Group founder Jim Glickenhaus has stuck to his vow to not proceed within the sequence this 12 months along with his Pipo-engined 007 Le Mans Hypercar with out sponsorship.
No funding was forthcoming earlier than the freight left by sea this week for the Asian leg of the WEC comprising the Fuji 6 Hours on 10 September after which the eight-hour fixture in Bahrain on 4 November.
Glickenhaus hasn’t dominated out rejoining the WEC with its solo full-season entry for the finale in Bahrain, however he appeared pessimistic that sponsorship will be present in time.
“I’ve stated that until we discover severe sponsorship that might permit us to proceed this 12 months in a great way after which go on into subsequent 12 months, then it is unnecessary for us to proceed,” he advised Autosport.
“Bahrain remains to be a chance for us as a result of we’re nonetheless speaking to individuals.
“But when we don’t get one thing in place for then, I’d say it’s most unlikely that we’d get one thing for subsequent 12 months, although it’s not over ’til it’s over.”
The US entrant opted to miss Fuji and Bahrain last year and didn’t decide to returning in 2023 until December. It once more filed one full-season entry and fielded a second 007 on the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Glickenhaus defined that it was more and more tough for impartial groups to compete in opposition to the rising variety of main producers competing within the Hypercar class of the WEC.
#708 Glickenhaus Racing Glickenhaus 007: Romain Dumas, Ryan Briscoe, Olivier Pla
Photograph by: Paolo Belletti
“After we entered the WEC it was one factor and now it’s fairly one other: seemingly each producer on the earth needs to be concerned,” he stated.
“I feel the times of the privateer are numbered.”
The significance of growing the 007 and taking on a few of the 5 so-called ‘evo jokers’ allowed on every automotive over its lifespan had been highlighted by Glickenhaus.
He acknowledged that he doesn’t need to be “cannon fodder” for Toyota and Ferrari, which have received the 5 WEC races to date this 12 months.
A return to the Nurburgring 24 Hours with its Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus 004C GT racer is on the playing cards for 2024 after the group opted to skip this 12 months’s race to give attention to its WEC programme.
“The Nurburgring makes extra sense for us, as a result of it promotes the automotive we’re constructing for the street,” he stated.
“The fee, after all, can be a lot decrease.”
The absence of Glickenhaus at Fuji, spherical six of this 12 months’s WEC, will imply there shall be 12 vehicles in Hypercar and 36 in complete.
The identical variety of vehicles will participate as at Monza earlier this month as a result of the works-run Coronary heart of Racing Aston Martin GTE will return after lacking the Italian race courtesy of a conflict with its commitments within the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Jim Glickenhaus, Glickenhaus Racing
Photograph by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Juan Manuel Correa returns to the line-up of the #9 Prema ORECA-Gibson 07 LMP2 for his third look of the 12 months within the WEC, which he’s contesting alongside a System 2 programme with Van Amersfoort Racing.
Mirko Bortolotti will take up his place in Prema’s #63 entry after lacking Monza to race within the Norisring DTM spherical.
Ferrari manufacturing facility driver Daniel Serra will return to the CarGuy-backed Kessel Racing entry. He was absent from the Ferrari 488 GTE Evo final trip in Italy as a result of he was racing in Brazilian Inventory Automotive Professional Collection.