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24 HOURS CENTENARY – PERPETUAL INNOVATION ⎮ A fundamental symbol of power and sportiness on both the road and the track, the 12-cylinder V has carved an exceptional place for itself at the race thanks namely to its pioneer, Ferrari, who won with the engine for the first time in 1949.

Car manufacturers have always focused on engine architecture&nbsp;to improve car performance, beginning in the&nbsp;1920s when the effort&nbsp;was centred between&nbsp;4-cylinder and 6-cylinders.

Though a&nbsp;4-cylinder engine triumphed&nbsp;in 1923 and 1924 thanks to&nbsp;Chenard &amp; Walker then Bentley, a&nbsp;6-cylinder took the reins&nbsp;in 1925 and 1926 thanks to&nbsp;Lorraine-Dietrich. Bentley&#39;s&nbsp;4-cylinder&nbsp;reclaimed&nbsp;the advantage&nbsp;in 1927, but that year also saw the first inline 8-cylinder&nbsp;engine at the race (SCAP), finishing second in 1928 (Stutz). Alfa Romeo gave&nbsp;an inline 8-cylinder&nbsp;its first win&nbsp;in&nbsp;1931, a&nbsp;performance repeated in 1932, 1933 and&nbsp;1934. The first 8-cylinder V powered&nbsp;a Derby in 1935, then the first 12-cylinder V equipped a&nbsp;Delahaye in 1938, without any success (retirements). Lagonda V12s did however finish third and fourth in&nbsp;1939.

But why so much interest in engine architecture? Power is the most crucial element of winning, that&#39;s why.

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<h3>Before&nbsp;V12s</h3>

So, the first engines at Le Mans had 4 cylinders, but by increasing the displacement&nbsp;to 3.5 litres&nbsp;to avoid having oversized pistons, the move&nbsp;to 6 cylinders proved interesting.&nbsp;The more the number of cylinders is multiplied, the lower the unit displacement.&nbsp;This makes it possible to limit the stroke and the bore, and therefore&nbsp;to reduce the inertia of the engine, allowing it to&nbsp;rev&nbsp;more easily at higher rotational speeds and generally provide&nbsp;more power for the same displacement. The number of cylinders can be increased to&nbsp;8 or even 12, there was even a&nbsp;16-cylinder in Formula 1 at one time.

Inline or&nbsp;V? The choice of this architecture fixes the length of the engine. It&#39;s simple for a 4-cylinder, but when it comes to a&nbsp;6, 8 or&nbsp;12, the&nbsp;length can be limited by dividing it into two banks of 3, 4 or 6 cylinders. The goal is to limit the length of the crankshaft to&nbsp;reduce vibration and&nbsp;the number of bearings to minimise&nbsp;friction which absorbs power. Also, a shorter engine is easier to install in a car. In the era&nbsp;of&nbsp;front engines, lengthening of the bonnet was avoided thanks to installation in&nbsp;a&nbsp;rear central position (extending&nbsp;the wheelbase would have resulted in too many repercussions). As a result, a V12 engine does not become more cumbersome than an inline 6-cylinder and a V6 is shorter than an inline 4-cylinder.

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<h3>Ferrari and the cult of the&nbsp;V12</h3>

In 1949, after the&nbsp;post-war hiatus, a young constructor&nbsp;named Ferrari arrived at Le Mans with a V12 engine (only a 2-litre) and won. The&nbsp;legacy of the Italian marque and its favourite engine&nbsp;architecture had begun, and another&nbsp;victory was secured in&nbsp;1954 with a V12 (4954 cm3).

The regulations&nbsp;greatly limited engine&nbsp;displacement&nbsp;in 1956, and the Ferraris of that year ran with a 4-cylinder 2.5-litre&nbsp;before returning to the V12 (3800 cm3) from 1957.

In 1958, the Italian manufacturer&#39;s V12 (returned&nbsp;to 3 litres, again due to a change in the regulations)&nbsp;secured&nbsp;a convincing win. This type of engine powered all of the Scuderia&#39;s&nbsp;prototypes, with a few exceptions such as&nbsp;the Dino&nbsp;V6, and&nbsp;the unforgettable GTOs in the GT class.

After Aston Martin&#39;s surprise victory in&nbsp;1959, Ferrari claimed the top step on the podium a staggering&nbsp;six times between 1960 and&nbsp;1965. The capacity&nbsp;of the V12 increased, from 3 litres in&nbsp;1960 and 1961, to 4 litres in 1962, to return to 3 litres in 1963, but with the engine installed&nbsp;centrally at the&nbsp;rear for the first time. After that, the intensity of the duel&nbsp;with Ford forced Ferrari gradually to increase the capacity&nbsp;of its&nbsp;V12 to fight the American marque&#39;s 5-litre&nbsp;then 7-litre V8s, going from&nbsp;3.3&nbsp;litres in 1964&nbsp;to 4 litres in 1965 (though a 3.3-litre won that year). Ford triumphed in 1966 and&nbsp;1967 with its 7-litre&nbsp;V8, Ferrari having nevertheless pushed its V12 to 4 and even 4.4 litres.

During that&nbsp;period, Maserati also attempted a&nbsp;V12, without ever mastering its reliability, and subsequently&nbsp;returned&nbsp;to a&nbsp;V8.

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<h3>The V12 as designed by Matra and&nbsp;Porsche</h3>

In the wake of the Scuderia&#39;s official withdrawal from competition in 1968, only a few private 275 LMs or&nbsp;GTBs released the roar of a&nbsp;Ferrari V12 at the 24 Hours. However,&nbsp;another V12 with an unmistakable&nbsp;sound appeared on the scene to the thrill of&nbsp;spectators: the 3-litre Matra!

In 1969, a Porsche flat&nbsp;V12 faced off against&nbsp;Matra. With a 4.5-litre capacity&nbsp;and air cooling, the engine powered the&nbsp;917 whose top speed made quite an impression to say the least. The German V12&nbsp;won the very next year and followed that up with&nbsp;a second consecutive win in 1971, beating the&nbsp;V12s in the Ferrari 512 Ss then&nbsp;512 Ms. In its heyday&nbsp;in 1970, 22 cars with 12-cylinder engines (flat or V) figured on the starting grid, then 19 in 1971.

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At the beginning of the 3-litre era, the Matra&nbsp;V12 strung together&nbsp;wins and&nbsp;in 1973 navigated&nbsp;a major battle with the new Ferrari flat-12 engine. There were still as many as&nbsp;17 12-cylinder cars on the starting grid that year (but only seven&nbsp;prototypes), then only 10&nbsp;in 1974.

