I had doubts over the Automobile Club l’Ouest’s decision to allow NASCAR to enter a Chevrolet Camaro in its ‘Garage 56’ category for this weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
But the scheme has an undeniable appeal. Hendrick Motorsports’ tall Camaro dwarfs its prototype and GT competitors, immediately drawing attention to itself: Surely something of these proportions can’t hack it among the competition?However on the times sheets its performance is more than respectable. It may leave its drivers wide-eyed in the braking zones, but it ‘hauls ass down the straightaways’. The race promoters revised their decision to make it start behind the LMGTE Am class once it out-qualified the lot of them by over four seconds.
Of course there is no fair basis for comparison between the two as the NASCAR-backed entry is not running to the same rules. But it means there’s no reason it should present more of a hazard to the top-class cars than the GT runners.
The roster of talent Hendrick has enlisted to drive the car further justifies its presence in the field. Not merely all-pro, but all-star: Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button, 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours winner Mike Rockenfeller and seven-times NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson.
This is ultimately more of a marketing exercise for NASCAR than an attempt to complete this gruelling endurance event in a truly novel way, as was the case for the unconventional IndyCar concept-based DeltaWing of 2012 or the modified LMP2 entry that enabled racer Frederic Sausset, who is a quadruple paraplegic, to the finish in 2016.
Above all, what the Garage 56 category might best be used to demonstrate is some groundbreaking low- or zero-emissions technology. But while various ambitious projects along these lines have been announced, none have yet come to fruition.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
That being so, what’s the harm in the ACO using the unoccupied ‘Garage 56’ berth to forge links with America’s favourite form of motorsport? A reciprocal arrangement is now in place, with Kamui Kobayashi making his NASCAR Cup debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway later this year. Sadly, he won’t be entering the 24th round of this year’s Cup series in a GR010 Hypercar, but a NASCAR-spec Camry…
The possibility of an F1 car being allowed to start the race is likely a non-starter on more than one count: The complications of adding lights plus the fact the La Sarthe circuit isn’t graded for F1 competition. Fernando Alonso demonstrated an Alpine F1 car at the track two years ago and concluded it was “way too fast and way too narrow in some of the sections” for F1.
However an F1-powered car may be a realistic possibility. The days when Le Mans commentators could confidently state the race lasted longer than an entire grand prix season are well behind us, such is the length of F1’s current schedules.
When the 2023 season was originally planned, F1 teams were required to use just three power units over 23 rounds, meaning one would have to cover eight race distances. That’s a total of 2,440 kilometres before practice and qualifying are taken into consideration. While that may be less than half the distance covered at Le Mans last year, it could be possible for a sufficiently detuned engine.
Still, the potential for an F1-engined car at Le Mans is there. No doubt someone at Liberty Media has already clocked the massive potential NASCAR has tapped through Garage 56 and is wondering how they can stand out from the crowd in the same way.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2023 F1 season
- RaceFans’ complete 2023 season review
- The F1 drivers who pulled off the 10 biggest charges through the field in 2023
- Alpine ended season ‘operating at a much higher level’ – Gasly
- Watch 10 of the best ‘proper’ overtakes from F1, IndyCar, WEC and more in 2023
- Verstappen voted Driver of the Year for third year in a row by RaceFans readers
dale (@rnorman16)
9th June 2023, 14:45
Your neighbor’s Chevy out on the road course!
d0senbrot (@d0senbrot)
9th June 2023, 15:02
I think the Nascar is popular because it looks so out of place and also sounds rad.
A F1 chassis in Le Mans won’t happen for the reasons mentioned. But even a modern F1 engine will probably not be a head turner. The technology is not unique enough compared to WEC and the sound is worse.
A naturally aspirated V12, V10 or even V8 would of course be a direct crowd pleaser.
Imre (@f1mre)
9th June 2023, 15:13
I don’t see adding lights an obstacle.
Also, it is not an F1 race. Why wouldn’t a “random” prototype car be allowed to race there? It would be modified anyways. Refuelling should be easier and the mentioned lights. Break disc would either have to be changed many times during the race or also should be modified to cope for 24 hours. I guess the open cockpit is a bigger obstacle than anything else.
