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59-500: A Le Mans Prototype ( LMP ) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans , FIA World Endurance Championship , IMSA SportsCar Championship , European Le Mans Series , and Asian Le Mans Series . Le Mans Prototypes were created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The technical requirements for an LMP include bodywork covering all mechanical elements of

118-431: A 4.2-litre naturally-aspirated V8. In seasons 2017 through 2020, the engine produced about 600  bhp . Dallara , Onroak Automotive (Ligier), Oreca and the joint-venture Riley Tech / Multimatic were selected by FIA as the four exclusive chassis constructors, which must be closed-cockpit designs. Before the start of the 2021 season LMP2 cars have been slowed down to ensure the necessary lap time difference between

177-574: A Shelby Can-Am series was created using a production line of Sports bodied cars designed by Carroll Shelby powered by a 3.3 litre Dodge V6. The series ran for five years before it was dropped by the SCCA. A large number of cars were relocated to South Africa and ran from 2000 onwards. The name was once again revived in 1998, when the United States Road Racing Championship broke away from IMSA. Their top prototype class

236-581: A closed-course world-speed record of 221 mph (average)(356 km/h) at the Talladega Superspeedway (then called the "Alabama International Motor Speedway"). It was capable of 240 mph (386 km/h) on the straights. Jim Hall 's Chaparrals were very innovative, following his success in the United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC). The 2 series Chaparrals (built and engineered with

295-570: A great amount of flexibility within set rule parameters. In 1953 - 1984 seasons the World Sportscar Championship titles were awarded to manufacturers of sports prototypes (except of the 1978 - 1981 seasons). In 1985 - 1992 seasons titles were awarded to teams entering sports prototypes (instead of manufacturers of sports prototypes). In historic racing, they are often called "sports racing cars". Sometimes, they are metonymically referred to as "Le Mans cars", as

354-506: A high degree of covert support from Chevrolet 's research and development division) were leaders in the application of aerodynamics to race cars culminating with the introduction of the 2E in 1966, the first of the high wing race cars. The 2E was a defining design, and the 2G was a development of that basic design. The FIA banned movable aerodynamic devices and Chaparral responded with the 2H 1969. The 2H broke new ground, seeking to reduce drag but did not achieve much success. The 2J that followed

413-428: A number of other drivers, but the works Porsche effort with a turbocharged flat-12 engines and a high development budget meant that they could not keep up with the 917. Although private McLarens continued in the series, the works team withdrew to concentrate on Formula One (and USAC, for several years). Team McLaren went on to become a several time F1 champion and is still a part of that series. The Porsche 908 spyder

472-540: A wide variety of unique car body designs and powerful engine installations. Notable among these were Jim Hall 's Chaparrals and entries with over 1,000 horsepower . Can-Am started out as a race series for Group 7 sports racers with two races in Canada ( Can ) and four races in the United States of America ( Am ). The series was initially sponsored by Johnson Wax . The series was governed by rules called out under

531-403: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This motorsport-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Can-Am The Canadian-American Challenge Cup , or Can-Am , was an SCCA / CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1974, and again from 1977 to 1987. The Can-Am rules were deliberately simple and placed few limits on the entries. This led to

590-414: The 1973 championship . Porsche's dominance was such that engine rules were changed to try to reduce the lack of competition for one marque by enforcing a fuel-consumption rule for 1974. This kind of alteration of rules to promote equality is not unknown in other forms of American motorsport. The category that the car had been created for and competed in was discontinued and in 1975 Donohue drove this car to

649-464: The 24 Hours of Le Mans has been closely associated with the category in recent decades and features entries from several of the main championships contested by prototypes. Since the 1960s, various championships have allowed prototypes to compete. However, most championships have had their own set of rules for their prototype classes. Listed here are some of the more commonly known types of prototypes. This sports car racing -related article