V12 engines fell out of favour,&nbsp;despite being&nbsp;very efficient and delivering&nbsp;more power than V8s:&nbsp;12&nbsp;pistons rubbing against the walls of 12 cylinders, and&nbsp;very high rotational speeds, generated more consumption.&nbsp;In&nbsp;1975, the first year fuel efficiency became a priority, only two Ferrari Daytonas remained in the GT class. After 1976, no 12-cylinder&nbsp;prototypes were fielded in the 24 Hours, the grid&nbsp;boasting only&nbsp;turbocharged V6s or naturally aspirated V8s.&nbsp;Only a few Ferrari GTs, including the unforgettable 512 BB, kept the V12 flame going until 1984.

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<h3>The&nbsp;V12s of the&nbsp;21st century</h3>

Other than the Porsche 917 &quot;modernised&quot; in&nbsp;1981, it would take until the advent of the Group C class to see another&nbsp;12-cylinder&nbsp;at the race again. Jaguar won with a huge 7-litre V12 in&nbsp;1988 and&nbsp;1990. But the car fell&nbsp;victim to&nbsp;FIA regulations that&nbsp;imposed&nbsp;3.5-litre&nbsp;V10s common to Formula 1 and endurance racing in 1992 and 1993.

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Relaxation of the regulations&nbsp;between 1994 and 2000 allowed the V12 to regain its luster, this time thanks to&nbsp;BMW. The&nbsp;engine first won&nbsp;in a McLaren F1 in 1995, then again&nbsp;in 1999&nbsp;in a factory prototype.

The creation of the&nbsp;LMP1 class and BMW&#39;s&nbsp;official withdrawal from competition&nbsp;again eliminated&nbsp;V12s&nbsp;after a last appearance in&nbsp;a private car in 2000. Only a few Ferrari V12s (always them) remained in GT, such as the 550 Maranello and 575 GTC until 2005.

Fortunately, the transition to TDI (turbo diesel) revived the cylinder race. To pull&nbsp;more power from a diesel, you need large, high-capacity&nbsp;engines. Audi installed a&nbsp;V12 (5500 cm3) in its R10 with&nbsp;two turbochargers and&nbsp;Peugeot came with a&nbsp;908 HDi FAP powered by a twin-turbo V12&nbsp;(5500 cm3). And so the&nbsp;V12 engine was able to add&nbsp;four new wins to its track record&nbsp;(three for&nbsp;Audi and one&nbsp;for Peugeot). However, Audi then began to downsize,&nbsp;transitioning&nbsp;to a&nbsp;V10 then to a&nbsp;V6 between 2009 and 2011.

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The arrival of hybridisation led to the reduction&nbsp;in engine size in 2012. The goals&nbsp;of saving fuel, weight and space in the car required small internal combustion engines to be coupled with&nbsp;electric motors, so the&nbsp;V12 was once again sidelined.&nbsp;Similarly in GT, Ferrari opted for a V8 in the 458 Italia. After&nbsp;2011, no&nbsp;roar of a V12 has echoed around&nbsp;the&nbsp;circuit at&nbsp;the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

&nbsp;

PHOTOS (Copyright - ACO/Archives): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 1939-2009 24 HOURS OF LE&nbsp;MANS. From top to bottom: the #9&nbsp;Peugeot 908 HDi FAP became in&nbsp;2009 the last V12&nbsp;prototype to win the race; this&nbsp;Lagonda V12 (#5) finished third in 1939 thanks to&nbsp;Charles Brackenbury/Arthur Dobson; in 1949, Luigi Chinetti (centre, wearing a striped tie) gave the&nbsp;V12 its first win with the&nbsp;Ferrari 166 MM (#22); two six-cylinder banks visible on the rear bonnet&nbsp;of this Matra (#33) driven by&nbsp;Jean Guichet/Nino Vaccarella, fifth in 1969; the same year, the #12&nbsp;917&nbsp;was powered by&nbsp;the first 12-cylinder engine in Porsche&#39;s history; in 1988, Jaguar&#39;s naturally aspirated 7-litre V12 (#2) ended the&nbsp;domination of Porsche&#39;s turbocharged flat-six;&nbsp;originally designed for the McLaren F1 road car, the BMW V12&nbsp;made its mark in a factory&nbsp;prototype driven by&nbsp;Yannick Dalmas/Pierluigi Martini/Joachim Winkelhock (#15) in 1999; in 2008, the turbo diesel V12 in the #2 Audi R10 TDI scored its third and final consecutive victory.

24 Hours Centenary – The inimitable roar of a V12

24 HOURS CENTENARY – MAKES, MARQUES and IMPRINTS ⎮ Ferrari squared off against Matra and Porsche in 1970 then again in 1973 while the Italian manufacturer's GTs were undergoing a major overhaul by switching to rear engines.

Faced with the outstanding&nbsp;performance level of&nbsp;the&nbsp;Porsche 917, Ferrari decided&nbsp;in turn to design a car for the Sport class&nbsp;(5 litres), the&nbsp;512 S, which proved to be&nbsp;a major turning point in the marque&#39;s history. In&nbsp;1969, Fiat began providing funding, leading namely to the&nbsp;construction of a&nbsp;private testing and development circuit in&nbsp;Fiorano.

<h3>From the&nbsp;512 to the&nbsp;312</h3>

But Porsche&#39;s advantage&nbsp;was difficult to overcome, with two first wins at the 24 Hours in 1970 and 1971. Out of the&nbsp;20 cars fielded in the two runnings, only four Ferraris reached the classification: fourth&nbsp;(Ronnie Bucknum/Sam Posey -&nbsp;North American Racing Team) and&nbsp;fifth&nbsp;(Hugues de Fierlant/Alistair Walker -&nbsp;Ecurie Francorchamps) in 1970 with the&nbsp;512 S, and third&nbsp;(Tony Adamowicz/Sam Posey -&nbsp;North American Racing Team) and fourth&nbsp;(Chris Craft/David Weir -&nbsp;David Piper Autorace) in 1971 with the&nbsp;512 M (for&nbsp;Modificata). The&nbsp;512 was&nbsp;exclusively entered by partner or private teams in 1971 after retirements for&nbsp;all four of its&nbsp;512 Ss in 1970 caused&nbsp;the factory team not to return to the race until&nbsp;1973.

Created in 1969 after the introduction of 3-litre prototype regulations, the&nbsp;312 P made three fleeting appearances in the&nbsp;24 Hours. Both factory cars were forced to retire that year and the car fielded by&nbsp;North American Racing Team in&nbsp;1970 failed to make it into the classification for insufficient distance covered. In 1974, the&nbsp;312 P returned&nbsp;as an&nbsp;open cockpit&nbsp;version (spider) and finished ninth thanks to Jean-Claude Andruet and&nbsp;Teodoro Zeccoli.

