Glickenhaus WEC

[championaudi]

a bit contentious i know but.....

I got rather fed up with the promises & non delivery of the ByKolles WEC plans ........

Sign up to WEC ,maybe maybe not do prologue, le mans, or any other round over the last 12 years or more, funding , how ?

I really want to believe in Jim Glickenhaus Le Mans Hypercar program, he has a record of putting his money where is mouth is but......

All WEC teams knew they had to commit to the reduced rounds championship this year ,if you cant do it all , don't enter, so to hear that Glickenhaus may now not enter all the rounds due to 'we dont sell in that country' excuse is rather lame, I guess he must sell in France ...........

Give the man a chance you cry, yes but please don't turn out like the dentist!!

[geoffd]

Couldn't agree more, he had extra time to get his cars built too, so should have been ready with at least one for the start of this, delayed, season!
Plus, this season is, probably, his only chance of getting some podiums, with Peugeot returning next year and then Audi, Porsche and Ferrari, after that.

Time will tell of course, but the chances are Glickenhaus will turn out to be another ByKolles or Ginetta, sadly.  All credit to the guy for giving it a go but I think he under estimated the work (and cost) involved by some margin... Especially if he wants to be competitive.

[Kristof]

Couldn't agree more, he had extra time to get his cars built too, so should have been ready with at least one for the start of this, delayed, season!
Plus, this season is, probably, his only chance of getting some podiums, with Peugeot returning next year and then Audi, Porsche and Ferrari, after that.

Time will tell of course, but the chances are Glickenhaus will turn out to be another ByKolles or Ginetta, sadly.  All credit to the guy for giving it a go but I think he under estimated the work (and cost) involved by some margin... Especially if he wants to be competitive.

Been up and close with the Glickenhaus 007 last weekend in Portimao, and it certainly isn't another Bykolles or Ginetta.   Car looks way better in person than on pictures too.
The build quality of that car and attention to detail is miles away from the crap that both Ginetta and ByKolles have been using.  They still miss speed and reliability at the moment, but might be on to something.  Give them a bit of time, it could be interesting

[championaudi]

That's good to hear, post Le Mans attendance will be most important , & if it gains momentum before the poss numbers of manufacture LMDH arriving even better 

[geoffd]

That's good to hear, post Le Mans attendance will be most important , & if it gains momentum before the poss numbers of manufacture LMDH arriving even better 

I think they have already said they won't be doing the two flyaways as they don't sell cars in those parts of the world.

[Kristof]

I think they have already said they won't be doing the two flyaways as they don't sell cars in those parts of the world.

Japan will be cancelled and replaced by a race in Europe, probably Le Castellet or Barcelona. 
Bahrain will be the only flyaway so far (if that doesn't get cancelled too, covid cases have been increasing dramatically over there in the past weeks). 

[championaudi]

WEC NEWS
Glickenhaus can return to WEC only if it enters every race
Glickenhaus will only be permitted to return to the World Endurance Championship next year if it commits to entering and racing one of its Le Mans Hypercars in every race.
WEC CEO Frederic Lequien made the vow in the wake of multiple public comments from marque boss Jim Glickenhaus that he only wants to contest a limited programme with his Pipo-engined 007 LMH design in 2022 after opting out of the series following the Le Mans 24 Hours this year.

Lequien told Autosport that the American entrant will be required to race at least one 007 "for all the season, that is very clear".

"We don't want to sound pretentious, but we are an FIA world championship, which means we have to follow rules," he said.

"Also for the other competitors it is fair that he competes in all the rounds."

Lequien explained that any second entry from Glickenhaus for regular WEC rounds or Le Mans in June would be assessed by the relevant selection committees.

"It is clear that this could be possible, but [the team must enter] one car for all the races," he said.

In the wake of Lequien's comments, former movie director Jim Glickenhaus reiterated that he is not committed to all six races in 2022.

"It is our aim to be at Sebring and Spa before Le Mans and definitely have two cars at the 24 Hours," he told Autosport.

