Nissan caused a sensation when it presented the GT-R LM NISMO in a Super Bowl commercial on Sunday 2 February. The Japanese constructor is back in the prime category of endurance racing.

Some names evoke memories of bygone times. Others offer a peek into the future. By branding its hypercar “MCL-HY”, McLaren is not merely checking another box on its comeback trail. The British manufacturer is weaving an emotional thread linking 1995 to 2027... and beyond.

<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/2025-24-hours-of-le-mans-mclaren-introduces-the-world-to-its-hypercar-59772" target="_blank">McLaren Racing&rsquo;s return to the pinnacle of endurance</a>&nbsp;now has a name.&nbsp; The future hypercar that will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship, including showcase event the 24 Hours of Le Mans, from 2027 will be known as the McLaren MCL-HY. More than a simple code, it is a signature that identifies a direction and states a clear ambition: to reconnect with the Absolute.

<h2>MCL-HY&nbsp;&ndash; a legacy behind each letter</h2>

&ldquo;MCL&rdquo;: three letters that immediately strike a chord with Formula One fans. &ldquo;HY&rdquo;: two letters that instantly identify the car&rsquo;s era &ndash; Hypercar, the summit of endurance racing since 2021. Together, they emphasise McLaren&rsquo;s commitment to the FIA WEC.

At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, nothing ever truly disappears. Each triumph leaves a mark; each car becomes a legend. Utter this new name and one cannot help but hear an echo of the iconic <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/the-mclaren-f1-gtr-at-le-mans-1-key-dates-1995-1998-45631" target="_blank">McLaren F1 GTR</a> that made a winning d&eacute;but in 1995. A legendary lightning strike. The MCL-HY cannot erase the past but can aim to follow in its tracks.

James Barclay, Executive Director of McLaren Endurance Racing: &ldquo;Taking the McLaren name back to the pinnacle of sportscar racing is a huge milestone and it&rsquo;s a proud time for everyone within McLaren Racing and McLaren Automotive to share the name of our new Hypercar that follows in the footsteps of an incredible lineage of McLaren racing cars. We are in a golden era of sportscar racing and the Hypercar category continues to be extremely successful &ndash; our new car name shows respect to that.&rdquo;

<h2>All sights on 2027</h2>

The name is a foundation stone. On 4 May, McLaren will unveil the car and its test livery. However, the essentials are already laid. These five letters are a silent promise to return to Le Mans and its nocturnal magic, where headlights sear through the darkness &ndash; a moment suspended in time where everything becomes possible.

Le Mans is not just a race like no other, it&rsquo;s a language too. And with the MCL-HY, McLaren has opted to speak it once more.

McLaren MCL-HY – a name with a hint of promise for the 24 Hours of Le Mans

With a century of racing already on the clock, the icon of motorsport unveils a new brand design reflecting its singularity as a complete, universal, cultural event.

Today, the Automobile Club de l&rsquo;Ouest (ACO) begins writing a new chapter in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, introducing new branding, designed with frog, part of Capgemini, a global creative consulting agency specializing in business model reinvention and experience strategies.

The message &ndash;&nbsp;Drive your destiny&nbsp;&ndash; takes the race into a new era where limits continue to be pushed, power sustained and humanity celebrated.

<h2>A roadmap set out by the ACO</h2>

The new branding is part of ACO&rsquo;s overall growth strategy to build on the race&rsquo;s international reputation while remaining true to its soul. With over 300,000 spectators, the 24 Hours of Le Mans gathers people from all over the world and its new branding matches its status as an iconic annual event that transcends the frontiers of motorsport.

Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l&#39;Ouest : &ldquo;The 24 Hours of Le Mans is more than a race. It&rsquo;s a living legend, a collective experience that makes its mark on all involved &ndash; drivers, teams, partners, spectators, and volunteers. Our new identity translates that reality. We are not changing what we are, we are revealing what we have become. Drive your destiny is an invitation to be part of the story.&rdquo;

<h2>LA TRACE: vibrant visual language</h2>

The core of the new identity is &ldquo;La Trace&rdquo;, a resolutely contemporary, intensely sensorial visual language that encapsulates motion, emotion and the ritual associated with the event. La Trace&nbsp;is a conversation between heritage and innovation, symbolising an intention of forward movement and a lasting imprint. It represents the unique experience of each person who encounters the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and captures the tension, the pace and the depth of emotion that define the race.

With the new branding, the 24 Hours of Le Mans can express itself coherently and with renewed vigour across all its physical and digital touch points, before during and after the event.

&ldquo;Drive your destiny evokes the essence of Le Mans: an experience where every second counts and every move makes a difference; where drivers, teams, fans and partners write their own legacy, transcending the boundaries of the circuit.&rdquo; 
Elisabeth Jamot, Head of Brand Creative, and Olivier Picard, Head of Creation, Design, and Innovation&nbsp;at frog, part of Capgemini

<h2>More than a race: a cultural phenomenon</h2>

These choices underline the singularity of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in worldwide sport and culture. The event no longer defines itself as the world&rsquo;s greatest endurance race, rather as a shared experience, constantly in step with change &ndash; a cultural phenomenon that connects generations and leaves a lasting mark.

The redesign comes as the ACO pursues the ambitious growth of the 24 Hours of Le Mans ecosystem, the modernisation of the circuit and its infrastructure, the addition of off-track events and catering for a wider, more diverse spectator base.

Drive your destiny&nbsp;is a personal invitation to be part of an ongoing, universal story.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans reveals a new brand identity

Toyota celebrated its 100th FIA World Endurance Championship appearance with an incredible 50th victory in the 2026 curtain-raising contest at Imola today, following an enthralling nip-and-tuck duel with home favourite Ferrari.