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After the elimination of the Sport class, Ferrari presented a new 3-litre prototype, the 312 PB, in&nbsp;1972. However, despite clocking the fastest time in the preliminary tests&nbsp;(now known as Test Day), Ferrari withdrew one week before Scrutineering at&nbsp;the 40th&nbsp;24 Hours, arguing a potentially weak&nbsp;transmission.

In 1973, the 24 Hours celebrated its 50th anniversary with a major duel between the previous year&#39;s winner, Matra, and Ferrari looking for a 10th overall win. To challenge the French constructor&#39;s three cars, the Italian marque entered three&nbsp;312 PBs for&nbsp;Jacky Ickx/Brian Redman, Arturo Merzario/Carlos Pace and&nbsp;Carlos Reutemann/Tim Schenken.

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On Sunday, the face-off between&nbsp;Ickx/Redman and the&nbsp;Matra of&nbsp;G&eacute;rard Larrousse/Henri Pescarolo favoured&nbsp;the latter duo&nbsp;after&nbsp;Ickx was forced to retire with engine failure shortly before 14:30. Ferrari had nonetheless held the lead in the race for a solid 14 hours. Finishing second after starting from the pole, Merzario/Pace secured the last result for one of the Italian manufacturer&#39;s&nbsp;factory&nbsp;prototypes at the race.

<h3>The 1970&#39;s 365 GTB/4 Daytona&nbsp; and BB 512 touring cars</h3>

Ferrari did find a source of pride in 1973 thanks to sixth place overall for&nbsp;Claude Ballot-L&eacute;na/Vic Elford which amounted to a class win for the&nbsp;365 GTB/4.

Presented at the 1968 Paris Motor Show, this&nbsp;car was also known as the&nbsp;Daytona in reference to the marque&#39;s hat trick at the Rolex 24 at Daytona the previous year&nbsp;(though the name has never been officially recognised by&nbsp;Ferrari). The front engine GT&nbsp;(4.3-litre V12, 350 hp) would become one of Ferrari&#39;s most famous of the era, particularly due to its remarkable track record at Le&nbsp;Mans.

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The&nbsp;Ferrari 365 GTB/4 took the start in its first&nbsp;24 Hours in&nbsp;1971 under the banner of&nbsp;North American Racing Team, resulting in&nbsp;the fifth spot&nbsp;for&nbsp;Luigi Chinetti, Jr./Bob Grossman.

The next year, the car clinched its first class win thanks to&nbsp;Claude-Ballot-L&eacute;na/Jean-Claude Andruet recruited by French importer&nbsp;Charles Pozzi. The French&nbsp;duo led an impressive Daytona group finish, from fifth to ninth places. In 1974, it made it into&nbsp;the overall top 10 (5th and&nbsp;6th) once again with a third consecutive class victory earned&nbsp;by another French pair,&nbsp;Dominique Bardini/Cyril Grandet.

1978 marked the 365 GTB/4&#39;s final appearance at Le Mans, with 16th&nbsp;place for French&nbsp;duo Lucien Guitteny/Fran&ccedil;ois Migault, and the first for the 512 BB.

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Developed&nbsp;two years earlier, the 512&nbsp;BB&nbsp;(5-litre, 12-cylinder flat) was a&nbsp;direct&nbsp;descendant of the 1971&nbsp;365 GT4/BB, the first mid-engine road Ferrari (placed in front of the rear wheel axle). None of the four cars fielded in 1978 made it to the chequered flag. In 1979, a quartet of Belgian-British drivers gave the 512 BB&nbsp;its first finish, with 12th place for&nbsp;Jean Blaton/Bernard de Dryver/Steve O&rsquo;Rourke/Nick Faure. The car competed at the 24 Hours until 1982, with as best result fifth place for&nbsp;Jean-Claude Andruet/Claude Ballot-L&eacute;na/Herv&eacute; Regout.

The legacy of rear-engined Ferrari GTs continued with the&nbsp;F40, 360 Modena, F430, 458 Italia and&nbsp;488 GTE, and the manufacturer&#39;s 333 SP prototype was one of the main attractions at the 24 Hours in the&nbsp;1990s. More to come on that later...

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PHOTOS (Copyright - ACO/Archives): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 1970-1973 24 HOURS OF LE&nbsp;MANS. From top to bottom: in 1970, the&nbsp;Ferrari 512 S of&nbsp;Derek Bell/Ronnie Peterson (#5), Jo Bonnier/Reine Wisell (#14) and&nbsp;Jacky Ickx/Peter Schetty (#5) beat the&nbsp;Porsche 917 of future winners&nbsp;Richard Attwood/Hans Herrmann (#3); one of the two&nbsp;512 Ss at the finish&nbsp;(#12) in 1970 was entered by Ecurie Francorchamps founded by Belgian importer Jacques Swaters&nbsp;who also managed the Ferrari camp in Steve McQueen&#39;s movie&nbsp;Le Mans&nbsp;filmed during and after the race; Ferrari on the front row in 1973&nbsp;with the&nbsp;312 PBs&nbsp;of Arturo Merzario/Carlos Pace (#16, pole-sitter) and&nbsp;Jacky Ickx/Brian Redman (#15); at the wheel of this&nbsp;365 GTB/4 (#58), Luigi Chinetti&#39;s son finished his rookie 24 Hours in fifth place in&nbsp;1971; among the drivers in the first BB 512 to make it into the classification&nbsp;(#61) figured&nbsp;Steve O&#39;Rourke, the manager of&nbsp;Pink Floyd who, like&nbsp;Nick Mason that year, took the start in his first 24 Hours.

24 Hours Centenary – Two duels and two GTs mark the 1970s for Ferrari

Teams contesting the FIM Endurance World Championship are being encouraged to showcase their commitment to sustainability through the creation of a brand-new award.

The EWC Cares Trophy, created by championship promoter Discovery Sports Events, will recognise the sustainable efforts of registered teams in all activities directly associated with their EWC participation.

This new initiative is part of the EWC Cares program, launched last year as a key element of the global corporate social responsibility roadmap developed by Discovery Sports Events and which received an Honourable Mention from motorcycle racing&rsquo;s global governing body at the FIM Annual General Assembly last December.

By deploying a solid sustainability strategy across its portfolio of events, Discovery Sports Events is ensuring that each activity is managed with sustainability at its heart with a firm focus on controlling the environmental, social and economic impact of its actions.

