There will be 62 cars on the grid that will take part in the centenary of the 24h of Le Mans. The machines will be divided into 4 categories, the three that are accompanying us throughout the season, plus a revolutionary car that will have its own category: Innovative Cars. Among the novelties the tyrewarmers return exceptionally.
There will be 4 more Hypercars for Le Mans, which will not be part of the WEC Scores Ranking: the Cadillac Racing car number 3 and its sister number 311 managed by Action Express Racing, the Porsche of Penske Motorsport numbered 75 and the second Glickenhaus 007 that will bring, as usual, the number 709.
In the LMP2 class we will see the addition of 13 cars with crews, for the most part, classified pro/am. There will also be 7 more cars in the GTE on the occasion of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The innovative car, however, remains the most awaited by the public.
Yes, there will be a special, innovative car that will race with the number 24: a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with the American Jimmie Johnson, the German Mike Rockenfeller and the British Jenson Button at the wheel. This car, which will be managed by the Hendrick Motorsports team, was born from a project called Garage 56.
What is the Garage 56 Project?
The Garage 56 project is a collaborative project between NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet, and ACO-approved Goodyear that allows this car to participate in the FIA WEC race as a special car.
A NASCAR car that, from the beginning, was born as a project that sees a real NASCAR stock car at Le Mans and, despite some changes to make it possible for the car to have a long race, they succeeded.
Let’s get to know this car better in every detail: almost 5 meters long and slightly less than 2 meters wide, the Chevrolet Camaro Z1 has a weight of 1.342Kg (therefore heavier than a Hypercar that has a maximum weight of 1.030kg) with a bodywork with aerodynamic flaps, in the lower part presents the underbody made of carbon with a splitter particular for Le Mans. The gearbox is sequential at the wheel at 5 speeds, the car features a 5.8 L NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet R07 V8 small block engine.
Obviously the NASCAR car will be equipped with Goodyear tires and powered by Excellium Racing 100 fuel, official fuel of the championship.
Finally, the tyrewarmers are back!
Among the novelties for this 24h of Le Mans there will be the return of the tyrewarmers, so yes, the drivers and the teams have managed to get back what was right to have in the WEC even if exceptionally for the famous 24h.
After the events happened at the 6h of Spa with the many crashes in the GTE Am class and those scary ones in Hypercar, between qualifying and race the absence of the tyrewarmers has done its damage. After consulting the two championship suppliers, Goodyear and Michelin, the FIA and the ACO have taken the decision to have the tyrewarmers back in the WEC for the French stage.
The wait is almost over for the start of the most famous endurance race in the world of engines, stay tuned on racediary.it to not miss any news and to discover many curiosities about the 24h of Le Mans.
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