme could be revived.

Le Mans Hypercar vs LMDh

Le Mans Hypercars will go head to head with LMDh in both WEC and IMSA, which includes the Le Mans 24 Hours. .

Audi and Porsche opting for LMDh means that each will use a spec hybrid system and have plumped for the Multimatic chassis, the trade-off being huge savings in development costs.

In an attempt to provide a level playing field whichever route teams go down, WEC organiser ACO, which has also collaborated on the LMDh rules with IMSA, has aligned the rules of both classes. The upshoot is that the power limit, minimum weight and aerodynamic performance of both LMH and LMDh will be identical.

One issue with the parity, highlighted as a stumbling block by potential entrant McLaren’s boss Zak Brown, is that only the LMH can have four-wheel drive, with the combustion engine driving the rear axle and an electric motor at the front.

If it rains, then the Hypercars should technically be at a great advantage. Making efforts to negate this, the ACO has made it so hypercars can’t engage their electric drive in normal racing conditions when running under 75mph.

For the first season, Alpine will also be in the mix, racing a ‘grandfathered’ LMP1 Rebellion R13 Gibson in the World Endurance Championship with BoP rules aiming to level out the competition. It is not yet known whether Alpine will go on to develop a new-generation car.

Balance of Performance

A new single BoP regulation has been introduced for Le Mans Hypercars, which will also cover LMDh when the first cars appear in 2022, with the hope of producing close racing.

Both LMH and LMDh have to run a minimum weight of 1030kg, a maximum of 2000mm wide and have a wheelbase of 3150mm. Both classes must have a limited downforce to drag ratio of 4:1.

For each model of car entered, adjustments were made by the FIA to respective power available, energy deployment and weight after the first WEC round at Spa-Francorchamps,

After winning the opening race, for Portimão both Toyota Hypercars had their minimum weights increased by 26kg, up from the minimum 1040kg they were required to run in Belgium.

The GR010 also had its power reduced by 7bhp at peak range in addition to having power reduced across its rev range.

Furthermore, the Toyotas were permitted to use less energy over each stint, down from 964MJ in Spa to 962MJ in Portugal.

Alpine’s grandfathered A480 LMP1 car also had its weight increased in Portugal, from 930kg to 952kg. Its Gibson power unit was turned down by 5bhp, and its energy deployment was reduced by 2MJ over each stint.

The Glickenhaus 007, which made its debut in Portimão, was permitted to run at full power and stay at the minimum 1030kg weight requirement. It was permitted to deploy 965MJ across each stint.

What does LMH stand for?

LM stands for Le Mans, indicating the ACO (Automobile Club de L’Ouest) use of the rules also its adoption for the WEC, whilst H stands for Hypercar.

Slightly confusingly, in WEC, the entrants will be in a class called ‘Hypercar’, which will include both the LMH cars and the LMDh.

Le Mans Hypercar regulations explained

Chassis

Along with the powertrain, possibly the biggest differentiator from LMDh.

Whilst LMDh teams must purchase a predesignated LMP2 chassis from Ligier, Oreca, Dallara or Multimatic, LMH teams are free to create their own chassis within the above dimensions mentioned, which can be based on a roadgoing hypercar or a specialised prototype.

Whilst the roadgoing rule was brought in to accommodate the now-paused Valkyrie project, Toyota has based its new Hypercar on the showroom-ready GR Super Sport, with Peugeot, ByKolles and Glickenhaus pressing forward with the prototype models.

Powertrain

Entrants are free to make their own choices on power unit, the only proviso being that it mustn’t be diesel-fuelled.

The maximum power output of the engine must be 500kW (670bhp), also aligned with LMDh cars.

Hybrid System

Whereas in LMDh a spec hybrid system is mandatory, LMH entrants can elect whether to run a hybrid system or not.

The combustion engine must drive the rear axle and while electric motor powers the front.

If an LMH team opts for a hybrid system, its maximum output must be 200kW (268bhp). A resultant production car based on a prototype (the route opted for by Toyota, Peugeot, ByKolles and Glickenhaus) must have its hybrid system in the same position on both cars as well as having identical deployment.

As mentioned above, hybrid cars will be restricted in their deployment in the dry, with the electric motor not providing drive when under 120kmph (75mph).

A final decision has not yet been made on wet weather deployment, but it will be somewhere between 140kmph to 160kmph (86mph-100mph).

The new rules do allow hybrids to use more of their available engine power up to the combined limit when the hybrid is ‘off-boost’. Hybrid engines should have an advantage over non-hybrids both in terms of the immediacy of power delivery and fuel consumption.

Aerodynamics

Again as part of of the BoP, both LMH and LMDh are required to have a limited downforce to drag ratio of 4:1.

An appeal of LMH is that they will have much greater leeway in terms of styling their own bodywork compared to LMDh, a potential boon to the marketing possibilities of manufacturers.

Performance

The new LMH cars are expected to lap La Sarthe in or slightly under 3min 30sec, as are of course the LMDh cars.

Toyota’s Kamui Kobayshi currently holds the current lap record set in 2020 qualifying at 3min 14.791.

Though the new regulations see cars set to be significantly slower than previously, the ACO are hoping the trade-off of full grids at Le Mans will make it all worthwhile.

Cost

Whilst a host of measures have been brought in in an effort to reduce costs, primarily centred around the BoP and restrictive aerodynamic package, the fact remains that there is no hard and fast cost cap for LMH.

As a result the class’s development costs, through use of its own chassis and powertrains, will probably be far in excess of LMDh.

However, it’s thought unlikely to reach peak LMP1 levels of spending. As an example, Porsche’s 919 LMP1 programme, which was run between 2014-2017 and only eligible to race in WEC, is said to have cost $200m. The new rules are designed in part to negate anything near this kind of outlay.

Le Mans Hypercar entries: which teams and manufacturers are confirmed? Who’s next?

Toyota Gazoo Racing – confirmed (2021 entry)

Toyota was first to unveil its new Le Mans Hypercar, the GR010 HYBRID

Looking to pick up where it left off in LMP1, Toyota has long been at work on the GR010 – it began as soon as the rules were announced 18 months ago. The Toyota will be ready to race at the first opportunity.

Based around its GR Super Sport road car, the Japanese firm claims little is carried over from its TS050, but the new Hypercar does bare an uncanny resemblance to its predecessor.