Why the WEC should make space for modern garagistes in 2023

The prospect of Ferrari, Porsche, Toyota, Peugeot and Cadillac duking it out for outright honours at the Le Mans 24 Hours and across the rest of the World Endurance Championship this year is mouth watering. More so when you add BMW, Lamborghini and Alpine into the mix for 2024. But we shouldn’t forget that sportscar racing isn’t just about the big hitters. Never has been, and fingers crossed never will, even in the forthcoming golden age with manufacturers by the lorry-load.

That’s why I’m hoping that when the entry list for the 2023 WEC is unveiled later this week there will be some other names present in the Hypercar class alongside the established car makers. And I’m not just talking about Jota and Proton with their customer Porsche LMDhs. History tells us that Glickenhaus, Vanwall and Isotta Fraschini all have a place in the series with their Le Mans Hypercars.

The minnows of endurance - whether the privateer buying someone else’s chassis off the peg or the garagiste building its own - have always been part of the narrative of sportscar racing. Their tales in both success and failure have only added to its rich tapestry over the years that I’ve been reading about it and then reporting on the races.

The likes of Kremer, Richard Lloyd Racing, Joest (in its Porsche rather than Audi days, of course), and Rebellion are just a handful of the stand-out teams that fit into the former category. De Cadenet, Rondeau, WM, Pescarolo and Rebellion, again, are some of the best examples of the latter.

Glickenhaus, Vanwall and Isotta Fraschini are the spiritual successors of De Cadenet, Pescarolo et al in the brave new world of sportscars. They are garagistes of the modern age even if they are all gearing up to become bona fide manufacturers, as the rules demand.

PLUS: The great Le Mans garagistes that challenged factory might

Of course, they aren’t running their cars from a mews garage in central London like Alain de Cadenet nor buying someone else’s chassis and then evolving it over time into something they could call their own like Henri Pescarolo. Neither would be possible today.

But Glickenhaus, Vanwall and Isotta have each embarked upon building a contender for the top class at Le Mans and the world championship with the dream of taking on the big guns, just like de Cadenet did the ‘70s and Pescarolo in the 2000s. They know that the odds are against them, but they’ve taken the challenge nonetheless.

Privateer entrants like De Cadenet have a rich heritage at Le Mans

Photo by: Motorsport Images

There’s a certain romance to their projects that tugs at the heart strings of someone like me who has been following endurance racing for more than 40 years. But there’s a modern twist.

The rules are now somehow in their favour. LMH and LMDh have drastically lowered the financial bar to entry into the top flight of sportscar racing. A combination of the way the rules are written and Balance of Performance should mean everyone, all the manufacturers and garagistes alike, is in which a shout.

As worthy as Rebellion’s efforts were with its old Lolas and then its own machinery, the R-One and then the R-13, it was only when we got to the 2019-20 season and system of performance handicaps that it had a proper chance of winning. That’s not counting the day at Silverstone the previous year when it claimed a first WEC victory on the disqualification of both Toyotas. Two more followed when what now looks like a bizarre scheme to create a level playing field kicked in.

PLUS: Paying tribute to the plucky privateer that punched above its weight

Now the garagistes really do have a chance, as Glickenhaus Racing proved last season with its Pipo-engined 007 LMH. It claimed a couple of poles, got onto the podium at Le Mans and would almost certainly have won at Monza in July had a brand new turbocharger not grenaded.

These are all proper programmes, ones taking advantage of rules designed to open the door to the pinnacle of sportscar racing to the little guy. That means they have to be given proper consideration this week

Glickenhaus has put together a proper programme and certainly wasn’t the joke that some were predicting it would be. Vanwall Racing boss Colin Kolles is promising that the Gibson-engined non-hybrid Vandervell LMH is a major step forward on his ByKolles team’s old LMP1. I haven’t seen the car in the flesh, or rather the carbon, but he insists that the levels of build quality are Formula 1 standard.

And just look at the partners that the owners of Isotta — a marque that won the Targa Florio, no less, more than 100 years ago — have put together. The project is being masterminded by Michelotto, Ferrari’s former partner in the GT ranks, while HWA is producing the bespoke turbo engine and Williams Advanced Engineering is responsible for the hybrid system and windtunnel testing.

My point is that these are all proper programmes, ones taking advantage of rules designed to open the door to the pinnacle of sportscar racing to the little guy. That means they have to be given proper consideration this week as the FIA and the series promoter the Automobile Club de l’Ouest sift through the entries following last week’s closing date. The door can’t be opened and then slammed straight shut.

Isotta Fraschini is working with a who's who of top-drawer partners on its Hypercar project

Photo by: Isotta Fraschini

There shouldn’t be any question of Glickenhaus getting an entry, even though its attendance record over the past two seasons has been patchy. The American entrant running out of Italy brought so much to the WEC over the first two seasons of the Hypercar era, and not just in terms of the results mentioned above.

Glickenhaus was arguably the saviour of the class that would have been Toyota versus and old LMP1 car painted blue and bearing Alpine badges but for its presence. It bought much needed bulk and variety to the grid. The marque’s massive social media presence also helped bring the WEC to the wider audience series bosses crave.

It’s less clear how the FIA and the ACO will look upon the entries from Vanwall and Isotta. The Vanwall project run by the ByKolles team has already had its entry turned down for 2022, while Isotta’s problem could well be that it’s saying that its new LMH to be run by the British Vector Sport team won’t be ready to race until round three at Spa at the end of April.

Maybe the selection committee will tell the Italian marque to go away and do some proper testing, prove the car and come back in 2024. That’s exactly what Vanwall has done of its own volition. So that would make it kind of hard for them to then reject the Vandervell LMH for a second time. Nor should we forget that Jota and Proton aren’t scheduled to get their Porsche 963s until Spa.

The powers that be certainly don’t have an easy job, given the embarrassment of riches presented to them. There will be 11 full factory entries in Hypercar this year, plus the two customer Porsches. You can add at least another five full manufacturer entries to that for 2024.

It would be easy to say that there isn’t room for all three of the operations I’m calling the garagistes as the WEC moves forward. But if Le Mans and the world championship are to remain true to their traditions, the minnows must have their place.

Glickenhaus has proven the potential of its car concept and like Vanwall and Isotta is deserving of an entry to the 2023 WEC

Photo by: Eric Le Galliot