On Friday, it was learned that the Michael Shank Racing team will compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 18th and 19th). Indeed, the members of the outfit have decided to honour the invitation extended to them by the IMSA. The drivers themselves have decided to take somewhat unique French lessons...

24H Le Mans

24 Heures du Mans

Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot, Porsche and Toyota will all hit the track to fight for the overall win at the upcoming 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans (11-15 June). Learn more about the Hypercars entered, driver line-ups and team goals in our presentation below.

<h2>What Is a Hypercar?</h2>

<p>Hypercar has served as&nbsp;the head category in endurance racing, including at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the FIA Word Endurance Championship (WEC), since&nbsp;2021. Two types of cars are allowed: LMHs (Le Mans Hypercar) and&nbsp;LMDhs (Le Mans Daytona h).&nbsp;</p>

<p>Both Hypercars can compete in the WEC and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (in the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans and&nbsp;Rolex&nbsp;24 at&nbsp;Daytona alike).&nbsp;</p>

<p><u><strong>The two types of Hypercar</strong></u><strong>:&nbsp;</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li>LMH: permits&nbsp;a wide variety of architectures and&nbsp;notably authorises the presence of a hybrid system on the front axle<br />
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>LMDh: the base&nbsp;of the car &ndash;&nbsp;corresponding to the complete car without the thermal engine, bodywork or hybrid system &ndash;&nbsp;is supplied by four chassis manufacturers: Dallara, Multimatic, Ligier and ORECA</li>
</ul>

<p><u><strong>FIA WEC Hypercar Regulations</strong></u><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li>Closed body prototype&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Professional driver line-ups&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Hybrid and non-hybrid cars&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Lap time at the 24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans =&nbsp;3:30&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Cost control: budget reduced by&nbsp;80%&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Sole tyre manufacturer: Michelin&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Minimum weight: 1,030 kg&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Balance of Performance: sporting fairness guarantee&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Maximum power:&nbsp;500 kW&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h2>ASTON MARTIN THOR TEAM</h2>

<p>#007 &ndash; Aston Martin Valkyrie &ndash; Harry Tincknell / Tom Gamble / Ross Gun<br />
#009 &ndash; Aston Martin Valkyrie &ndash; Alex Riberas / Marco S&oslash;rensen / Roman De Angelis</p>

<p>Aston Martin is making its first appearance in the Hypercar category this season with two&nbsp;Valkyries. The British&nbsp;constructor is entering the only&nbsp;Hypercar initially designed for the road.&nbsp;The&nbsp;inimitable sound of the Valkyrie&#39;s V12 should make it a&nbsp;crowd favourite at the&nbsp;93rd&nbsp;24 Hours.&nbsp;But facing off against the best marques in the world and immediately rising to the level of contender is&nbsp;no easy feat.&nbsp;The other manufacturers have several years of experience to draw upon while&nbsp;Aston Martin is a category rookie. The team is stepping into&nbsp;a long learning process at the highest level of endurance racing, and as such,&nbsp;seeing both Valkyries cross the finish line would already make for&nbsp;a very satisfying result.&nbsp;Aston Martin Thor Team is currently eighth in the Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers&#39; Championship trophy.</p>

<h2>ALPINE ENDURANCE RACING</h2>

<p>#35 &ndash; Alpine A424 &ndash; Paul-Loup Chatin / Ferdinand Habsburg / Charles Milesi<br />
#36 &ndash; Alpine A424 &ndash; Mick Schumacher / Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Makowiecki / Jules Gounon</p>

<p>Alpine joined the Hypercar category with the A424 last season. Though 2024 was mainly a year to&nbsp;gain&nbsp;experience, the French marque finished fourth in the Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers&#39; Championship trophy behind Toyota, Porsche and&nbsp;Ferrari. The team has gotten stronger this season with two third place finishes at the 6 Hours of Imola and&nbsp;TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps for the&nbsp;#36.&nbsp;Alpine Endurance Racing is currently fourth in the championship rankings.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>BMW M TEAM WRT</h2>

<p>#15 &ndash; BMW M Hybrid V8 &ndash; Dries Vanthoor / Raffaele Marciello / Kevin Magnussen<br />
#20 &ndash; BMW M Hybrid V8 &ndash; Ren&eacute; Rast / Robin Frijns / Sheldon van der Linde</p>

<p>BMW M Team WRT definitely impressed last year during its first WEC season in Hypercar. The&nbsp;BMW M Hybrid V8 quickly improved, going from rookie to serious conetender for the top spots. The German&nbsp;constructor feels more confident now and&nbsp;is ready to battle for the&nbsp;podium and write a new chapter in BMW&#39;s endurance racing legacy. The #15 finished fourth at the Qatar&nbsp;1812 km and the&nbsp;#20 reached the second step on the podium at the 6 Hours of Imola. BMW M TEAM WRT figures in third place in the Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers&#39; Championship trophy.</p>

