Although we’ll have to endure one further year of
IMSa’s current Spec machinery…
Have to say I was caught offguard by Peugeot
unveiling it’s 2022 Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) last week, which I noticed when
perusing Racer.com’s Sports Car news, especially since testing won’t begin
until December.
Even more surprising was the radical route they’ve
taken with their Design philosophy, eschewing the de riggour rear wing in
favour of claiming the necessary downforce from the car’s underbody, in what
presumably is a most evocative shape.
Other scant details included in the unveiling
is that it’ll b propelled by a 2.6-litre twin turbo Hybrid powertrain, incorporates
current Peugeot design queues, colours and it’s cockpit was designed with imput
from it’s drivers, whom include Kevin Magnussen. As you can read All about it
in the Racer article that includes photographs.
https://racer.com/2021/07/06/peugeot-reveals-9x8-hypercar/
And Thars good news on the continuing ACO/FIA
World Endurance Championship (WEC) and IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship’s
Le Mans Daytona Hypercar (LMDH) Convergence, with the two parties having just
signed a Rules package to provide the Framework for both separate categories to
not only compete at Circuit de la Sarthe in 2023, but also allow All participants
to also contest IMSA’s Stateside races beginning with the 2023 24 Hours of
Daytona.
Thus a potential of nine current manufacturers,
excluding Alpine, who’s future plans are currently unknown, since it’s “Grandfathered”
rebadged Rebellion LMP1 chassis isn’t eligible for WEC competition in 2022
could lineup for the 2023 Rolex 24.
On the IMSA side, Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac
and Porsche are all committed to race Rear Wheel Drive (RHD) Single source Spec
40bhp KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery( Hybrid chassis.
Whilst Across thou Puddle, Ferrari, Glickenhaus,
Peugeot and Toyota have more leeway, since they’re allowed to compete with
either Hybrid or Non-Hybrid powertrains regulated to a maximum of 680bhp. As
the Glickenhaus SCG 007 is the only chassis not running what Racer’s Marshall
Pruett denotes as an All Wheel Drive (AWD) Hybrid powertrain layout.
While Marshall notes that All of these convergent
philosophies will be governed by a raft of Balance of Performance (BoP) rules
that include all chassis undergoing mandatory Wind Tunnel testing either at the
North Carolina’s Windshear facility or Suaber’s Wind Tunnel in Switzerland, as
Y’all can read the “fine Print” in Pruett’s Racer article.
https://racer.com/2021/07/09/imsa-wec-prototype-convergence-agreement-detailed/
Meanwhile, in what seems inevitable for Formula
1, the latest Japanese motor race to be Cancelled is the WEC’s Six Hours of
Fuji at Mount Fuji Speedway, following the previous cancellation of the Motegi
round of the MotoGP calendar. All due to the travel restrictions regarding the continuing
Covid 19 Pandemic occurring in Japan, despite the Olympics needing to go ahead
to appease it's massive Sponsorship requirements…
As the Japanese WEC round has been replaced with a Double Header event at Bahrain, with a Six Hour race on October 30th and it’s previous 8 hours race on November 6th.
