The 24 Hours of Le Mans in fashion. McLaren Automotive was the latest of the greats to confirm its intention to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) from the 2024 season, joining Toyota, Peugeot, Porsche, Ferrari, Alpine, BMW, Cadillac, Lamborghini and Porsche. next to nothing.
McLaren will turn 60 in 2023, and it seems that to celebrate its 60th anniversary, it thought the best way was to go all out and do its best. It combines the three most demanding competitions in the world of motorsport at international level: The Formula One World Championship, the Indy Championship (IndyCar Series) and the World Endurance Championship (WEC), the championship in which the 24 Hours of Le Mans is held.
Following in the footsteps of the McLaren F1 GTR
McLaren returned to sports car racing in the 1990s with the F1 GTR (the racing version of the McLaren F1 supercar powered by a BMW V12 engine), Winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995, Which gave the British manufacturer the first factory victory in the Triple Crown: the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Monaco GP and the Indianapolis 500.
In addition to its official participation, several privateer teams competed with the F1 GTR, among them the Longtail which won the GT1 class at Le Mans in 1997, also finishing second overall.
To put McLaren on track to compete in the 2024 WEC season (including the 24 Hours of Le Mans), the British manufacturer has chosen United Autosports, one of the most iconic teams in the sport and GT racing since its founding in 2010.
The team, based in Wakefield, Yorkshire, UK, also has a long relationship with McLaren, having been among the first to race the original McLaren 12C GT3 prototype. United Autosports has achieved numerous championship victories over the years, including the WEC Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2020, and It had drivers of the stature of Fernando Alonso, Lando Norris and Juan Pablo Montoya. There is nothing.
McLaren participates in Le Mans to show its muscles
Michael Leiters, CEO of McLaren Automotive, explains the reasons for the British company’s return to the World Endurance Championship: “Motorsport remains a key part of McLaren’s future performance strategy, and we have always viewed the World Endurance Championship as a natural venue to showcase the performance of our cars. This includes a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is a core part of our long-term success in motorsport and, in particular, the Triple Crown “McLaren is unique as a manufacturer of supercars and racing cars.”
The director continues: “We chose United Autosports, which we believe shares our passion for GT endurance racing and, like us, has a successful history in motorsport.”
And so United Autosports was officially notified Western Auto Club (Le Mans 24 Hours race organizer) expressed his intention to present it Two McLaren 720S GT3 EVO cars during the full 2024 WEC season, Therefore, McLaren will not be a direct competitor to the supercars lined up by Alpine, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Glickenhaus, Lamborghini, Peugeot, Porsche and Toyota, but it will have to fight for victory in its class.
What is clear is that with the strong line-up of high-level cars that the 24 Hours of Le Mans looks like, it seems unlikely that the 720S GT3 will be able to claim a podium place as McLaren did. Private F1 GTR Longtail, which beat a whole host of Courage cars and a Ferrari 333 SP in an unforgettable edition of one of the most exciting races in the world.
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