<h2>CADILLAC HERTZ TEAM JOTA</h2>

<p>#12 &ndash; Cadillac V-Series.R &ndash; Will Stevens / Norman Nato / Alex Lynn<br />
#38 &ndash; Cadillac V-Series.R &ndash; Earl Bamber / S&eacute;bastien Bourdais / Jenson Button</p>

<p>Cadillac&#39;s&nbsp;2024 season turned out as&nbsp;a mixed bag of highs and lows. The team opted to overhaul its&nbsp;strategy&nbsp;for 2025 through&nbsp;a technical partnership with Hertz Team JOTA and the commitment of two V-Series.Rs.&nbsp;The road to victory is always peppered&nbsp;with challenges, but Cadillac now seems better equipped to go all the way. The team&nbsp;finished fifth and sixth overall at the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of&nbsp;Spa-Francorchampsclass&eacute;es, its best result since the beginning of the season. Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA is fifth in the Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers&#39; Championship trophy.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>CADILLAC WTR&nbsp;</h2>

<p>#101 &ndash; Cadillac V-Series.R &ndash; Ricky Taylor / Jordan Taylor / Filipe Albuquerque</p>

<p>Wayne Taylor Racing is gearing up for a new challenge after receiving an invitation to take the start in the 24 Hours with its&nbsp;Cadillac V-Series.R. This long-awaited&nbsp;dream is finally coming true for Wayne Taylor who has participated in the race a staggering 13 times (three with&nbsp;Cadillac between&nbsp;2000 and&nbsp;2002). And the cherry on top: his sons Ricky and Jordan are joining their dad on the adventure, teaming up with Filipe Albuquerque.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>CADILLAC WHELEN</h2>

<p>#311 &ndash; Cadillac V-Series.R &ndash; Jack Aitken / Felipe Drugovich / Frederik Vesti</p>

<p>This American team has secured an invitation to Le Mans for the past three years in a row and is a major contender in the&nbsp;IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In 2024, the team finished 28th in the championship classification, certainly not an accurate reflection of&nbsp;its true potential.</p>

<h2>FERRARI AF CORSE</h2>

<p>#50 &ndash; Ferrari 499P &ndash; Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina<br />
#51 &ndash; Ferrari 499P &ndash; Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi</p>

<p>The highlights of AF Corse&#39;s&nbsp;2024&nbsp;WEC season were winning Le Mans&nbsp;and finishing third in the Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers&#39; Championship trophy. Thanks to a finessed&nbsp;499P and experience gained by the team over the last two years, Ferrari AF Corse seems ready to clinch its&nbsp;third consecutive victory in the 24 Hours. The Italian&nbsp;marque has dominated this season with wins at the Qatar&nbsp;1812 km, 6 Hours of Imola and&nbsp;TotalEnergies 6 Hours of&nbsp;Spa-Francorchamps. The outfit tops the rankings in the 2025&nbsp;Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers&#39; Championship trophy.</p>

<h2>AF CORSE</h2>

<p>#83 &ndash; Ferrari 499P &ndash; Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye / Philip Hanson</p>

<p>AF Corse competes in the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams. Last year, it&nbsp;won Lone Star Le Mans at the circuit in Austin,&nbsp;Texas, giving&nbsp;Ferrari its very first victory in the WEC outside of the&nbsp;24 Hours. Though entered by a private team, the&nbsp;499P is fully capable of reaching the top step on the overall podium at Le Mans. AF Corse finished second at the Qatar&nbsp;1812 km,&nbsp;fourth at the&nbsp;6 Hours of Imola and figures first in the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams.</p>

<h2>PEUGEOT TOTAL ENERGIES</h2>

<p>#93 &ndash; Peugeot 9X8 &ndash; Paul di Resta / Mikkel Jensen / Jean-Eric Vergne<br />
#94 &ndash; Peugeot 9X8 &ndash; Lo&iuml;c Duval / Malthe Jakobsen / Stoffel Vandoorne</p>

<p>In the wake of an improved&nbsp;2024 season with a podium near the end, Team Peugeot TotalEnergies is determined to succeed&nbsp;this year. Could the&nbsp;Peugeot 9X8, fine-tuned across the races, achieve a podium finish at the&nbsp;24 Hours?&nbsp;The engineers and drivers are looking&nbsp;to give the top&nbsp;teams a run for their money. The best result secured by a&nbsp;9X8 this year is ninth place at the Qatar 1812 km and 6 Hours of Imola for the&nbsp;#93. Peugeot TotalEnergies is seventh in the Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers&#39; Championship trophy.</p>

<h2>PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT</h2>

<p>#4 &ndash; Porsche 963 &ndash; Felipe Nasr / Nick Tandy / Pascal Wehrlein<br />
#5 &ndash; Porsche 963 &ndash; Julien Andlauer / Michael Christensen / Mathieu Jaminet<br />
#6 &ndash; Porsche 963 &ndash; K&eacute;vin Estre / Laurens Vanthoor / Matt Campbell</p>

