Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus has brought multiple 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joest Racing on board for their 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar project.
As part of Glickenhaus’ ambitions to race against the works manufacturers at the front of the new LMh field (which replaces LMP1 at the front of the WEC grid), they are bringing in experts from the field of endurance racing to assist them with the development of the car. Joest Racing will work alongside Podium Advanced Technologies in the Glickenhaus Italian-based headquarters to run the Glickenhaus 007 Le Mans Hypercar.
Joest Racing comes into the project after their Mazda DPi project, racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, ended March last year. But this is not the only experience Joest has in endurance racing, as they have partnered with Audi and Porsche in the past.
Starting out in the 1970s, Reinhold Joest had high ambitions for his team, and partner with Porsche in the 1980s. Together, the duo won four 24 Hours of Le Mans victories with a 956 Group C car (1984/85), and the WSC95 LMP1 (1996/97). After their final victory with Porsche, Joest signed a partnership with Audi. From 1999, Joest’s team helped Audi claim their 13 Le Mans victories, staying partnered with the manufacturer until they withdrew from endurance racing in 2016. During this time, Joest was also behind the 2003 Bentley triumph at the same prestigious race.
Jim Glickenhuas, Founder of Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, told Motorsport.com: “We, as Glickenhaus, decided to enter into WEC and the Le Mans 24 Hours to prove that a niche manufacturer can deliver product to the highest technology level. It has been a huge effort to concept and design a car like our 007 LMH but, looking at the big names that will enter the Hypercar category, this is a big accomplishment for our brand.
“I am not a big fan of going quietly and having Joest Racing support shows how seriously we took this challenge.”
Luca Ciancetti, Head of Automotive Engineering and Motorsport Business at Podium Advanced Technologies, spoke of working with Joest Racing. He said: ”Having the chance to work with one of the most winning teams in endurance race history strengthens our line-up and finalises our strategy to be a strong competitor in our first year in the WEC and at Le Mans. The recent cooperation is already giving us great results and we are looking forward to the first shakedown of the 007 LMH.”
“I must say that working with the highly competent and motivated team at Podium Advanced Engineering in Italy has been a pleasure,” Jan Large, Joest Racing’s Head of Projects, commented. “We are particularly happy about returning to Le Mans, which is somewhat home ground for Joest Racing and where we’ve been able to take overall victories multiple times.”
Glickenhuas aim to run two of their 007 LMhs during the 2021 WEC season, including participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but they have already confirmed that they will miss the opening round in Sebring if this is to still go ahead. The car is expected to be seen on track for the first time during the second round of the championship: the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