Markp
9th June 2023, 19:56
Most prototypes were open top 20 years ago. I don’t see the safety issue if drivers sign up to do it, see this week’s Isle of Mann TT, thats scary watching from your sofa. Bet no current F1 driver would dare though,if it happened it would have to be a private team using an older F1 car with none current F1 drivers. F1 car at Lemans would be fine compared to the TT, Pikes Peak, the Porsche LMP1 that was heavily modified and did the nurburing (as fast as an F1 car).
drmouse (@drmouse)
13th June 2023, 16:39
I don’t think you can look at the TT and say “If that’s acceptable, so should this be”. It’s a complete oddity, out of place with every other major motorsports event. They refuse to show it live because there’s a very good chance someone will die: In fact, there’s been at least one fatality in every event since 2013.
I say this as someone who loves the TT races, but Le Mans would never accept a risk even approaching that even if the drivers did.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
9th June 2023, 15:33
By being an eyesore? Weren’t the early 90’s prototypes powered by f1 engines or derivatives? I seem to vaguely remember the whole world engine thing. 3.5 liters for F1 and the WEC?
KaIIe (@kaiie)
10th June 2023, 5:41
Yeah, from 1991 onwards the engine regulations were pretty much the same in F1 and WSC.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
10th June 2023, 17:32
Thanks. I wasn’t sure as the article goes on and on as if that never happened.
Spencer (@spencer)
9th June 2023, 15:43
Spectacle would be better if they ran a modified 2011-13 car. Screaming high RPM engine can still tell the hybrid story with KERS. Cheap to operate and modify. Detune engine for longevity, add requisite modifications.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
9th June 2023, 18:51
@spencer KERS has been on Le Mans prototypes since 2008, on LMP1. It is thus considered old news. It is especially unlikely to consider promoting a car that started using it only after LMP1 did to be any sort of technical scoop.
anon
10th June 2023, 7:36
There were cars using KERS before that – Panoz had an LMP1 car with KERS in the 1990’s (I think it was in 1997), so it is even older technology than you think. However, given that poster seems more obsessed with spectacle, they probably won’t listen to you.
MichaelN
10th June 2023, 13:19
Yes, that Panoz with an electric motor – affectionately nicknamed ‘Sparky’ – was an adaptation of the GTR-1. Not entirely surprisingly, that addition made the car much heavier than the competitors (like all hybrid vehicles) and it was consequently quite slow.
asd
9th June 2023, 15:48
Le Mans organizers will – rightfully – never agree to F1 steal their thunder and have and F1 car beat the track record. That would take away from the greatness of the WEC cars competing at the track and setting track records, and it would ultimately diminish the value of the entire race and the WEC racing series.
The LeMans24h and the Indy500 are the two greatest motorsport events, which also show fans that F1 is not the be all and end all of motorsports. For many casual fans, those are the only events that show them there IS motorsport outside of F1 in the first place. This should be cherished and protected.
Deep Sky
9th June 2023, 17:14
I’d add Dakar Rally to that list of motorsport spectacle. 5000 kms raced over difficult terrain across two weeks is the greatest event in cross-country rallying.
I’d also add Isle of Man TT (for its incredible average speed on two wheels) if it wasn’t so extreme and dangerous.
drmouse (@drmouse)
13th June 2023, 16:50
I’d definitely list the TT as one of the greatest motorsports events. It’s certainly my favourite, and I don’t think there is any other event quite like it. Those bikes cover an F1 GP distance or more, often in a quicker time, on “normal” roads with walls, houses, kerbs and spectators often within inches…
Of course, doing so is incredibly dangerous, and unfortunately we see at least one death every year. Nowhere else accepts that kind of risk. It’s become a special case where the danger is somehow acceptable… I don’t really condone that, but it’s such a special event that I couldn’t countenance it being dropped, either.
Yaru (@yaru)
10th June 2023, 22:55
If the events are great, then surely an F1 car entering them would be no danger to their prestige, especially a multi class event like Le Mans 24?
asd
11th June 2023, 18:09
@yaru
Things being great doesn’t make them indestructible. One has nothing to do with the other.
Look man, F1 has the fastest racing cars out there, and it’s got a gigantic crowd of fans who don’t care and won’t care about any other motorsport seeing them as inferior. The F1 marketing machine helps that a lot.
If F1 competed in LeMans 24, all the LMP/Hypercar cars would be diminished to being just a background to just another F1 Grand Prix – the 24h Formula 1 Grand Prix of Le Mans.
When a hypercar Porsche smashes everybody on track – it’s perceived as a beast and it becomes a legend. But when the same hypercar Porsche runs 20 seconds a lap slower then the F1 cars, it’s no longer that. It becomes just another sideshow backmarker.
