A few days before the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans, the chain of events resulting from Mike Conway’s accident led to Akkodis ASP Team calling up Jack Hawksworth – 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar GTD Pro champion – to stand in for José María López in the Lexus RC F GT3. Hawksworth will be back in 2025.

24H Le Mans

24 Heures du Mans

The kickoff of the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans (the administrative and technical checks known as Scrutineering) is Ground Zero for competitors to take stock of their respective rivals and proclaim their ambitions for the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC).

Thirty-nine of the 62 cars entered in the 93rd&nbsp;24 Hours&nbsp;submitted to inspection by the technical marshals today. The crowd got a close-up view of the Hypercars, LMP2s, LMGT3s and driver line-ups set to take the track next weekend. This first day also marked the highly anticipated return of Aston Martin and&nbsp;Mercedes-AMG at the Le Mans classic.

The first of the Hypercars to arrive&nbsp;at the place de la R&eacute;publique in the Le Mans city centre this morning was BMW M Team WRT&#39;s&nbsp;BMW M Hybrid V8, hot on the heels of a second place finish at the 6 Hours of Imola. Vincent Vosse, BMW M Team WRT manager:&nbsp;We have made consistent progress since June 2024. We understand the car better and&nbsp;have&nbsp;performed at a higher level in-race last season and this year. But, we don&#39;t know quite what to expect here because the&nbsp;circuit is so different from all the others. Sunday, after Test Day, we&#39;ll have a better sense of our performance level.&nbsp;Dries Vanthoor, #15 BMW driver: We can win this race.

<h2>Peugeot Looks to Convert Promise Into Performance</h2>

Peugeot fans were out in full force for the French constructor and its 9X8 Hypercar, this year marking its third participation. Stellantis Senior VP Jean-Marc Finot:&nbsp;We will fight for the best result possible. This is the largest field ever&nbsp;in history. This 24 Hours will be breathtaking. Lo&iuml;c Duval, #94 Peugeot driver:&nbsp;At the&nbsp;TotalEnergies 6 Hours of&nbsp;Spa-Francorchamps, we battled at the forefront with the&nbsp;Ferraris, &nbsp;BMWs and&nbsp;Toyotas. The outcome of the race was not what we hoped for, but we performed at a level capable of placing both cars in the&nbsp;top 5.

Cadillac is counting on the experience of British team JOTA to take it to victory. Four&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/the-cadillac-v-series-r-under-the-microscope-ready-to-roar-for-america-at-le-mans-59659https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/the-cadillac-v-series-r-under-the-microscope-ready-to-roar-for-america-at-le-mans-59659" target="_blank">V-Series.Rs are entered this year</a>&nbsp;and it can be said there is power in numbers at the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans.&nbsp;S&eacute;bastien Bourdais, #38&nbsp;Cadillac driver alongside Earl Bamber and&nbsp;Jenson Button:&nbsp;We have shown we&#39;re capable of good results since the beginning of the season. The team is only getting stronger.&nbsp;Cadillac installed a new wiring harness in the car, so there was a period of adjustment. At the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, we performed well, finishing fifth and sixth. The car has potential, so we&#39;re all aiming for&nbsp;an impressive outcome.

Though&nbsp;the Cadillac V-Series.R is an extremely popular Hypercar thanks to the imposing&nbsp;sound of its V8, another is right on its heels in the category: the Aston Martin Valkyrie, a rookie at this 93rd edition, and&nbsp;its&nbsp;V12. The two&nbsp;Valkyries entered thrilled the crowd today. Even without the roar, the Hypercar&#39;s lines and British colours did not disappoint! Harry Tincknell, #007 driver:&nbsp;It is so exciting to take part in this race with this car. It has all the makings to become a legend. That&#39;s what we&#39;re hoping for. These last six months, in testing and racing, we have worked hard to improve its performance and reliability. We can easily say it has improved in every way.&nbsp;

<h2>Alpine Endurance Team&nbsp;</h2>

Last year, Alpine was a Hypercar rookie. Just one year later, the A424 is a contender. The French Hypercar&#39;s improvement has translated into&nbsp;three&nbsp;podiums at the last five FIA WEC rounds this season.&nbsp;At the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the #36 Alpine faced off against the&nbsp;Ferrari 499Ps before finishing third. Alpine Motorsport Director Bruno Famin:&nbsp;The 24 Hours of Le Mans has its specificities and challenges. We must not get carried away. We will strive to continue to progress. The only objective we have set for ourselves is to not have any regrets on Sunday, 15 June.

<h2>Mercedes Back After 26 Years</h2>

Representing&nbsp;the LMGT3 category, the Ford Mustang LMGT3, Ferrari 296 LMGT3, Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R, Porsche 911 GT3.R LMGT3, Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 and McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo took to the stage at the place de la R&eacute;publique and&nbsp;GT fans could not get enough.

This 93rd 24 Hours marks the 30th anniversary of the McLaren F1 GTR&#39;s victory. While waiting to see the British manufacturer return in 2027 to fight for&nbsp;overall victory, the LMGT3 category is its current playground. Two McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evos are entered by United Autosports. The Anglo-American team&#39;s start to the season was marked by a second place finish at the Qatar 1812 km. Gr&eacute;goire Saucy, #59&nbsp;McLaren driver:&nbsp;This anniversary makes us just want it more. We&#39;re confident because we know the car can perform.

