J'AIME MAY 2019

M OTO R S
Life in the fast lane
J’AIME’S MOTORING EXPERT AND RESIDENT RACING DRIVER MARTIN
PLOWMAN TAKES A LOOK AT WHY THE ‘HYPERCAR’ LE MANS CLASS -
NEW FOR 2020 - IS SOMETHING TO GET EXCITED ABOUT
SWEDISH HYPERCAR
KOENIGSEGG
For the first time in nearly two decades, hypercars
finally have a home where they can race instead of
being restricted to driving laps around the streets of
Knightsbridge by their billionaire owners.
Yes that’s right; the FIA, in conjunction with the
ACO - the organising body that runs the 24 Hours
of Le Mans - have helped to develop a set of budgetfriendly
rules that will allow manufacturers to race
their respective hypercars as top-billing of the FIA
World Endurance Championship for the start of the
2020 season.
Cars such as Mclaren’s P1, Aston Martin’s Valkyrie,
Bugatti’s Veyron, Mercedes’ AMG-ONE, and
Sweden’s premier hypercar builder Koenigsegg are
just a small sample of some of the most exotic and
breathtaking cars in the world right now that have all
been touted as potential candidates for the new class.
Now imagine some 24 of these dream cars racing at
the most iconic endurance race in the world and you
have yourself a mouth-watering proposition that will
make even the most casual racing fan’s heart flutter.
LMP1, the top class in the World Endurance
Championship that comprises the 24 Hours of Le
Mans, has been in steady decline over the last four
years ever since big-dogs Audi and Peugeot pulled
the plug on their racing programs leaving just
Toyota to race among themselves in the top class.
Budgets started to violently spiral out of control and
eventually the futuristic-looking prototype cars were
no longer sustainable as a class, so the FIA had to
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