DSC has been reporting on progress with the Isotta Fraschini Hypercar effort since May 2022 with only sporadic information emerging from the outfit behind the revival of the historic Italian marque.
Now though the floodgates have opened with a new management team involved in the programme, the marque passing back into a now Italian majority ownership group.
DSC caught up with the brand’s new Managing Director for Motorsport, ex-Ferrari, Maserati and Lotus man Claudio Berro to get significantly more information on the project than has previously been available – and it includes some corrections of information from previous sources.
What is correct is that the car has been designed, and is being built, with an impressive array of industry talent, Michelotto to the fore, the current build of the first race car (the previous build seen by others was a mock-up) and of a parallel road car ‘Tipo C’ is underway at a dedicated facility at Michelotto with “all parts now with us at the factory”.
Williams Advanced Engineering did indeed develop the aero solution and is still very actively engaged in the project as it progresses to wind tunnel proving (which will take place at Sauber at the end of February – after the planned first shakedown tests for the car).
One significant change from prior information is the origin of the Internal combustion engine, the 3-litre V6 is not a VAG-based unit but rather a bespoke engine whose intellectual property is held by Isotta Fraschini but built and developed between Michelotto and HWA. A test engine has already been dyno-tested for over 50 hours.
XTrac is another key project partner with responsibility for the main gearbox and the component integrating the front-drive hybrid system. The system also uses a William battery pack and some Bosch electronics. Whilst there are some common components, this is not the LMDH single unit.
The chassis and the bodywork are supplied by the industry-leading ARS Technologies, the same organisation that, under a prior name, worked with Sr. Berro on the chassis for the Maserati MC12 for instance as well as the Lotus T125 single seater – they also supplied the highly praised chassis for the Ginetta G60 LMP1 amongst others.
The first chassis has been delivered to Isotta with the next pair for delivery in January and February, one bound for crash testing, one for the first race car and the third for the first road car.
The bodywork is in the final stages of definition with Williams Advanced Engineering and will arrive at Michelotto by the end of January. From there the car will test on a four-wheel-drive rolling road before the first straight-line testing the following month.
The build of the ‘C’ Competizione (Race) and ‘S’ Stradale (Road) versions of the car are progressing in parallel, the presentation of a road car a necessary element of the homologation of the race car under Hypercar rules*.
The company is already licensed in Italy both as a road car and race car manufacturer.
The second batch of chassis is due to follow on from the current batch allowing for more cars (a mix of race, road and a third version, track only would be possible).
*NB – a road version of the same car is not required but a road car from the same marque is required – since Isotta Fraschini is relaunching the marque, this is the available option.
The current plan for the road car manufacture, when production is regularised, is to operate at a capacity of one ‘Stradale’ per month.
Racing Plans
The company announced some time ago that they were targeting a race programme to start at Spa’s FIA WEC round. That plan remains in place and Isotta is under no illusions that there is a lot of work to do before then.
Administratively, of course, that means the car must be homologated and that an FIA WEC entry must be accepted to allow the programme to progress for the coming season (that process closes for the 2023 season on 8 January).
The progress with that was described by Berro as “Progressing well, it is a challenging process but the FIA and ACO are being entirely professional. We are very clear on what they require and we are working hard to provide it all.”
Another key element is the assurance of a race team and racing budget and here there is significant progress.
DSC’s prior information was that Isotta Fraschini had the available budget to build, test and develop the car but would need commercial backing to finalise a race programme.
That seems to have been a pretty accurate summary, the good news is that the squad seem very close to a solution.
The coming days will see a team selected after an initial four potential partner teams from across Europe were distilled down to a final two. Isotta is confident that the selected outfit will provide not only the racing infrastructure required, but also have the commercial backing to deliver the programme.
DSC is aware of the identity of the front-running team and can confirm that this assessment is a realistic pathway.
The team are very serious indeed about an entry for 2023 with plans in place to complete the required documentation this side of Christmas from both the manufacturer and team sides.
They are fully aware that they need to prove the concept to the FIA and ACO but counter that their project is different from others, that they hope that the organisers are persuaded that an entry is justified for effectively a launch programme and that it adds something to the HyperCar mix.
The Longer-term Plan
The vision is to relaunch the historic Italian brand worldwide using motorsport as the key marketing tool.
Success on track, translating to customer interest and sales is the classic model that has been missing from all-too-many marketeers’ box of tricks but the Isotta Fraschini team still holds the concept dear as the best route to market in a market segment that has seen some high profile success in the last few decades (Pagani and Koenigsegg for instance).
“If the ACO and FA agree the 2023 race programme would be a great opportunity for all of us to develop this new car and to build something for the future,’ said Sr. Berro.
“We are already in discussions around a two-car racing effort for 2024. The partners, technical and financial, are all very serious about the vision, passionate about the project, and driving together to get there.
“I hope we get the opportunity to join what looks like an amazing entry!”
