Much attention has been paid to the 2030 Hypercar regulations in recent weeks, following the announcement at the ACO Press Conference.
Before we get to 2030, though, there’s another crucial moment for prototype racing on the agenda, as next-gen LMP2 cars will debut in the ELMS and at Le Mans in 2028, then in IMSA in 2029.
With the clock ticking, the push by the two chassis suppliers for the new Gibson-powered formula, ORECA and Ligier, is already well underway. The technical regulations aren’t yet finalised, and track testing isn’t set to begin until next year, but that hasn’t stopped teams from placing orders for cars to ensure they can be amongst the first to take delivery and begin preparing for season one.
The first was United Autosports, which declared for ORECA and its forthcoming 09 platform, back in May. And it wasn’t long after that that Duqeuine Team also made its decision public, announcing during Le Mans week that it, too, would compete with ORECA in 2028.
Making an early decision comes with risk (even though there looks set to be some form of BoP in the rules) and a significant financial commitment of around a million Euros per car.
“Nothing has changed in terms of what was visible,” Richard Dean, the co-owner of United Autosports, explains to DSC. “We sat back and said: ‘What are we waiting for to make a decision?’ We want to see both cars running, with a stopwatch and make a decision. But we’re not going to see that, are we? Both manufacturers are working to the same deadlines, and those have been dictated by the announcement of the regulations and production times.
“I think it’s highly unlikely anyone is going to see a car and be able to do back-to-backs with them until September, October 2027 time. So your next ideal is to get a car as early as you can. If you sit and wait, you’re going to potentially be at the back of the queue for delivery of a car. You can’t always have what you want in an ideal scenario.
“So if we can’t evaluate the cars, well, we do want an early car. We trust ORECA, whilst at the same time respect Ligier and have a great relationship with them – but all signs pointed to ORECA.”
“We’ve had a lot of success in LMP2. We’ve had success with both Ligier and ORECA and are the only team to have won races in the current-gen LMP2 with both manufacturers. And we felt it was the right decision, for continuity, to continue our relationship with ORECA for the next-gen car.
“It wasn’t based on seeing a car on track with a stopwatch. We believe ORECA is probably going to be the more dominant car, and I mean dominant in terms of numbers on the grid. So we didn’t want to sit back and sit last in the queue to receive cars. One of the important factors was to get an early delivery so we could get out early, up and running before anybody else.”
For ORECA, these early declarations are a welcome showcase of confidence from key members of its current customer base. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
The 07 has dominated the marketplace worldwide for years. Once it became clear that the 07 was the car to have in the formula, every team racing with Ligier, Dallara and Multimatic followed customer demand and gradually switched over. Only the occasional appearance by Ligier in recent years has added a pinch of variety to the fields of the Asian Le Mans Series and the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
“It’s a good moment for us because it means that ORECA is seen as a supplier of good racing cars that delivers a good service,” Rémi Taffin, ORECA’s technical director, tells DSC. “United declared they are trusting us with the car early, which means a lot.”
“When you get to racing, you want to see what the car will be, but that’s a normal process when you start designing a car. We have sat down with our customers and explained what we can do, even if we don’t have the technical regulations in place. We can only talk about the spirit of the car, make comparisons to the current one, and describe the differences.
“There has been a lot of work on the safety around the survival cell, which is what we are working on at the moment. It’s a challenge, but it’s worth it because we need to increase safety. There will be a new cell with features more like an LMDh, so it may give drivers more comfort. But we need to make sure when someone goes from the 07 to the 09 as a driver, they recognise the DNA.”
The expectation within ORECA is that it will keep the majority, if not all, of its current base on board for the new era, though it is still having to prepare for different scenarios.
“Customer delivery will happen at the end of next year,” Taffin adds. “The main problem is us: anytime we build a new car, we try to push the limits and make sure we’ve got the best tools. The short answer is: ‘Yes, we will be on time, and yes, we will be able to supply the customers that come to us.’ We will arrange accordingly.
“It’s not easy, but we are into the task. It’s clear that we keep registering orders, so now it’s just a matter of knowing how many we will have, because it’s not the same if you make 10 cars or 25 cars. Right now, it is feasible to deliver 25 cars for 2028.”
Where does this leave Ligier? It was never a secret that it would have a mountain to climb to claim some market share. It has been in talks with current ORECA customers, but convincing some of them to switch over will be tough, and grid space has been at a premium for a long time now.
However, there’s no sign whatsoever of panic, as it believes it has a winning concept and cards to play to get people on board.
Where it may make inroads is with teams looking to enter the LMP2 formula for the first time and using the new ruleset as a starting point. It has a strong customer base in LMP3 and its single-make championships to draw from.
Would the selection committee tasked with putting together the ELMS, Asian Le Mans Series and IMSA entry lists favour teams that would add variety to the field? Would they prioritise finding room on the grid for teams that have been waiting for years to step up to the category, and told there’s no room at the inn?