<h3>How it works?</h3>

EWC Cares Trophy entrants will be required to submit their application one week prior to the event they contest.

Following each EWC round in which they take part, the measures carried out to deliver on their sustainability pledges will be examined. Steps taken by teams could include a social or environmental action and participants will be required to set these out in their application dossiers, which will serve as a roadmap of their sustainability commitment.

Each team&rsquo;s endeavours will be assessed again by a jury at the end of the season with the winner formally invited to the 2023 FIM Awards in Liverpool, UK on 2 December.

A member of the FIM Sustainability Commission, a journalist and a representative of Discovery Sports Events will form the three-person jury.

<h3>Plenty of incentives</h3>

As well as making vital contributions to the EWC&rsquo;s sustainability push, the EWC Cares Trophy winner will:

<ul>
	<li>● Benefit from coverage of its sustainable actions on the official EWC platforms (social media, website, press release).</li>
	<li>● Be provided with a video highlighting its sustainability achievements to use on its channels.</li>
	<li>● Receive two invitations to the FIM Awards in Liverpool, UK on 2 December where the nominated recipient will be presented with the inaugural EWC Cares</li>
	<li>Trophy.</li>
	<li>● Be informed if any sustainable actions taken by the winning team are considered for wider implementation during the 2024 EWC season.</li>
</ul>

Jean-Baptiste Ley, EWC Series Director at Discovery Sports, said: &ldquo;Raising awareness of sustainability and being more committed in every aspect of what we do in the organisation of the EWC remain key priorities for Discovery Sports Events. But it&rsquo;s essential we are not working alone, so we call on our teams to do everything possible to make sustainability an important target. We hope the EWC Cares Trophy will be an added incentive for them. And as it&rsquo;s a perpetual award the challenge will be for the inaugural winner to win again.&rdquo;

Team to showcase sustainability commitment through all-new EWC Cares Trophy

24 HOURS CENTENARY – THE LE MANS EXCEPTION ⎮ While the race is in a league of its own for the world's prototype and GT experts, it has also proved enticing to drivers from all other major motorsport disciplines seeking a prestigious victory.

Formula&nbsp;1, Indianapolis, rally, NASCAR&hellip;the 24 Hours of Le Mans is arguably the most diverse and unifying car race in the world.

<h3>Le Mans and&nbsp;Formula&nbsp;1 | Reinventing a tradition</h3>

During the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and even 1980s, it was common to see Formula&nbsp;1 stars at the Le Mans circuit. The trend dropped off to some degree later on, with F1 drivers competing at the 24 Hours after their careers in single-seaters had ended.

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In 2015, Nico H&uuml;lkenberg took advantage of a lack of date conflict with Formula&nbsp;1 to win the 24 Hours for his rookie&nbsp;participation. Three years later, Fernando Alonso revived the great&nbsp;tradition of drivers in the 1950s-1970s&nbsp;with two consecutive wins at Le&nbsp;Mans in 2018 and&nbsp;2019 with&nbsp;Toyota, two victories in F1&nbsp;(2005 and&nbsp;2006) and the endurance drivers&#39; world title in&nbsp;the&nbsp;2018-2019 Super Season. In 2021, Alonso became the first driver to take the wheel of an F1 (Alpine) at the 24 Hours circuit, and&nbsp;has been vocal about&nbsp;his desire&nbsp;to return to Le Mans for the new Hypercar era.

<h3>Le Mans and Rally&nbsp;| From the road to the circuit</h3>

Le&nbsp;Mans has also attracted several World Rally (WRC) champions, including Swedish driver&nbsp;Bj&ouml;rn Waldeg&aring;rd&nbsp;in 1971 (retirement), eight years before he clinched his first rally drivers&#39; world title. Two-time WRC&nbsp;champion (1980 and 1982), German driver&nbsp;Walter R&ouml;hrl took the start in the 24 Hours in 1981 (7th) and&nbsp;1993 (retirement).

1995&nbsp;WRC champion, Scottish driver&nbsp;Colin McRae made his sole appearance in the 24 Hours in 2004, with&nbsp;Ferrari, finishing in the top 10 overall (9th) and third in his class behind&nbsp;Corvette Racing.

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The best overall result for a WRC&nbsp;champion was S&eacute;bastien Loeb&#39;s second&nbsp;place finish in&nbsp;2006 representing&nbsp;Pescarolo Sport for his second and final participation to&nbsp;date. Last year, his WRC successor&nbsp;S&eacute;bastien Ogier&nbsp;finished in the LMP2 top 10&nbsp;(9th and&nbsp;13th overall).

Let us not forget the female&nbsp;drivers of&nbsp;the 1970s, most of whom first cut their teeth in rally: Anny-Charlotte Verney, Marianne Hoepfner, Christine Beckers, Marie-Claude Beaumont, Yvette Fontaine and of course&nbsp;Mich&egrave;le Mouton, 1982 WRC vice-champion and class winner for her sole start in the&nbsp;24 Hours (1975).

<h3>Le Mans and&nbsp;Indianapolis |&nbsp;Two legends</h3>

Le Mans and Indianapolis: a&nbsp;circuit&nbsp;of more than 13&nbsp;kilometres combining permanent and temporary sectors and&nbsp;an oval circuit of four kilometers made for&nbsp;very high speeds. They&nbsp;are the two oldest circuit races in the world in terms of runnings. In June, the 24 Hours will join the Indy&nbsp;500 after its&nbsp;centenary was&nbsp;celebrated back in&nbsp;2011.

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Only two drivers have won both races. The Brit&nbsp;Graham Hill triumphed at the&nbsp;24 Hours in 1972, six years after winning the 50th running of the Indy 500 in his rookie&nbsp;participation. In 1967, American driver&nbsp;A.J. Foyt accomplished&nbsp;a feat never achieved before or since in&nbsp;motorsport, claiming the top step on the podium at the two races just 10 days apart. His&nbsp;performance at Le&nbsp;Mans included setting the first distance record beyond&nbsp;5,000 km. It was his sole appearance in the race.

Several previous Indy 500 winners&nbsp;have taken the start in the 24 Hours these last few years, among them&nbsp;Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan. This year, Roger Penske is one of the favourites. He is&nbsp;the most successful team owner ever at&nbsp;Indianapolis with 18 wins and&nbsp;will serve as&nbsp;Porsche&#39;s standard bearer for its return to the top&nbsp;Hypercar class in June.

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<h3>Le Mans and&nbsp;NASCAR | Garage 56</h3>

The most important American championship in terms of overall&nbsp;popularity, and essentially held on&nbsp;oval circuits, NASCAR&#39;s main event is the Daytona&nbsp;500, considered by competitors as their&nbsp;Super Bowl.