"We would like to go to Monza after Le Mans and to keep racing in the WEC, but what happens will depend on the Balance of Performance.

[Lazy B'stard]

So the FIA/ACO who are not exactly awash with entrants for the top class are turning cars away? They do know its going to be a few more years until the big hitters return?

[championaudi]

WEC / MONZA NEWS
Glickenhaus yet to make a call on entering Fuji, Bahrain WEC races
The Glickenhaus Hypercar team has yet to commit to competing in the remaining two rounds of the 2023 World Endurance Championship season.
Gary Watkins
By:
Gary Watkins
Jul 12, 2023, 3:42 PM


 

[Werner]

Same story as last year. Obviously they have a budget problem.

[JDS]

To be fair to Jim, he's put his own money where his mouth is, built a car to the ACO's Hypercar ruleset (rather than the considerably cheaper option of the LMDh modified spec route), commissioned an engine and got Joest to run the lot for them.

OK, the car is basically pants. OK, it doesn't do what JG had originally wanted it to do and be able to drive to Paris in it after competing for dinner (although we all knew that was never really on the table).

But ... It does exist, it did arrive when promised and basically support the entire ACO's Hypercar class in 2021 & 2022 along with Toyota (and Rebellion's old LMP1 rebadged as an Alpine and grandfathered into the class) until all the LMDh clones (and Ferrari - yay!) arrived this year. He's competed a 2 car entry in three Le Mans now with proper drivers too, not just a few ultra rich gent drivers, he's spent his own money and is a genuinely nice chap too.

I'm going to sound all old fashioned now, but we need more people like Glick in endurance racing; people with an absolute love for the sport, with a drive to build a car and compete, and with the funds to do it without selling out (too much) to the corporate or manufacturer paymasters - basically, we need the garageistas again, not the slick, overfunded manufacturer-lead sanitised sport we are well on the road to. He gets my support even if each season they stop after Le Mans (let's be honest, nobody, including the manufacturers care about winning the WEC, the only reason anyone enters is to get an entry to, and hopefully win, Le Mans).

PS - pics just as a withdrawal symptom from FB and because I actually like the car - it's how I imagine a kid would draw a car if you gave them a piece of paper and said 'go draw me a race car'

[Barry]

Totally agree John.

[Aysedasi]

To be fair to Jim, he's put his own money where his mouth is, built a car to the ACO's Hypercar ruleset (rather than the considerably cheaper option of the LMDh modified spec route), commissioned an engine and got Joest to run the lot for them.

OK, the car is basically pants. OK, it doesn't do what JG had originally wanted it to do and be able to drive to Paris in it after competing for dinner (although we all knew that was never really on the table).

But ... It does exist, it did arrive when promised and basically support the entire ACO's Hypercar class in 2021 & 2022 along with Toyota (and Rebellion's old LMP1 rebadged as an Alpine and grandfathered into the class) until all the LMDh clones (and Ferrari - yay!) arrived this year. He's competed a 2 car entry in three Le Mans now with proper drivers too, not just a few ultra rich gent drivers, he's spent his own money and is a genuinely nice chap too.

I'm going to sound all old fashioned now, but we need more people like Glick in endurance racing; people with an absolute love for the sport, with a drive to build a car and compete, and with the funds to do it without selling out (too much) to the corporate or manufacturer paymasters - basically, we need the garageistas again, not the slick, overfunded manufacturer-lead sanitised sport we are well on the road to. He gets my support even if each season they stop after Le Mans (let's be honest, nobody, including the manufacturers care about winning the WEC, the only reason anyone enters is to get an entry to, and hopefully win, Le Mans).

PS - pics just as a withdrawal symptom from FB and because I actually like the car - it's how I imagine a kid would draw a car if you gave them a piece of paper and said 'go draw me a race car'

I completely agree too!  Jim ought to get a medal for keeping Hypercars afloat with Toyota.