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708-498: The FIA Group 7 category with unrestricted engine capacity and few other technical restrictions. The Group 7 category was essentially a Formula Libre for sports cars; the regulations were minimal and permitted unlimited engine sizes (and allowed turbocharging and supercharging ), virtually unrestricted aerodynamics, and were as close as any major international racing series ever got to have an "anything goes" policy. As long as

767-399: The oil crisis , and dwindling support and interest led to the series being canceled and the last scheduled race of the 1974 season not being run. The Can-Am name still held enough drawing power to lead SCCA to introduce a revised Can-Am series in 1977 based on a closed-wheel version of the rules of the recently canceled Formula A/5000 series. This grew steadily in status, particularly during

826-821: The 2015–2019 first-generation ruleset were the Ginetta-Juno P3 , Ligier JS P3 , Norma M30 , ADESS-03 , and the Ave-Riley AR-02. The cars were eligible in a number of series, such as the Asian Le Mans Series, the European Le Mans Series, as well as the V de V Endurance Series and the IMSA Prototype Challenge . A number of championships for the class have also been created, such as the FRD LMP3 series and

885-811: The British LMP3 Cup. First-generation cars were powered by a 5.0-litre normally-aspirated Nissan VK50 V8 engine , producing 310 kW (420 hp). A 2nd Generation ruleset was introduced for 2020, with new cars introduced: the Ginetta G61-LT-P3 , Ligier JS P320 , Duqueine D-08 , and the ADESS-03 Evo. These cars can be built from its predecessors using an upgrade kit. The new LMP3 prototypes are used in Asian Le Mans Series, Michelin Le Mans Cup , IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge , European Le Mans Series, and Prototype Cup Germany. For

944-544: The British McLarens and Lolas. The car made extensive use of titanium in its chassis and suspension, and Bryant experimented with aerodynamics and with early use of carbon-fibre to reduce weight. Although the car was quick it did not achieve consistent success; problems with the team's funding saw Bryant move on to Don Nichols' UOP -sponsored Shadow team. The Shadow marque had made its debut with an astonishing car with tiny wheels and radiators mounted on top of

1003-865: The Can-Am competitors occasionally went over to race against them). SCCA sports car racing was becoming more popular with European constructors and drivers, and the United States Road Racing Championship for large-capacity sports racers eventually gave rise to the Group 7 Can-Am series. There was good prize and appearance money and plenty of trade backing; the series was lucrative for its competitors but resulted, by its end, in truly outrageous cars with well over 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) (the Porsche team claimed 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) for its 917/30 in qualifying trim ), wings, active downforce generation, very light weight and unheard of speeds. Similar Group 7 cars ran in

1062-406: The Can-Am drivers and teams continued to race there. F5000's reign lasted for only two years, with a second generation of Can-Am following. This was a fundamentally different series based initially on converted F5000 cars with closed-wheel bodies. There was also a two-liter class based on Formula Two chassis. The second iteration of Can-Am faded away as IMSA and CART racing became more popular in

1121-565: The European Interserie series from 1970 on, but this was much lower-key than the Can-Am. On-track, the series was initially dominated by Lola , followed by a period in which it became known as the " Bruce and Denny show", the works McLaren team dominated for five consecutive seasons (1967-1971) until the Porsche 917 was perfected and became almost unbeatable in 1972 and 1973. After Porsche 's withdrawal, Shadow dominated

1180-506: The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and in the 24 Hours of Le Mans from the 2021 season . Non-hybrid LMP1 cars were eligible to be "grandfathered" for two more seasons and compete alongside the new class for the 2021 to 2022 seasons. Starting from the 2023 season of WEC and IMSA SportsCar Championship, Le Mans Hypercars are joined by Le Mans Daytona h (LMDh) cars. These two kinds of prototypes will form

1239-632: The GT class regulations, forcing the ACO to promote them as prototypes. In 2000, changes were made to the LMP regulations, as the ACO once again split the open-cockpit LMP class. The two new classes became known as "LMP900" and "LMP675", with the numbers denoting the minimum weight requirements (in kilograms) for each class. The LMP900s were to be more powerful and faster in top speed, but also heavier and more cumbersome. The LMP675s were to be smaller and more nimble, yet lack

