Acura
Marshall Pruett has been digging into the progress being made by Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport for RACER.com around the team’s preparations to double up its Acura ARX-06 GTP programme with a second car for the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship
20th BMW art car to race at Le Mans
BMW announced last week that the Ethiopian-born Artist Julie Mehretu has been commissioned to create the 20th BMW Art Car.
Mehretu was unanimously chosen by an international jury of museum directors and curators, and will be given total creative freedom to design the livery for the BMW M Hybrid V8 Art Car which will compete in Team WRT’s hands in the 24 Hour race of Le Mans in June 2024.
The commission continues an almost 50-year tradition since 1975 with artists including Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jenny Holzer, Jeff Koons, Cao Fei, and John Baldessari cresting ‘rolling artworks’ on both road going and racing BMWs.
“I’ve loved cars for most of my life, as toys, as objects, as possibilities. It is from that space that I’m really excited to be working on the next BMW Art Car more than anything,” stated Julie Mehretu. “The thrill of the speed, the 24 Hour race of Le Mans and what is possible to invent in hybrid and fully electric vehicles as future modes of play and pushing ahead into new terrains of transportation and motorsports.”
No third BMW for 2024
DSC has established that the prospects of a third BMW Hypercar entry for the 2024 FIA WEC have recently ceased.
The potential effort for next season had focused around the possible involvement of a car featuring Sean Gelael for the full season, the car conceived as a possible third Team WRT car.
DSC understands that the challenge of ramping up to a third car in the team’s first year in Hypercar was a deciding factor in opting not to field the car in the programme’s first WEC season. It remains an option in subsequent years.
Ferrari’s ‘Muletta’
A flurry of online interest featured around the appearance on social media of stills pictures and short video clips of a Ferrari prototype lapping Red Bull Ring in Le Mans week apparently shod with Pirelli tyres and being driven by Olivier Beretta.
DSC sources have confirmed that despite the car’s visual similarities to a 499P Hypercar it is nothing of the sort, it is instead a ‘Muletta’ testing powertrain and other components for other Ferrari programmes.
The car and its purposes are understood to be well known to the FIA and do not impinge on the testing restrictions for the 499P.
Isotta Fraschini tests at Aragon ahead of Monza demo
Isotta Fraschini tested at Motorland Aragon last week with both the racing Hypercar Tipo 6 ‘Competizione’ and their track-only Tipo 6 LMH Pista.
Nearly 1400 kilometres were completed in three days of testing for the race car between Wednesday and Friday to continue development before homologation.
Jean-Karl Vernay undertook most of the testing with Marco Bonanomi unwell and unable to attend the test, Matteo Malucelli stepped in.
Jean-Karl Vernay: “A very positive test in which we did nearly 1500 km without any issues, a big step forward. We’ve improved a lot of consistency and performance, and we understood all the important parts of the car, like the hybrid system, the electric engine, and the brakes. A super-positive test, after which we look forward to the demo next week in Monza and the next test later in July”.
Both cars are set to be demonstrated on-track this weekend at Monza in two demonstration sessions, one on Saturday at 2.20 pm and the other on Sunday at 10:30 am.
The ‘Pista’ has seen several updates since the car was unveiled for the first time last month at Paul Ricard.
Also under the team’s awning at Monza will be a 1:2 scale model that will reveal the shape of the Tipo 6 LMH Strada, the roadgoing version of Isotta Fraschini’s hypercar.