In 1962, Fireball Roberts became the first Daytona winner to take part in the&nbsp;24 Hours. A few months after his&nbsp;victory, his only appearance at Le Mans ended in sixth place at the wheel of a Ferrari 250 GTO. In 1972, five years after Foyt&#39;s&nbsp;win at the 24 Hours, he won the Daytona&nbsp;500, becoming the only driver to triumph at&nbsp;that race and Le Mans.

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In June, Garage 56 at the 24 Hours Centenary will welcome&nbsp;Hendrick Motorsports, the most successful team in&nbsp;NASCAR&#39;s history, and its top notch driver line-up. Seven-time NASCAR champion and win record co-holder in the discipline, Jimmie Johnson will join forces with 2010 24 Hours winner&nbsp;Mike Rockenfeller and 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button.

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PHOTOS (Copyright - ACO/Archives): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), 1962-2018 24 HOURS OF LE&nbsp;MANS. From top to bottom: seven-time&nbsp;NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, 24 Hours winner&nbsp;Mike Rockenfeller and former&nbsp;F1 world&nbsp;champion&nbsp;Jenson Button (from left to right) will join&nbsp;forces in Garage&nbsp;56 this year; winners Fernando Alonso (at right) and&nbsp;S&eacute;bastien Buemi on the pit straight in&nbsp;2018; S&eacute;bastien Loeb representing&nbsp;Pescarolo Sport in 2005 and&nbsp;2006; Graham Hill (at left) has won the car racing&nbsp;Triple Crown with victories at the 1972&nbsp;24 Hours&nbsp;(here with&nbsp;Henri Pescarolo), the Indianapolis 500 in 1966 and F1 world titles&nbsp;in 1962 and 1968; Dan Gurney and&nbsp;A.J. Foyt (at left in a&nbsp;Ford shirt) and the first ever Champagne spray on the&nbsp;podium in 1967; the&nbsp;Ferrari 250 GTO with which Fireball Roberts finished sixth in&nbsp;1962 is now owned by&nbsp;gentleman driver and 2021 LMGTE Am winner Fran&ccedil;ois Perrodo; for the&nbsp;Centenary, Garage&nbsp;56 will host a&nbsp;Chevrolet Camaro fielded by&nbsp;Hendrick Motorsports, the most successful team in the American NASCAR championship.

24 Hours Centenary – The race draws drivers from all motorsport disciplines

24 HOURS CENTENARY – THE LE MANS EXCEPTION ⎮ The speaker keeps the public spellbound and informs fans during the race of the status of its favourite teams, drivers and cars. He keeps spectators awake during the night or wakes them up as the sun begins to rise. A running of the 24 Hours would not be the same without one…

The race&#39;s first speaker,&nbsp;Edmond Dehorter, served at the 24 Hours&nbsp;in&nbsp;1930. Seven others would follow: Georges Briquet (1950 to&nbsp;1956), Georges Fraichard (1957 to&nbsp;1964), Paul Delrivi&egrave;re (1965 to&nbsp;1967), Jean-Charles Laurens (1968 to&nbsp;1983), Olivier de la Garoullaye (1984 to&nbsp;1992) and Bruno Vandestick (1993 to today).

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<h3>Jean-Charles Laurens | Speaker and creator of Info Course</h3>

Among the most recent&nbsp;speakers who changed the history of the race figures&nbsp;Jean-Charles Laurens, the voice of the&nbsp;24 Hours for 16 runnings. In order&nbsp;to relate&nbsp;all the goings-on in pit lane and on the track, Laurens was initially aided by his wife&nbsp;Bernadette and&nbsp;Fran&ccedil;ois Mousseau who managed the timesheet for all&nbsp;24 hours! Over the years,&nbsp;Laurens surrounded himself with a team to provide him with pertinent information so&nbsp;spectators could follow the race in real time. So was born Info Course, which&nbsp;still broadcasts relevant&nbsp;info as well as carrying out&nbsp;extraordinary archival work on the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans.

It has been said Laurens was always very respectful of those working&nbsp;in the paddock and&nbsp;that he never judged situations. What better way to relate the race objectively to spectators? In his day, the&nbsp;speaker booth was located in the middle of the paddock, easily allowing people to come share&nbsp;their stories about the race with the&nbsp;speaker. In 1983, Laurens &ndash;&nbsp;who always kept a silf scarf wrapped around his neck to protect his voice &ndash; turned his mic over to Olivier de la Garoullaye (assisted by&nbsp;Philippe Debarle) who held the post for eight runnings from&nbsp;1984 to&nbsp;1992.

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<h3>Olivier de la Garoullaye | A fan of horsepower in any form</h3>

Olivier de la Garoullaye was better known in horse riding&nbsp;than motorsport. He was a multi-faceted man who was above all a horse breeder, licenced trainer, gentleman-rider, president of a racing company and&nbsp;commissioner.

De la Garoullaye wore every&nbsp;hat&nbsp;in the worlds of horse and car racing and even cut his teeth as the&nbsp;speaker at&nbsp;the French Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1984 to 1992: &quot;I served as the&nbsp;commissioner&nbsp;(horse racing, Ed.)&nbsp;for 45 years. I started at 30 and stopped at&nbsp;75 due to the age limit. I also sat on the Sports Society Committee and&nbsp;was co-opted to France Galop (flat and obstacle course organiser, Ed.).&nbsp;When I was licenced to train, I rode a horse before heading to the office, and my wife fed the horses at noon. I worked as the speaker namely for&nbsp;the French Grand Prix and the&nbsp;24&nbsp;Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans.&quot;

In 1990,&nbsp;de la Garoullaye was joined on 24 Hours Radio by an individual everyone&nbsp;now knows in the&nbsp;paddock at the 24 Hours&hellip;one&nbsp;Bruno Vandestick.

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<h3>Bruno Vandestick | The voice of Le&nbsp;Mans</h3>

Bruno Vandestick is the race&#39;s longest-serving&nbsp;speaker. This year, during the&nbsp;Centenary, he will celebrate his 30th year at the mic. With 29 runnings to his credit, he is&nbsp;the official &quot;Voice of Le&nbsp;Mans,&quot; recognised&nbsp;by all those who&nbsp;set&nbsp;foot at the&nbsp;circuit. Vandestick is also revered as&nbsp;a 24 Hours &quot;bible&quot; thanks to his love for the race since childhood back when he switched school books for&nbsp;magazines about the race.