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1298-467: The Group C cars with Le Mans Prototypes . Two classes were created, with LMP1s running large displacement custom-built engines that were usually turbocharged, and LMP2s using the smaller displacement production-based engines. Both classes were required to have open cockpits. However, LMP1 cars that year were just former Group C cars, some still with closed cockpits ( Toyota 94C-V , Courage C32 , Kremer K8 Spyder , Porsche 962C GTI , ALD C289 and Alpa LM). At

1357-739: The Hypercar category, a single aero kit has been made mandatory across the whole season and is limited to the Le Mans specification in the WEC; the ELMS teams have retained the right to switch between the aero kits. LMP3 is an entry-level prototype class intended for introducing young drivers and new teams to endurance racing before they progress to the higher classes of prototype racing, LMP2 and ultimately Hypercar. LMP3 uses closed-cockpit chassis, which can be built by any licensed constructor. Cars eligible for

1416-596: The LMP2 and a new class—Hypercar. In the original version of the new ruleset, revealed in November 2020, only the power of the Gibson engine has been reduced—to 560 bhp. Right before the start of the season, the cars were further weakened, by trimming an additional 20 bhp to a total of 540 bhp. The minimum weight of the cars has also been increased by 20 kg and has been set at 950 kg. Furthermore, mirroring

1475-699: The US), Don Beresford, Alec Greaves, Vince Higgins, and Roger Bailey (UK), Tony Attard (Australia), Cary Taylor, Jimmy Stone, Chris Charles, Colin Beanland, Alan McCall, and Alistair Caldwell (NZ). The M6 series used a full aluminum monocoque design with no uncommon features but, for the times, there was an uncommon attention to detail in preparation by the team members. The M6 series of cars were powered by Chevy "mouse-motor" small-block V8s built by Al Bartz Engines in Van Nuys, California. They were models of reliability. This

1534-508: The USAC/CART wars of the late 70s and early 80s, and attracted some top road-racing teams and drivers and a range of vehicles including specials based on rebodied single seaters (particularly Lola F5000s) and also bespoke cars from constructors like March as well as smaller manufacturers. To broaden the appeal of the series a 2L class was introduced for the last several years—cars often being derived from F2/Formula Atlantic. The series peaked in

1593-709: The car had two seats, bodywork enclosing the wheels, and met basic safety standards, it was allowed. Group 7 had arisen as a category for non-homologated sports car "specials" in Europe and, for a while in the 1960s, Group 7 racing was popular in the United Kingdom as well as a class in hillclimb racing in Europe. Group 7 cars were designed more for short-distance sprints than for endurance racing . Some Group 7 cars were also built in Japan by Nissan and Toyota , but these did not compete outside their homeland (though some of

1652-675: The car. As of 2023, there are two classes within Le Mans Prototypes, designated LMP2 and LMP3 . While not as fast as open-wheel Formula One cars around a track, the LMP1s were the fastest closed-wheel racing cars used in circuit racing. Le Mans Prototypes are considered a class above production-based grand tourer cars, which compete alongside them in sports car racing . Later, LMP1 designs included hybrid cars that use electric motors to assist acceleration. The Le Mans Prototype LMP1 class has been replaced by Le Mans Hypercars in

1711-564: The championship. For 1972 the 917/10K with a turbocharged 900 horsepower five-litre flat-12 was introduced. Prepared by Roger Penske and driven by Mark Donohue and George Follmer these cars won six of the nine races. In 1972 Porsche introduced an even more powerful car, the 917/30KL. Nicknamed the "Turbopanzer" this car was seen as a monster. With 1,100 or 1,580 horsepower (820/1161 kW in race or qualifying trim) available from its 5.4 litre flat-12 and weighing 1,800 lb (816 kg) with better downforce this car won six of eight races in