The&nbsp;LMGT3 category is host of&nbsp;Mercedes-AMG&#39;s return. The German carmaker&#39;s last appearance dates back to&nbsp;1999! Twenty-six years later, three Mercedes-AMG LMGT3s are entered by&nbsp;Iron Lynx. All three cars will sport a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/mercedes-amg-tips-hat-to-1989-success-with-special-silver-arrows-livery-59587" target="_blank">livery in tribute to the 1989 Sauber C9 Mercedes</a>&nbsp;win. Maxime Martin, driver of the #61 Mercedes:&nbsp;To take part in the 24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans is always an exceptional experience, but to be a part of Mercedes&#39;&nbsp;return is even more special. Now&nbsp;we need to do our best and deliver a proper race.&nbsp;It would be pretentious, however,&nbsp;to say that we can win in our first participation.

LMP2 prototypes were also inspected by the stewards today. In this category, which includes 17 cars, the fight for victory is anyone&#39;s game as always.

Representing&nbsp;Inter Europol Competition, Tom Dilmann, #43 ORECA&nbsp;07-Gibson driver: The goal is to win. We have the team and the crew to achieve it. Despite that, there are a lot of parameters to master. You have to be very serious, very focused and ready to take on&nbsp;all conditions. This year, we won the 12 Hours of Sebring. If we could win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, that would be great.

PJ Hyett, AO by TF #99 ORECA driver: Everyone in the team is working to put the car at the head of the field. There&#39;s a dragon on our bodywork, and that&#39;s how we&#39;ll be on the track.&nbsp;&nbsp;Defending champion United Autosports is on notice!

Scrutineering will resume tomorrow at 08:30 with 23 cars submitting to inspection, including the&nbsp;Hypercars fielded by&nbsp;Ferrari AF Corse, Porsche Penske Motorsport and&nbsp;TOYOTA GAZOO&nbsp;Racing, and the LMGT3s of&nbsp;Ferrari and&nbsp;BMW. Follow&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@24heuresdumans/streams" target="_blank">live on the official 24 Hours of Le Mans&nbsp;YouTube channel</a>. In the interim, take a look at this gallery from the first day of Scrutineering.

2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Ambitions sky high at Scrutineering 1

Hypercars under the microscope | Eight illustrious manufacturers will line up in the top class at the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans (11-15 June 2025). One of those is Cadillac who typifies the American outlook of performance, design and technological innovation with the V-Series.R. Focus on a Hypercar with a distinct style, a unique engine and lofty ambitions.

No fewer than four Cadillac V-Series.R entries will be on the grid for the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans. This Hypercar is the result of a far-reaching collaboration between Cadillac Design, Cadillac Racing and chassis manufacturer Dallara. Inspired by the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/24-hours-of-le-mans-cadillac-shows-off-new-hypercar-56383" target="_blank">Project GTP Hypercar</a> concept unveiled in June 2022, it incorporates emblematic characteristics of the Cadillac&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cadillac.com/performance/v-series?srsltid=AfmBOoo3PxXxFtcVrgneXzdWushxkxp8cn5eTi5pawAyeDgc6-ko1u-N" target="_blank">V-Series</a>&nbsp;range, such as vertical&nbsp;lighting, floating blades and a body that is sculpted like an aerodynamic work of art.

The car&rsquo;s bodylines are the outcome of in-depth engineering work undertaken to optimise airflows with side channels guiding the air around the car. The V-Series.R is a successful union of form and function designed to perform in both the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

<h2>A one-of-a-kind engine</h2>

The Cadillac V-Series.R is powered by a naturally aspirated engine &ndash; the LMC55R V8 &ndash; developed from a blank page by the General Motors teams in Pontiac (Michigan). The result is a muscular V8 block that sings loud and proud and stands out from the crowd! 
Over a century of Cadillac V8 expertise has gone into building this 5.5-litre engine, comprising 1911 different parts. It also forms a structural element of the chassis guaranteeing rigidity and light weight.

The American Hypercar fielded by Hertz Team JOTA, Cadillac WTR and Cadillac Whelen also carries a standardised hybrid drivetrain&nbsp;consisting of a Bosch motor generator unit (MGU) integrated into the Xtrac gearbox, and WAE batteries. The MGU recovers kinetic energy on braking, transforms it into electricity and stores it in a battery. It then uses this electricity on accelerating to provide a power boost to the car.

<h2>V for victory</h2>

The Cadillac V-Series.R made its competitive d&eacute;but at the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona and has since covered over 20,000 kilometres in development, showing reliability and consistency. The car put in a fine performance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary in 2023, finishing third overall.

For this 93rd running of the French endurance classic, Cadillac is clearly gunning for its maiden outright victory in the race and, to achieve this dream, is relying on the backing of Hertz Team JOTA and their decades of technical and racing expertise.

