With a familiar background noise as the call connected, the DSC Ed in Chief’s greeting to Michelotto CEO Giorgio Gomiero was “Good morning, Giorgio, by the sound of it you are in Barcelona?”
A chuckle followed, and then “Yes, it’s good to see and hear the car out there.”
As covered on DSC yesterday, the Michelotto designed and built Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH is back testing as the manufacturer, and new technical partner High Class Racing, get to grips with development needs for the car, last seen in action in a partial WEC season in 2024.
That begs all sorts of questions about the future intentions with the car and for Michelotto (established in 1969, Michelotto was, for many years, partnered with Ferrari to assemble their hugely successful GT race cars), and Giorgio was good enough to call to outline the answers this morning.
“Firstly, to explain all of the pieces in the picture: Michelotto started the design of the car back in 2022; it remains entirely our intellectual property. Michelotto designed the whole car from a blank sheet/screen! Powertrain, chassis, aero, hybrid and software. It was designed to have the potential to be utilised by more than one OEM. It is the pinnacle of demonstrating our engineering capabilities.
“Secondly, we are still working as a primary technical partner with Isotta Fraschini, the partnership is anything but on hold. Isotta has suspended its racing programme, but with Michelotto as technical partner it is actively working on several projects, including a new road-legal hypercar. These will be unveiled over the coming months, and we will certainly play an active role in them.
“And thirdly, High Class Racing are now working with us on the testing, development and commercial side of this LMH programme.”
So Michelotto owns the IP, not Isotta?
“Yes, 100%. We value our partnership with Isotta Fraschini, but this platform was designed from the very start to be available to any manufacturer that was interested, or indeed for any aspect or all of it to be available for multiple manufacturers.
“As with Isotta Fraschini, we are a company that can work very closely with a manufacturer to design, build and develop not just cars for the track, but for the road too. That’s where we are taking this business.
“We designed and built cars that won at Le Mans many times, so we understand more than most what it takes to build a car that is not only fast enough, but also strong enough, to meet those challenges.
“That was proved most clearly at Le Mans (in 2024) where we finished the race (14th, ahead of the LMP2 winner and with a further nine Hypercars failing to finish).
So what are the current ambitions with this car?
“The 2024 programme left us convinced that the car’s true potential has yet to be expressed. That is why we decided to resume development, independently and with the support of High Class Racing.
We have huge confidence in the platform and, for right now, we are testing.”
Testing with a view to racing, or to prove the concept for any potential new customer?
“First we test, we find out exactly where we are, and we develop the car where we can.
“We tested at Vallelunga with a single Pro driver, Gianmaria Bruni, and we are here with three professional drivers (Gold and Silver) to learn all we can from them, and from the technical team, about where the car currently is, and where we can move forwards.”
Would it be fair to say that you are looking at the possibility of a run in the Asian Le Mans Series rather than WEC at present?
“WEC is something we will tackle as the final step, if and when we have a programme capable of competing at the highest level.
“IMSA is extremely appealing, but for now it is ruled out by regulatory constraints.
“The Asian Le Mans Series is the most likely scenario and our interest there is strong, but a clear definition of the picture — calendar and regulations — remains decisive.”
If the opportunity arises though, could it be a possibility?
“Given the right conditions, we are ready to race our LMH straight away. And, at the same time, as we have always done, we are looking ahead. I can tell you that there has been plenty of interest from drivers, both professional and gentlemen.”
And what of the future?
“We are back on track for a number of reasons, and one of them is to show the capabilities of Michelotto. We are very interested in the 2030 regulations; it is an extremely interesting prospect, and we are obviously encouraged that current and new manufacturers are interested too.
“We would love to be back racing with this car, but, perhaps even more, we want to be a part of the next phase of Hypercar. We are engaging with that process, and we are confident we can be the perfect technical partner for any manufacturer interested in it.
Pics Michelotto/ @ivancaravona
