Once upon a time, Enzo Ferrari say that the best racing car is the best winning car. It makes for a slick quote, and we can all understand Ferrari’s point, but that doesn’t come true. For example, the Scuderia could not win the 1992 Formula One season, and that fact does not diminish my appreciation for Of F92A shadow.
Win or lose, I hope I can say the same for Ferrari’s upcoming Le Mans supercar. We’ll get our first full look at it sans camo wrap on October 30th ahead of the competition’s launch in Sebring in the spring.
Maranello’s unnamed prototype is a big deal for Ferrari and motorsport. This is the manufacturer’s first attempt in this area since the 333 SP more than two decades ago. And it entered the field at a time when people – from Porschearrive BMW cararrive Lamborghiniarrive Cadillac and Acura– are also preparing to exercise their own endurance machines.
Ferrari says it has signed up for more than 6,200-mile tests since July, which is the kind of work you have to do if you want to give your race car the best chance of getting through a grueling 12 or 24 hours in limit. . Antonello Coletta, who runs the brand’s motorsport efforts, says Motorsport.com that his engineers never really had a mileage goal in mind; they just want to run everything as much as possible before its competitive record kicks in. And perhaps after that too:
“Every 10 days we are on the right track and we will do it as long as we can before we go to Sebring. It’s essential to run every day because you actually discover a lot of new things, so you have to make changes and then come back to the track to test them out.
“The car was complicated because we chose Hypercar [LMH rules], while the LMDh regulations call for a slightly simpler car. This choice brings with it a number of complications to deal with. That’s why I say the more we drive, the better.”
Indeed, while most others will compete for the overall win at Le Mans in the coming years (without Toyota and Peugeot of course) have opted for the easier LMDh route, using a solid chassis. and hybrid powertrain, Ferrari has to do things its own way. Read: go it alone and spend more money in the process. “When Ferrari races, it needs to build the whole car,” Coletta told Top gear back in June. Simple as that. We look forward to seeing the results.