But Vandestick is not just a simple announcer. Thanks to him&nbsp;the circuit remains in suspense for more than 24 hours and spectators feel&nbsp;immersed in the heart of the action. Bruno Vandestick (in 2013 in the&nbsp;Ouest France newspaper):&nbsp;&quot;I&#39;m happy when spectators are able to&nbsp;tell&nbsp;themselves &#39;I came, I saw, I understood.&#39;&quot;&nbsp;At any given&nbsp;circuit, you only see a car for about&nbsp;15 seconds of&nbsp;a lap of&nbsp;03:45. So the&nbsp;speaker has to fill in the blanks. I get carried away. I&nbsp;do it on purpose&nbsp;to dramatise what is happening a little so&nbsp;the public remains captivated. So yes, sometimes I overplay it slightly.&quot;

He now has an entire team, including journalists in pit lane who&nbsp;help&nbsp;him involve the protagonists of the race, and&nbsp;David Waldron, well-known to Brits.

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<h3>David Waldron | The circuit&#39;s &quot;British touch&quot;</h3>

David Waldron has worked alongside the race&#39;s&nbsp;speakers since&nbsp;1988 after&nbsp;Jean-Marc Desnues (ACO press manager at the time) invited him to become the English&nbsp;speaker at&nbsp;the 24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans. David Waldron: &quot;There had been&nbsp;English speakers previously, like&nbsp;journalist Bob Constanduros. During the race, Bruno and I are totally autonomous, I make my commentary&nbsp;and he his.&quot;&nbsp;Over the years, his voice has become&nbsp;indispensable to non-French-speaking fans across the world.

Speakers have always been&nbsp;an essential element of&nbsp;the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans. Without them, it would be impossible to know what is unfolding on&nbsp;the other side of the 13-km+ circuit! They describe for spectators what is happening on the track and&nbsp;in the pits,&nbsp;and share the history of the race through&nbsp;unique anecdotes and special memories.&nbsp;In just a few months, Vandestick will be back at the&nbsp;mic to keep us glued to all the action at the&nbsp;Centenary.

&nbsp;

PHOTOS (Copyright - ACO/Archives): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), 1969-2022 24 HOURS OF LE&nbsp;MANS. From top to bottom: Bruno Vandestick ready to welcome the winners in the various classes in&nbsp;2022; the speaker&#39;s booth in&nbsp;1969 just above the podium, with&nbsp;Jacky Ickx, the winner that year with&nbsp;Jackie Oliver in a&nbsp;Ford GT40; Jean-Charles Laurens at the&nbsp;microphone during the trophy ceremony in 1977; Bruno Vandestick taking a&nbsp;selfie with ACO President Pierre Fillon and several previous winners including&nbsp;Henri Pescarolo, Jacky Ickx, Tom Kristensen, Kazuki Nakajima and&nbsp;G&eacute;rard Larrousse; the Scrutineering&nbsp;podium in the centre of Le Mans&nbsp;also covered by&nbsp;Bruno Vandestick, with the help of&nbsp;David Waldron in English.

24 Hours Centenary – Speakers give the race a voice

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing's #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid claimed the top step on the podium at this weekend's 1000 Miles of Sebring, first round of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

The #7&nbsp;Toyota GR010 Hybrid shared by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and&nbsp;Jos&eacute; Mar&iacute;a L&oacute;pez triumphed after a race-long duel with the&nbsp;#8 sister car. The Japanese marque&#39;s two&nbsp;Hypercars swapped the lead several times, but the&nbsp;#8 was unable to keep the pace, trailing at the chequered flag&nbsp;by 2.1 seconds. Toyota was keenly aware it was facing tough competition at the 1000 Miles of Sebring and managed to kick off the season in impressive fashion both&nbsp;in pit lane and on the track.

Kamui Kobayashi:&nbsp;&quot;It is a fantastic feeling to win this race and I would like to thank everyone for their big support, particularly everyone back in Japan, including Toyoda-San and President Sato-San. The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing family has worked really hard to be ready for this season. We had a tough time yesterday, but we came back strongly and in the race we showed our philosophy to be one team, with everyone working very hard together. A one-two was the best result we could hope for, but this is just the start of a big fight this season. We deserved to win, but we do not underestimate the other manufacturers. Today our experience helped us, but we will face a big challenge this season, so we have to get stronger and fight even harder. This championship is getting really exciting, and I am happy to be part of it.&quot;

Toyota definitively took the helm of the race from Ferrari AF Corse in the fifth lap, with the pole-sitter #50&nbsp;499P rounding&nbsp;out the podium two laps behind the winners. The Ferrari&nbsp;Hypercars lost time in traffic,&nbsp;the #51 was delayed in pit lane&nbsp;for a long time during a refuelling and the&nbsp;#50 was penalised with a drive-through and a five-second penalty for overtaking under the safety car regime and breaching a&nbsp;Full Course Yellow. Despite the setbacks, the&nbsp;Ferrari camp seemed satisfied with its&nbsp;results and particularly with the reliability of both&nbsp;499Ps.

Antonello Coletta, Head of Attivit&agrave; Sportive GT:&nbsp;&ldquo;We surpassed the goals we had set ourselves, considering that we wanted a podium finish, and to this&nbsp;we added a splendid pole position. We are happy and&nbsp;at the same time&nbsp;aware that we have a long way to go. In the championship, we are up against some highly experienced and quick opponents and others who have recently entered the Hypercar scene, like us, but just as fast. We celebrate these results, thanking the entire team for the work carried out over the last eight months, which allowed us to race on a demanding track like Sebring with no reliability problems.&quot;

Cadillac Racing&#39;s #4&nbsp;Cadillac V-Series.R ended the race in the fourth spot ahead of Porsche Penske Motorsport&#39;s&nbsp;#5 and #6 Porsche 963s. Peugeot TotalEnergies suffered&nbsp;several mechanical problems with&nbsp;the #94&nbsp;9X8 stuck in its garage for three hours to&nbsp;repair a failure in&nbsp;its hybrid system. American team Glickenhaus Racing&#39;s&nbsp;Hypercar&nbsp;was forced to retire before mid-race with mechanical troubles. Floyd Vanwall Racing Team&#39;s #4&nbsp;Vanwall Vandervell 680 finished in 30th place.

<h2>A breathtaking finish in&nbsp;LMP2</h2>

Prior to its move to the&nbsp;Hypercar class with a private&nbsp;963, Hertz Team JOTA triumphed in the&nbsp;LMP2&nbsp;class after a stunning race end. The car driven by&nbsp;David Beckmann/Yifei Ye/Will Stevens executed a perfect&nbsp;splash and dash to snatch the victory from the #63&nbsp;Prema of&nbsp;Doriane Pin/Mirko Bortolotti/Daniil Kvyat. The LMP2 was forced to stop almost three minutes from the end of the race, with&nbsp;Prema finishing&nbsp;third on the heels of the #22 of&nbsp;United Autosports.

