WEC
Isotta Fraschini abandons plan for WEC debut in 2023
Revived Italian marque Isotta Fraschini has abandoned plans to race its new Le Mans Hypercar in the World Endurance Championship this year.
Gary Watkins
Edited: Aug 5, 2023, 6:11 PM
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Isotta had hoped to race the Tipo 6 LMH Competizione at the Bahrain WEC finale in November on a non-points, invitational basis ahead of its full entry into the series with Vector Sport next year, though it had already backed away from a firm commitment to do so when it demonstrated the car at the Monza round last month.
Now, it has confirmed that the debut for the Tipo 6 hybrid with Vector will be delayed until the 10-hour race at Qatar early next March at the start of the British team’s planned one-car assault on the 2024 series.
Isotta motorsport boss Claudio Berro explained that contesting the Bahrain 8 Hours on 4 November would prove problematical because it falls just before the dates it has been given for the Tipo 6 to undergo final homologation in the Sauber wind tunnel and then the FIA logistic and technical centre in France.
“It is now 100% we will not do Bahrain,” Berro told Motorsport.com.
“The homologation of the car is now fixed for mid-November, so it is not possible.
“We will continue testing until the end of October and then concentrate on preparing the car for homologation.”
Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH Competizione
Photo by: Isotta Fraschini
He added that the dates set for the homologation mean that Isotta will not be able to test in Bahrain straight after the race, which had also been a possibility.
Berro didn’t rule out Isotta traveling to the Middle East to take part in a WEC group test at the Losail circuit in Qatar in early December.
Isotta will continue its development programme at Monza this weekend when it will join the WRT BMW team, with which new factory signing Robin Frijns is expected to get his first test in the M Hybrid V8 LMDh.
The two-day test will be the first time that Vector drivers Gabriel Aubry and Ryan Cullen have joined the test programme alongside Marco Bonanomi and Jean-Karl Vernay, who have shared driving duties since Maurizio Mediani undertook the shakedown of the Tipo 6 at Vallelunga in April.
The first Tipo 6 chassis will then travel to Mugello for a further two days of testing on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
Berro described the two days at Monza as “an important test” for Isotta.
“We will have lap times from the WEC race at Monza, so we can begin to understand where we are,” he explained.
Isotta has now completed approximately 5000km of testing, with a planned target of between 10-12,000km prior to homologation in November.
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