1770-568: The classic Can-Am (CA) name for their prototypes. Since 2004, most series have switched to referring to these cars as Le Mans Prototypes . The American Le Mans Series , the successor to the IMSA GT Championship and the predecessor of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, officially referred to the cars simply as Prototypes (P1, P2, or PC). An LMP is commonly referred to as a Le Mans car in

1829-537: The costs, FIA introduced a new set of LMP2 regulations, which will be locked in through 2020, aiming for a significant power increase, to the range of 150 horsepower (which is expected to lead to a four-second decrease in lap time at Le Mans). Gibson Technology is the exclusive engine supplier for LMP2, producing a four-litre normally-aspirated V8. Biofuels , specifically petrol with 10% ethanol and biodiesel ( BTL ), are allowed in both LMP1 and LMP2 categories. The fuel tank size and minimum weight for non-hybrid cars

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1888-456: The drivers who launched their careers in the revived Can-Am series. Can-Am was the birthplace and proving ground for what, at the time, was cutting-edge technology. Can-Am cars were among the first race cars to use sport wings, effective turbocharging , ground-effect aerodynamics, and aerospace materials like titanium. This led to the eventual downfall of the original series when costs got prohibitive. However during its height, Can-Am cars were at

1947-409: The early 1980s but remained active until 1987. Can-Am remains a well-remembered form of racing due to its popularity in the 1960s and early 1970s, the limited number of regulations allowing extremely fast and innovative cars and the lineup of talented drivers. Can-Am cars remain popular in historic racing today. Notable drivers in the original Can-Am series included virtually every acclaimed driver of

2006-587: The early 80s but as the CART Indycar series and IMSA 's GTP championship grew in stature it faded. In 1987 the series changed as Indycars started to become a source of cars. The SCCA took away the Can-Am name but the series continued as the Can-Am Teams Thunder Cars Championship. After a single year the teams took the sports bodies off and evolved into American Indycar Series . In 1991, after 18 months of development,

2065-477: The entire year with its best finish a fourth at Watkins Glen . While McLaren and Porsche dominated the series for most of its existence, other vehicles also appeared. Well-established European manufacturers like Lotus , CRD , in the form of their Merlyn Mk8 Chevrolet, Ferrari and BRM , appeared at various times with limited success, while March tried to get a share of the lucrative market in 1970–71, but could not establish themselves. Ford also flitted across

2124-496: The first Can-Am championship in 1966. Lola continued to experiment with new designs versus McLaren which refined the design each year. The 1971 Lola T260 had some success with Jackie Stewart taking two victories. In 1972 a radical new design, the Lola T310, made its appearance. The T310 was the longest and widest Can-Am car of the era versus the short stubby T260. The T310 was delivered late and suffered handling problems

2183-523: The forefront of racing technology and were frequently as fast as or even faster around laps of certain circuits than the contemporary Formula One cars. Noted constructors in the Can-Am series include McLaren, Chaparral , Lola, BRM , Shadow and Porsche. McLaren cars were specially designed race cars. The Can-Am cars were developments of the sports cars which were introduced in 1964 for the North American sports car races. The team works car for 1964

2242-512: The last season before Can-Am faded away to be replaced by Formula 5000 . Racing was rarely close—one marque was usually dominant—but the noise and spectacle of the cars made the series highly popular. The energy crisis and the increased cost of competing in Can-Am meant that the series folded after the relatively lackluster 1974 season; the single-seater Formula 5000 series became the leading road-racing series in North America and many of

2301-404: The late 1960s and early 1970s. Jim Hall , Mark Donohue , Mario Andretti , Parnelli Jones , George Follmer , Dan Gurney , Phil Hill , Denny Hulme , Jacky Ickx , Bruce McLaren , Jackie Oliver , Peter Revson , John Surtees , and Charlie Kemp all drove Can-Am cars competitively and were successful, winning races and championship titles. Al Holbert , Alan Jones and Al Unser Jr. are among