In&nbsp;LMGTE Am, the only Corvette C8.R&nbsp;on the track turned in a flawless round. Corvette Racing&#39;s #33 shared by&nbsp;Ben Keating, Nicolas Varrone and&nbsp;Nicky Catsburg beat&nbsp;Dempsey-Proton Racing&#39;s #77&nbsp;Porsche 911 by two laps. Kessel Racing&#39;s #57&nbsp;Ferrari rounded out the podium in the class.

The second round of the 2023 FIA WEC season is set for Portim&atilde;o,&nbsp;Portugal on 16 April.

Check out this&nbsp;photo gallery of highlights from the&nbsp;1000 Miles of&nbsp;Sebring:

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FIA WEC – TOYOTA GAZOO Racing wins the 1000 Miles of Sebring

24 HOURS CENTENARY – PERPETUAL INNOVATION ⎮ Hybrid engines have secured every overall win at Le Mans since 2012. The technology is now at the heart of the new head class, Hypercar, with as outstanding pioneer the Toyota GR010 Hybrid, winner in 2021 and 2022.

The years between 1975 and&nbsp;2010 were marked by the rise of&nbsp;turbochargers with their&nbsp;ability to achieve&nbsp;exceptional power in&nbsp;small&nbsp;engines.

But, in the early&nbsp;2010s, concerns about&nbsp;global warming&nbsp;resulted in&nbsp;increased&nbsp;awareness among car manufacturers. Electric vehicles were&nbsp;still in their&nbsp;infancy, limited by the range and&nbsp;duration of battery recharges. Hybrid cars&nbsp;promised&nbsp;to ensure a smooth transition between traditional&nbsp;thermal vehicles and the electric ones of the future.&nbsp;Toyota had launched its&nbsp;Prius and all the other marques&nbsp;had similar projects in the pipeline.

Audi and&nbsp;Peugeot sought&nbsp;to promote the&nbsp;technology&nbsp;through competition in tandem&nbsp;with the arrival of production models. The strategy&nbsp;would forever&nbsp;transform the world of endurance racing.

In the&nbsp;1980s, and even as early as 1975, the ACO endeavoured to&nbsp;set rules limiting fuel consumption, eventually publishing regulations approving hybrid cars in 2012.

Hybrid technology? What does that mean exactly?

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<h3>Flywheel vs. battery</h3>

To reduce the consumption of fossil fuels (and therefore CO2 emissions), engineers looked&nbsp;to support the phases during which engines were unable to&nbsp;operate optimally, like during pick-ups at low revs. They&nbsp;also sought to&nbsp;provide&nbsp;additional energy at high revs to increase the power where it starts to drop. It became&nbsp;possible either to keep the same thermal&nbsp;engine and increase the torque and power with an&nbsp;electric motor, or reduce the displacement of the engine without losing performance.

It was immediately clear&nbsp;electricity was a good way to help&nbsp;heat thermal engines. An electric motor delivers a constant torque from the first&nbsp;rpm, while a&nbsp;thermal engine sees its maximum torque reached between 3,000 and 4,500 rpm. So an&nbsp;electric motor could&nbsp;help with torque at these speeds, and&nbsp;complement power beyond that.

Now, how to power the&nbsp;electric motor and store energy on board for&nbsp;distribution&nbsp;and then ensure this storage was recharged for the next acceleration?&nbsp;Two systems emerged as possibilities.

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Certain manufacturers focused on&nbsp;a mechanical solution, such as the&nbsp;flywheel, driven by wheel shafts up to 40,000&nbsp;rpm when braking&nbsp;then releasing&nbsp;the stored energy in electrical form.&nbsp;In 2011, Porsche presented a&nbsp;911 Hybrid at the Paris and Geneva motor shows and subjected&nbsp;the car&nbsp;to every possible and&nbsp;imaginable test in the context of both competition and series production. However, the system&#39;s shortcomings quickly became apparent: the power output was limited, the duration of recharging during braking insufficient to maintain good potential for the next turn&nbsp;and the gyroscopic effect of the flywheel was likely to affect handling.

Other marques, like Audi and&nbsp;Peugeot, concentrated on the batteries. During braking phases, the electric motor becomes a generator producing electricity&nbsp;stored in batteries. The weight of the batteries matched&nbsp;that of the flywheel, but they proved&nbsp;much easier to install in a car, and by adjusting their position, it became&nbsp;possible to balance the weight of the car 50/50% between the front and rear axles. Once the charge/discharge cycle was&nbsp;mastered, the motor-generator set and the batteries emerged as&nbsp;the ideal solution.

<h3>10 years of victory for hybrid&nbsp;technology</h3>

Ahead of&nbsp;the&nbsp;2012 FIA WEC season, Audi and&nbsp;Peugeot fine-tuned an&nbsp;R18 e-tron and a&nbsp;908 Hybrid, respectively, for the championship and the&nbsp;24 Hours. But Peugeot withdrew its entry at the 11th hour and&nbsp;the face-off didn&#39;t happen! Audi proceeded to clinch the first win for a hybrid at the 24 Hours that year, just as it had done for&nbsp;diesel with the R10 TDI in 2006 and for direct injection with the R8 TFSI in 2000.

Thereafter, the ACO expanded the&nbsp;concept of hybridisation for LMP1&nbsp;(previous head class prior to Hypercar) prototypes. By taking into account the amount of additional energy provided by electrical components&nbsp;compared to traditional thermal&nbsp;engines, the ACO&nbsp;created&nbsp;authorised consumption scales for each&nbsp;car, controlling them&nbsp;each lap via telemetry.

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The maximum power of a&nbsp;set of thermal and electric motors, often called the powertrain, is now limited to 520 kW (707 hp), of which the electrical element called MGU-K (for kinetic energy) cannot exceed 200 kW (272 hp). The manufacturer can then choose between a Hypercar with a thermal&nbsp;engine alone (Glickenhaus)&nbsp;or a car combining a thermal&nbsp;engine and an electric one (Toyota, Peugeot, Ferrari, Cadillac and&nbsp;Porsche). The second group also has the option of placing the MGU-K on the rear axle&nbsp;or the front wheels, the car then becoming an intermittent four-wheel drive (chosen by Toyota and Peugeot). But the MGU-K cannot be triggered below 120 kph (190 kph in the rain).