Jere (@jerejj)
9th June 2023, 16:30
The top image is just so wrong, especially the Nascar car in the middle – purely unfitting in the mix with WEC & GT machinery.
reg (@reg)
9th June 2023, 22:18
I think it’s great! However, I think the everyone is going to have a tough time seeing around it, going to be like trying to see around these full size SUVs on the highway while I’m in my car…
PT (@pt)
9th June 2023, 16:59
Call me crazy, lunatic or whatever, but I want to see F1 cars and IndyCar’s participating together at the Indy 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix. Secondly, I want to see NASCARs race at the Nurburgring Nordschleife.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
10th June 2023, 13:39
That wont happen with Indycar running a decade+ old car and every owner looking to Roger to buy them new kit if he were ever to commission a replacement.
Don
10th June 2023, 14:42
IndyCar’s would put on a great show at Monaco!
PeterG
9th June 2023, 17:27
The nascar entry makes no sense as it doesn’t really fit what the Garage 56 entry is supposed to be.
It’s supposed to be for an entry bringing something innovative yet there is nothing especially interesting, innovative or special about a nascar.
The Garage 56 entry has gone from the interesting and unique delta wing, The Zero emission Nissan that ran a lap under 100% electric power, Planned hydrogen powered cars and cars featuring new technology to allow drivers with disabilities to compete (Including a driver with no arms or legs)…..And now a nascar.
Whole thing reeks of them bending the rules of that entry purely to appease the US market.
PeterG
9th June 2023, 17:28
https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/24-hours-centenary-garage-56-technological-innovation-and-human-ingenuity-57420
kpcart
10th June 2023, 6:51
Its not actually a nascar. And it doea have innovative things
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
10th June 2023, 13:44
Well, yes, of course, it’s a marketing exercise for everyone involved.
Then again, I find this year’s “Nascar”-derived machinery less silly then other Garage 56 entrants of the past.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
10th June 2023, 17:34
Agree. You think they could come up with something better for 56 than a marketing exercise. Especially nowadays.
MichaelN
9th June 2023, 17:29
This may be a ship that has sailed. The 2014-era engines have the MGU-H, which is indeed special.
But by 2026, there won’t be anything particularly unique about F1 engines. The balance between the ICE and the MGU-K may be different from what’s normal in LMH, and they amount of battery storage and deployment might differ, but there’s nothing really exciting about any of that. It’s just a different way to work the numbers.
Yaru (@yaru)
10th June 2023, 22:58
Very true.
drmouse (@drmouse)
13th June 2023, 16:58
Agreed, the time to showcase the technology was ten years ago when the power units were new, special and different. There is little point showcasing them now, a decade later, and there will be nothing that special to showcase about the new engine regs coming in. F1 is falling further and further away from “the pinnacle of motorsport technology”. The cars are very fast, particularly in the corners, but they are not actually that technologically advanced.
Clay (@clayt)
9th June 2023, 22:17
Sure sounds good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMQaqkW0iuE
SteveR (@stever)
10th June 2023, 0:39
Thanks for the video! What sort of gearbox does this car run? I was counting 5 speeds, although he may not have been using 1st; is this a paddle shift? Quick gear changes so I doubt manual shifting.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
10th June 2023, 13:47
Yes, they went with paddle shifters for their Le Mans entry.
Museo
9th June 2023, 22:28
Forget about F1 in WEC, time for Nascar in F1, also add F3/F2 in the same race to make it more WEC.
Retired (@jeff1s)
9th June 2023, 23:15
Great read Keith, I see your passion in the choice of words
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
11th June 2023, 20:02
@jeff1s Thanks very much, really appreciate it.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
9th June 2023, 23:27
Surprised Le Mans and the WEC’s not getting a McLaren team to go with its Ferraris. (Every other series seems to have McLarens – they’re getting like black “Lotus” cars 10 years ago!)
I’d always assumed the next move for United Autosports would be running a McLaren Hypercar team, but Zak Brown’s team’s leaving WEC next year to continue racing its LMP2s in the US. No sign of a Hypermac then, although I’m sure there’ll be a private McLaren or two in the new GT3 class.
MichaelN
10th June 2023, 13:21
McLaren was involved in the Hypercar discussions, along with Aston Martin and such. Neither decided to pursue a program.
McLaren’s might make an appearance as GTE is phased out in favour of GT3 (where McLaren’s are indeed ubiquitous).
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
10th June 2023, 10:56
There is no competition there. They don’t compete with anyone. And the only ones in competition at Le Mans are entries of the same make and model.
Everyone else just participates in a non-sporting event.
Yaru (@yaru)
10th June 2023, 23:00
Yes and that’s the same reason they had to change it’s restart order, yes?