2360-610: The media. The first use of what would become Le Mans Prototypes was at the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans . In an attempt to increase the number of entrants beyond the small field of Group C competitors that the World Sportscar Championship had to offer, older Porsche 962s were allowed entry in Category 3. To further increase the size of the field, small open-cockpit race cars using production road car engines which were raced in small national championships were allowed in Category 4. Later, ACO announced its intentions to completely replace

2419-407: The rear wing designed by Trevor Harris; this was unsuccessful, and more conventional cars designed by Bryant replaced them; Bryant was sidelined when Shadow moved into Formula One but after his departure, turbocharged Shadows came to dominate as Porsche and McLaren faded from the scene. The last year for the original Can-Am championship was 1974. Spiraling costs, a recession in North America following

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2478-456: The same class structure as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, meaning it was the first championship to use the LMP name. At the same time, the ACO greatly altered their LMP classes. The smaller LMP2 class were briefly eliminated, while a new class of closed-cockpit prototypes was allowed in, known as "LMGTP" (Le Mans grand touring prototype). These cars were evolutions of production-based road cars that the ACO considered too advanced and too fast to fall under

2537-559: The same level of downforce as the huge wings of previous vehicles, without the drag. Although far too mechanically complex to survive in racing environments, the theory was sound, and would appear in Formula One a few years later in the BT46B "Fan Car" of 1978. The Lola T70, T160-165, T220, T260, and T310 were campaigned by the factory and various customers, and were primarily Chevy powered. The Lola T70 driven by John Surtees won

2596-422: The same time, the IMSA GT Championship announced the end of their closed cockpit GTP and Lights classes, deciding as well to replace them with a single open-cockpit class of World Sports Cars equivalent to LMP1. This formula continued up to 1996, with many manufacturers embracing the LMP and WSC classes, including Ferrari , Porsche , and Mazda . In 1997, the first European series based around Le Mans Prototypes

2655-562: The scene with a number of unsuccessful cars based on the GT40 and its successors. American specialist marques like McKee, Genie and Caldwell competed, alongside exotica like the astonishing four-engined Macs-It special. British-born mechanic and engineer Peter Bryant designed the Ti22 (occasionally known as the Autocoast after one of the team's major backers) as an American-built challenger to

2714-472: The second generation, engines were upgraded to the 5.6-litre Nissan VK56 , increasing horsepower to 340 kW (455 hp). For 2025, the engines used in the class are set to be replaced with the twin-turbocharged 3.4-litre Toyota V35A , bringing about a power increase to 350 kW (470 hp). LMPC ( Le Mans Prototype Challenge ) was an earlier entry level class, introduced in 2009, consisting of competitors running identical Oreca FLM09 cars. The class

2773-665: The sportscar championship of the 1970s. However, the USRRC collapsed before the end of 1999, with the series becoming the Rolex Sports Car Series chose to use the FIA's SR1 and SR2 formula instead. 1998 saw a great expansion for the ACO's LMP classes. Following the cancellation of the IMSA GT Championship at the end of 1998, the ACO allowed for the creation of the American Le Mans Series. This series used

2832-505: The top class of endurance racing: Hypercar in WEC and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) in IMSA. Le Mans Prototypes have used various names depending on the series in which they compete. The FIA 's equivalent cars were referred to as Sports Racers (SR) or Sports Racing Prototypes (SRP). The American IMSA GT Championship termed their cars World Sports Cars (WSC), while the short-lived United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) used

2891-535: The top speed of the larger class. Both classes were intended to be able to compete for overall wins. Audi , Chrysler , Cadillac , and Panoz opted to use the LMP900 formula, while MG were the only major manufacturer to attempt the LMP675 class. The LMGTP class also continued, with Bentley being the only manufacturer to build a closed-cockpit prototype after the regulation changes in 2000. In 2017, in order to limit

2950-446: Was subject to adjustment to reduce the difference in performance between hybrid and non-hybrid cars. There were no limits on the number of cylinders for any type of engine. Bodywork was required to cover all mechanical elements of the car, so that they couldn't be visible when the car is viewed directly from the front, side, or top. The LMP1 cars were generally the most powerful, with higher straight-line speeds. The LMP1 category