Since 2012, only hybrid cars have won the race: three victories for Audi (from 2012 to 2014) and Porsche (from 2014 to 2017), and&nbsp;five for Toyota (from 2018 to 2022). And this new chapter in the evolution of endurance racing engines is still being written at the&nbsp;24 Hours...&nbsp;

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PHOTOS (Copyright - ACO/Archives): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 2012-2021 24 HOURS OF LE&nbsp;MANS. From top to bottom: the lineage of winning hybrid prototypes with the&nbsp;Audi R18 e-tron quattro (#1), the&nbsp;Porsche 919 Hybrid (#2), the&nbsp;Toyota TS050 Hybrid&nbsp;(#8) and the&nbsp;Toyota GR010 Hybrid&nbsp;(#7), first victorious&nbsp;Hypercar, in&nbsp;2021.

24 Hours Centenary – Hybrid technology proves unbeatable

Ferrari celebrates its return to the top class of endurance by clocking the fastest qualifying time at the 1000 Miles of Sebring, the opening round of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship.

Antonio Fuoco, at the wheel of the #50 Ferrari 499P, lapped the Sebring International Raceway course in a time of 1:45.067 to earn the season&rsquo;s first pole position. Ferrari thus becomes the seventh manufacturer to start a FIA WEC race from pole since the championship began in 2012.&nbsp;&ldquo;Taking pole position is truly unbelievable,&rdquo;&nbsp;Fuoco said.&nbsp;&ldquo;I want to thank the entire team involved here and at Maranello for the extraordinary effort of the last eight months. I am proud of all of them, and I can&rsquo;t wait to compete. Tomorrow, we will set off from pole position and try to do our best, knowing that the race will be long and will run on a track like Sebring that is very demanding for the car. Given the high afternoon temperatures, tyre management will be a crucial factor in the race.&rdquo;

Toyota Gazoo Racing, showing good form since last weekend&rsquo;s Prologue, will start from second and third positions on the grid with the #8 GR010 Hybrid edging out the #7 car.&nbsp;&ldquo;Today we did our best but Ferrari were a bit quicker in qualifying; they did a great job,&rdquo; admitted team principal Kamui Kobayashi, who took the wheel of the #7 car. &ldquo;We knew they were competitive after the Prologue and free practice sessions, and everyone could see their performance in qualifying. We are definitely part of a fight, and I am enjoying it. We have worked hard over the past days to get our cars set up for the race, because obviously this is endurance racing so Friday is the most important day for us. I think we have prepared well and we&rsquo;re in a promising starting position so we have a great chance. It is going to be an exciting race.&rdquo; Two-tenths of a second separated the #50 Ferrari and the #8 Toyota.

The #51 Ferrari 499P finished in fourth position ahead of Cadillac Racing&rsquo;s #2 V-Series.R. The #6 and #5 Porsche 963s entered by Porsche Penske Motorsport take the sixth and seventh positions respectively, followed by the pair of Peugeot 9X8s fielded by&nbsp;Peugeot TotalEnergies. The #708 Glickenhaus 007 of Glickenhaus Racing rounded out the top ten with Floyd Vanwall Racing Team&rsquo;s #4 Vanwall Vandervell 680 back in 11th spot on the grid.

<h2>United Autosports AND&nbsp;Iron Dames SHINE</h2>

In LMP2, the #23 Oreca 07-Gibson of United Autosports clinched pole position in 1:49.974 ahead of the #28 Oreca of JOTA (1:50.067) and Team WRT&rsquo;s #31 Oreca (1:50.155).

Iron Dame Sarah Bovy at the wheel of the #85 Porsche 911 RSR-19 took the LMGTE Am pole after an exciting battle with Corvette Racing&rsquo;s Chevrolet Corvette C8.R driven by Ben Keating. The #25 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of ORT by TF was third.

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The 1000 Miles of Sebring starts today at 12:00 local time (UTC-4). Whet your appetite for the race with this selection of highlights from qualifying.

Ferrari on pole at Sebring! I 2023 1000 Miles of Sebring I FIA WEC

FIAWEC – Ferrari AF Corse décroche la pole position des 1000 Miles de Sebring

FIA WEC – Ferrari AF Corse takes pole  at 1000 Miles of Sebring

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Kamui Kobayashi steered the No.7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar he shared with Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez to the checkered flag 2.168s ahead of the sister No. 8 car which was driven by Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa.

Toyota wins opening round I 2023 1000 Miles of Sebring Race Highlights I FIA WEC

The Ferrari 499P made its debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship finishing in third place in the 1000 Miles of Sebring.  Car number 50 driven to the finish line by Antonio Fuoco secured third, and finishing seventh with the other Hypercar which arrived at the checkered flag with Alessandro Pier Guidi behind the wheel.

Ferrari Hypercar | 1000 Miles of Sebring – Debut with podium for the 499P

MissionH24 - Spotlight on the H24 and its new colors

Ferrari celebrates its return to the top class of global endurance racing in 50 years as AF Corse Ferrari takes pole for tomorrow’s 1000 Miles of Sebring, the season-opener to this year’s FIA WEC.

Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Mike Conway visits the team's headquarters in the build-up to the 1000 Miles of Sebring for a driving simulator session. Mike and his engineers explain how the simulator helps the team prepare for the first round of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

Preparing for Sebring: In the Simulator with Mike Conway

Hertz Team JOTA will be on the Hypercar grid with a Porsche 963 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary. Check out the car’s livery here!

Hertz Team JOTA unveils its Porsche 963 livery

After less than two months, the first Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH Competizione hypercar has been built and so it is ready to move to the Automobile Club Milano headquarters for the World Premiere!

Completed the Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH Competizione

Catch up on all the action from Race 4 of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series from the Yas Marina Circuit!

2023 Asian Le Man Series - Race 4 - Yas Marina Circuit - Short Highlights

Catch up on all the action from Race 3 of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series from the Yas Marina Circuit!

2023 Asian Le Man Series - Race 3 - Yas Marina Circuit - Short Highlights

In less than a month, the FIA WEC World Endurance Championship Hypercars will hit the track at the 1000 Miles of Sebring. A new chapter of endurance will then open.

All the WEC Hypercars, Ready to make History

Catch up on all the action from Race 2 of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series from the Dubai Autodrome!

2023 Asian Le Man Series - Race 2 - Dubai Autodrome - Short Highlights

Catch up on all the action from the opening round of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series from the Dubai Autodrome!

2023 Asian Le Man Series - Race 1 - Dubai Autodrome - Short Highlights

The Isotta Fraschini personnel is working hard building the Tipo 6 Competizione hypercar.

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