In front of a record Imola attendance of&nbsp;92,175 enthusiastic fans, the start was given by Formula 1 World Championship leader,&nbsp;Kimi Antonelli, and&nbsp;Ferrari&nbsp;delighted the ever-devoted tifosi by running first and second early on.

Having dropped to third at lights-out, the&nbsp;#8 Toyota&nbsp;piloted by&nbsp;Brendon Hartley&nbsp;regained second place during the opening round of pit-stops. The next time the heavily-revised&nbsp;TR010 Hybrid&nbsp;pulled into its box &ndash; just before the two-hour mark &ndash; Toyota elected not to change tyres in order to seize track position, catapulting&nbsp;Ryō Hirakawa&nbsp;past&nbsp;Alessandro Pier Guidi&nbsp;in the&nbsp;#51 Ferrari&nbsp;into the lead.

What ensued was a memorable face-off between the reigning world championship-winning marque and the most successful brand in the series&rsquo; history, with&nbsp;S&eacute;bastien Buemi&nbsp;in the leading TR010 Hybrid ultimately taking the chequered flag just over 13 seconds clear.

<h2>McLaren&rsquo;s pain is BMW&rsquo;s gain</h2>

In&nbsp;LMGT3,&nbsp;Team WRT&nbsp;extended BMW&rsquo;s excellent record at Imola, as the Belgian squad benefitted from late heartbreak for series newcomer&nbsp;Garage 59&nbsp;to triumph for the second time in three years in Italy ahead of TF Sport. The&nbsp;#69 BMW&nbsp;crossed the finish line barely 0.25secs in front of the&nbsp;#33 Corvette, after the pole-sitting&nbsp;#10 McLaren&nbsp;suffered alternator failure while on-course for victory just half-an-hour from the end.

The 2026 campaign continues with the&nbsp;TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps&nbsp;in Belgium on&nbsp;7-9 May.

<a href="http://www.fiawec.com/fr/page/resultats/56" target="_blank">Full race results</a>

<div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RqBAAgxWoII?si=IkeUDjvit1XG0Ufr" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>

&nbsp;

Toyota takes 50th win in milestone 100th start

Twelve months ago at Imola, Ferrari’s Antonio Giovinazzi grabbed pole position by more than three-quarters-of-a-second. The reigning world champion secured the top spot on the starting grid again today, but he had to dig deep during the closest Hyperpole shootout in Hypercar history.

As it bids to get its title defence off to a winning start on home soil, Ferrari topped four of the five testing and practice sessions around the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, but when it came to qualifying for tomorrow&rsquo;s FIA World Endurance Championship curtain-raising contest, the Prancing Horse&rsquo;s rivals applied some serious pressure.

Ferrari&rsquo;s all-conquering 499P was still firmly in the mix &ndash; courtesy of Giovinazzi and countryman Antonio Fuoco &ndash; but so too were Toyota and Peugeot. Rising star Malthe Jakobsen produced a stellar effort in Team Peugeot TotalEnergies&rsquo; #94 9X8, but as the clock ticked down towards zero, Ryō Hirakawa stormed to the summit of the standings in TOYOTA RACING&rsquo;S heavily-updated TR010 Hybrid.&nbsp;

That looked to be that, but Giovinazzi had other ideas. On the very last lap of the session, the Italian thrilled the thousands of tifosi packing the circuit grandstands to snatch pole position by the tiniest of margins, with the leading quartet blanketed by a miniscule 0.073 seconds...

In LMGT3, Garage 59 made a grand entrance into the championship as rising star &ndash; and FIA WEC rookie &ndash; Tom Fleming produced a sensational performance. For much of the session, the young Brit looked untouchable, and while the opposition &ndash; led by Lexus &ndash; narrowed the gap later on, ultimately, nobody could hold a candle to the McLaren racer.&nbsp;

The 6 Hours of Imola will get underway at 13:00 CEST tomorrow (Sunday, 19 April).

Qualifying results <a href="https://www.fiawec.com/en/page/resultats-1" target="_blank">HERE</a>.

Follow all of the action live on <a href="https://plus.fiawec.com/fr" target="_blank">FIAWEC+</a>

Qualifying and Hyperpole Highlights | 6 Hours of Imola 2026 | FIA WEC

FIA WEC : les temps forts des qualifications et de l'Hyperpole des 6 Heures d'Imola 2026

FIA WEC : Ferrari on pole at Imola as Giovinazzi tops scintillating shootout

In the video below, Darren Cox, NISMO Global Head of Brand, Marketing and Sales, talks of the buzz that the presentation created, the choice of drivers and entering a third GT-R LM NISMO at Le Mans. The car will be on display at the Chicago Motor Show from 14-22 February. Darren Cox invites fans to get to know more about...well... watch the video to find out!

	<img class="imgVideo" id="3602" src="/wpphpFichiers/video/3602-24-hours-of-le-mans-2015-darren-cox-nissan-.jpg" />

	&nbsp;

	Comments in English

	Interview by Anthony Drevet Text by C&eacute;cile Bonardel / ACO Translation by Emma Paulay 
	&nbsp;

24H LE MANS

24 Hours of Le Mans - D. Cox (Nissan) “Look at what we're doing at the Chicago Auto Show!” (video)

Related News

McLaren MCL-HY – a name with a hint of promise for the 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans reveals a new brand identity

Toyota takes 50th win in milestone 100th start

FIA WEC : Ferrari on pole at Imola as Giovinazzi tops scintillating shootout

Major Partner

PREMIUM partners

OFFICIAL partners