Here are five goods reasons for following and supporting the Cadillac V-Series:

1. A naturally aspirated V8 engine&nbsp;with distinct character, the only one of its kind in the Hypercar class. 
2.A strong design combining elegance and aerodynamic efficiency. 
3. Fully mastered hybrid technology. 
4. A 100% Cadillac project from the engine to the design. 
5. A clearly defined objective: winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Don&rsquo;t miss the next episode in our &ldquo;Hypercars under the microscope&rdquo; series in which we shall continue our analysis of the prototypes in the high-quality field.

Next up: the Alpine A424 entered by Alpine Endurance Team.

<a href="https://fiawec.tv/page/679a56921229db49627128a6" target="_blank">Watch all the action from the FIA World Endurance Championship</a>, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, live or on demand with the FIA WEC TV official app! Don&rsquo;t miss a thing! Check out the app for further information.

The Cadillac V-Series.R under the microscope: ready to roar for America at Le Mans

As Porsche Penske Motorsport’s adds the finishing touches to its preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans next week, the German manufacturer has revealed a new model, the 963 RSP. The car is the road version of the Hypercar fielded in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The Porsche 963 RSP is an adaptation of its racing counterpart, which has already claimedpodiums in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the North American IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. If you were in or around Le Mans today, you may have spotted the beauty gliding through villages or in the streets of the old town.

The car is the result of collaboration between Porsche Penske Motorsport, Porsche Cars North America, and Roger Penske, whose initials are included in the name. The 963 RSP is inspired by the legendary 917 that belonged to Italian aristrocrat Count Rossi &ndash; well-known to classic car enthusiasts. Derived from the model that won the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans, the count&rsquo;s road-legal 917 was built in 1975. Registered in Switzerland, the car was regularly driven by the count, heir to Martini &amp; Rossi, of Martini Racing fame. Who has never seen that livery?

<h2>Horn and cupholder</h2>

The Porsche 963 RSP is somewhat different to its elder sister. It sports the &lsquo;Martini&rsquo; silver paint, a reworked body and a tan leather and Alcantara interior to mirror the one chosen by Count Rossi fifty years ago. 
Indicators and brake lights, a higher suspension, less extreme wet-weather tyres, a slight tweaking of the bodywork, and a horn make the model worthy of a temporary license plate from French authorities. There&rsquo;s even a detachable cupholder.

&ldquo;That was an experience that will stay with me for a lifetime,&rdquo; said Timo Bernhard, who was at the wheel of the 963 RSP for its first miles on the road. &ldquo;Driving down a public road with a 917 beside me &ndash; it felt unreal. The car behaved perfectly &ndash; it felt a little friendlier and more forgiving than the normal 963 &ndash; and felt super special and a lot more comfortable, especially as I was not needing all my safety gear.&rdquo;

The Porsche 963 RSP will be presented at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (11-15 juin 2025) before returning to Stuttgart to be displayed in the Porsche museum. In July it will head to the UK with the Porsche 917 for the Goodwood Festival of Speed. 
Feast your eyes on our photos of today&rsquo;s outing!

Porsche introduces a road-legal version of the 963 Hypercar

The administrative and technical checks for the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans begin today on Place de la République in Le Mans city centre. Follow the proceedings live on our YouTube channel.

The administrative and technical checks &ndash; more commonly known as Scrutineering &ndash; is much more than a simple formality for the teams involved. They mark the real starting point in the countdown to the race itself and offer fans a unique glimpse into the world of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. If you can&rsquo;t be there, watch our live broadcast to get a close-up view of the checks in every detail and see some of the brand new liveries adopted for the showcase event of the season!

Bruno Vandestick, the official 24 Hours of Le Mans track commentator, will be in the Place with his microphone to capture the drivers&rsquo; first impressions, dig up some clues about each teams&rsquo; objectives and find out more about their preparations before they take to the track for the fourth round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

&gt;&gt;&gt; <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/2025-24-hours-of-le-mans-scrutineering-schedule-59592" target="_blank">Check out the full scrutineering schedule</a>&nbsp;&lt;&lt;&lt;

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Day 1 of 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans scrutineering live!

24 Heures du Mans 2025

Jack Hawksworth&nbsp;will replace&nbsp;Ben Barnicoat for the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans (11-15 June 2025), with the Chesterfield-born driver still recovering from a bike accident. Hawksworth will share the wheel of the #78 Lexus RC F GT3 with Finn Gehrsitz&nbsp;and Arnold Robin. 
Last year, Esteban Masson, Takeshi Kimura and Hawksworth drove the #87 Lexus to 10th place in the LMGT3 class after entertaining hopes of a podium for a while.

The #78 Lexus RC F GT3 currently lies third in the chase for the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGT3 Teams on the back of a fourth place in the Qatar 1812 Km and a third place in the 6 Hours of Imola.

24H LE MANS

Jack Hawksworth to replace Ben Barnicoat for Akkodis ASP Team

Related News

2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Ambitions sky high at Scrutineering 1

The Cadillac V-Series.R under the microscope: ready to roar for America at Le Mans

Porsche introduces a road-legal version of the 963 Hypercar

Day 1 of 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans scrutineering live!

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