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#15 Ferrari 312PB: Brian Redman, Jacky Ickx
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Analysis

Why Ferrari is ending its 50-year top-flight sportscar racing exile

Making a return to top-flight sportscar racing after 50 years away, Ferrari will enter the Le Mans Hypercar ranks in 2023. The Italian marque denies the link with Formula 1's new cost cap that frees up resources, but it's certainly no coincidence...

A bright new future for the top flight of sportscar racing. Massively reduced costs. Prototype machines that can be made to look like their road-going brethren. And a surplus of resources from its Formula 1 programme becoming available. The stars have aligned for Ferrari's long-awaited return to the pinnacle of sportscar racing as a factory.

Everything came together for the decision that preceded Wednesday's announcement of the Italian manufacturer's bid to start trying to add to its tally of nine outright victories at the Le Mans 24 Hours from 2023. It seems it is just a happy coincidence that its first factory assault with a prototype will happen half a century on from its last such campaign in 1973 with the 312PB three-litre Group 6 car (below).

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