3009-422: Was considered very "multinational" for the times and consisted of team owner and leader Bruce McLaren, fellow New Zealander Chris Amon and another "kiwi", the 1967 Formula One world champion, Denny Hulme, team manager Teddy Mayer, mechanics Tyler Alexander, Gary Knutson, Lee Muir, George Bolthoff, Frank Zimmerman, Tom Anderson, Alan Anderson, David Dunlap, Leo Beattie, Donny Ray Everett, and Haig Alltounian (all from

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3068-744: Was dropped in European Le Mans Series in 2014 . As the cost of running an LMPC team was found to be comparable to that for an LMP2 team, the class was dropped after the 2017 season in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Sports prototype Prototype racing cars have competed in sports car racing since before World War II , but became the top echelon of sports cars in the 1960s as they began to replace homologated sports cars. Current ACO regulations allow most sports car series to use two forms of cars: grand tourers (GT cars) , which are strictly based on production street cars, and sports prototypes , which are allowed

3127-518: Was even a one-two-three finish at the Michigan International Speedway on September 28, 1969: McLaren first, Hulme second, and Gurney third. Nine months later, Bruce McLaren lost his life, on June 2, 1970, at Goodwood when the rear bodywork of his prototype M8D detached during testing resulting in a completely uncontrollable car and a fatal high-speed crash. Team McLaren continued to succeed in Can-Am after Bruce's death with

3186-535: Was followed in 1968 by the M8A, a new design based around the Chevy big-block V8 "rat motor" as a stressed member of the chassis. McLaren went "in house" with their engine shop in 1969. The M8B, M8C, M8D and M20C were developments of that aluminum monocoque chassis. McLaren so dominated the 1967-1971 seasons that Can-Am was often called the "Bruce and Denny show" after the drivers who very often finished first and second. There

3245-451: Was launched, known as the " International Sports Racing Series ". Using classes similar to LMP1/WSC and LMP2, these cars were known as "SR1" and "SR2" by the FIA. 1998 saw the creation of another series of Le Mans Prototypes, with the new United States Road Racing Championship attempting to break away from the IMSA GT Championship. To differ from IMSA'S WSC class, the USRRC named their open-cockpit prototypes " Can-Am " in an attempt to resurrect

3304-411: Was perhaps the ultimate example of what Group 7 rules could allow in a racing car. It was a twin-engined car, with the by-then usual big-block Chevrolet engine providing the driving force, and a tiny snowmobile engine powering a pair of fans at the back of the car. These fans, combined with the movable Lexan "skirts" around the bottom of the car created a vacuum underneath the car, effectively providing

3363-428: Was retired at the end of the 2020 season, replaced by a new top class of the endurance racing: Hypercar . From 2017, in order to limit the costs, FIA introduced a new set of regulations, which will be locked in through 2025. The rules allow a significant power increase (150 horsepower) which is expected to lead to a four-second decrease in lap time at Le Mans. Gibson Technology is the exclusive engine supplier, producing

3422-709: Was the M1. For 1965 the M1A prototype was the team car and bases for the Elva customer M1A cars. In late 1965 the M1b(mk2) was the factory car in 1966 with Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon as drivers. In 1967, specifically for the Can-Am series, the McLaren team introduced a new model, the M6A . The McLaren M6A also introduced what was to become the trademark orange color for the team. The McLaren team

3481-457: Was used in Can-Am, but was underpowered (350 hp) and mainly used by underfunded teams. It did win the 1970 Road Atlanta race, when the more powerful cars fell out. The 917PA, a spyder version of the 917K Le Mans car, was raced, but its normally aspirated flat-12 was underpowered (530 hp). In 1971 the 917/10 was introduced. This was not turbocharged, but was lighter and had cleaner body work, and Jo Siffert managed to finish fourth in

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