McLaren hints announcement of outright Le Mans bid could be made soon

McLaren has hinted that it could soon announce plans to go for outright victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, has teased the possibility of an announcement at Le Mans this year when the marque will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of its victory in the French enduro with the F1 GTR in 1995.

On a visit to the opening round of this year’s World Endurance Championship in Qatar last week, he stressed the importance of sportscar racing to McLaren.

He pointed out that he will be at the Le Mans WEC round, where McLaren will be competing in LMGT3 with its 720S GT3 Evo, in June and not at the clashing Formula 1 fixture in Canada.

“That’s a priority for us,” he said. “We will have a nice display there in the Le Mans museum and hopefully we will have some exciting stuff to talk about.”

The latest comments from Brown about a McLaren return to top-level endurance racing follow his revelation at Le Mans last year that it was “more when than if” when questioned about the possibility of a prototype programme.

“It is pretty clear that we would like to do it; we would love to be going for the overall win at Le Mans,” he said in Qatar.

“I don’t think the timing has ever been better,” he added.

He pointed to the success of the McLaren F1 team, which won the constructors’ title last year, and the three wins for the Arrow McLaren IndyCar squad with Pato O’Ward in 2024.

Brown also referenced the take-over of the McLaren Automotive road car division by Abu Dhabi investment company CYVN Holdings, saying that it is a “good time for McLaren Automotive to stretch its legs in motorsport”.

Brown’s hints at an imminent announcement of a McLaren entry into the top class of sportscar racing in the WEC and potentially the IMSA SportsCar Championship in North America come after years of interest.

McLaren was a player in the rulemaking process behind the Le Mans Hypercar rules and subsequently made no secret of its aspirations to develop an LMDh after a second route into the WEC’s Hypercar class was announced.

Brown’s comments in Qatar come at a time when it is understood that McLaren has already made key decisions regarding an LMDh programme, possibly even its sign-off.

Dallara Automobili is set to be the chassis partner, while the engine will have its roots in the 120-degree twin-turbo V6 already in use in both road and race versions of the Artura introduced in 2022.

The unsuitability of the architecture of the V8 turbo that powered McLaren’s range of sportscars from its re-entry into the road car market in 2011 was one reason it was forced to delay a prototype programme.

The way has been paved for McLaren to finally commit to racing in Hypercar after series organisers the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest announced last June that the lifecycle of the current ruleset had been extended until the end of 2029.

Should McLaren commit to developing an LMDh in the summer, an entry in 2027 would appear likely, giving it a minimum of three seasons with the car.

The Kokusai Kaihatsu McLaren F1 GTR driven to victory at Le Mans in 1995 by JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya is already on display at the track’s museum on a six-month loan.