<p>With two decisive wins and remarkable reliability, Porsche showed significant progress in&nbsp;2024 while facing some major challenges. On the back of its win at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and 12 Hours of&nbsp;Sebring, the German constructor is a favourite heading into the 93rd 24 Hours to clinch its&nbsp;20th victory at Le Mans.&nbsp;Porsche Penske Motorsport figures sixth in the Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers&#39; Championship trophy.</p>

<h2>PROTON COMPETITION</h2>

<p>#99 &ndash; Porsche 963 &ndash; Neel Jani / Nicolas Pino / Nicolas Varrone</p>

<p>Proton Competition is the only team to field a private Porsche 963 in the&nbsp;WEC this year. Neel Jani (2016 24 Hours winner with Porsche) should be able to place the car in the top 10 overall. This German outfit, like AF Corse, competes in the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams, currently figuring second in the rankings.</p>

<h2>TOTOTA GAZOO RACING</h2>

<p>#7 &ndash; Toyota GR010 Hybrid &ndash; Mike Conway / Kamui Kobayashi / Nyck de Vries<br />
#8 &ndash; Toyota GR010 Hybrid &ndash; S&eacute;bastien Buemi / Brendon Hartley / Ryo Hirakawa</p>

<p>With&nbsp;five wins in a row at the 24 Hours between&nbsp;2018 and&nbsp;2022, TOYOTA GAZOO&nbsp;Racing is determined to add a sixth.&nbsp;Aware that luck can play a role, the Japanese constructors prefers to focus on&nbsp;hard work to give itself every chance of triumphing.&nbsp;Toyota is building on the mindset that saw it clinch the manufacturers&#39; title at the 8 Hours of Bahrain&nbsp;and is approaching&nbsp;the 2025 Le Mans classic with the same fighting spirit. The&nbsp;#7 has been given&nbsp;a livery in honour of&nbsp;the&nbsp;1998 TS020 (a.k.a. the&nbsp;GT-One).&nbsp;TOYOTA GAZOO Racing is second in the Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers&#39; Championship trophy.</p>

2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Presentation of the Hypercar category

Our spotter guide is your vital aid to identifying the 62 cars competing in the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans (11-15 June 2025),  the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship season.

<p>The 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans kicks off tomorrow with the administrative and technical checks &ndash; better known as Scrutineering &ndash; to be held on Place de la R&eacute;publique in Le Mans city centre.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Track action gets underway on Sunday&rsquo;s Test Day when the teams get two free practice sessions to find their bearings on the challenging circuit. There is still time, therefore, to download the<strong> 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans spotter guide</strong>. Created by Archim&egrave;de, these charts are an essential&nbsp;companion to help spectators &ldquo;spot&rdquo; the 21 Hypercars, 17 LMP2s and 24 LMGT3s invited to compete in the race.&nbsp;Especially as many teams choose to paint their machines in a new livery for the showcase event of the season. Among them will be the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid fielded by Toyota Gazoo Racing which will pay <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/toyota-celebrates-40-years-at-the-24-hours-with-standout-liveries-59575" target="_blank"><u><strong>tribute to the TS020, aka &ldquo;GT-One&rdquo;</strong></u></a>. AF Corse&rsquo;s Oreca 07-Gibson (#182) should also not go unnoticed! United Autosports has opted to use the #59 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo as a vehicle for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/24-hours-of-le-mans-2025-the-59-mclaren-sports-a-livery-committed-to-fighting-meningitis-59554" target="_blank"><u><strong>meningitis awareness</strong></u></a>. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/2025-24-hours-of-le-mans-a-new-livery-for-the-iron-dames-59652" target="_blank"><u><strong>the #85 Porsche 911 GT3 LMGT3 will convey the values supported by the Iron Dames</strong></u></a>&nbsp;in a new paint scheme.</p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>&gt;&gt;&gt; <a href="https://assets.lemans.org/explorer/pdf/courses/2025/24-heures-du-mans/Affiches/guide-spotter-24h-2025.pdf" target="_blank"><u>Download your 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans spotter guide</u></a> &lt;&lt;&lt;</strong></p>

Check out the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans spotter guide

During the legendary race, spectators witness a spectacular phenomenon. In the darkness of the Le Mans night, brake discs burn bright red during heavy braking. But why?

<p>Brake reddening is due to&nbsp;extreme heat caused by friction between the pads and discs during braking. At temperatures as high as 600&deg;C, a disc &ndash; made of carbon in the Hypercar category &ndash; begins to emit a visible red glow. This colour indicates the energy emitted&nbsp;in the form of heat.</p>

<p>When temps exceed 1000&deg;C, common in certain areas of the circuit, the brakes shine even brighter, especially at night. This is a normal, expected&nbsp;and fully controlled phenomenon&nbsp;provided the intended operating limits are maintained.</p>

<h2>Where on the Circuit Do&nbsp;Brakes Get Most Stressed?</h2>

<p>The 13.625 km circuit alternates between long straights and tough&nbsp;braking zones. The two chicanes in the Mulsanne Straight are the most taxing after&nbsp;cars reach in excess of&nbsp;320 kph&nbsp;before needing&nbsp;to brake sharply to navigate&nbsp;the upcoming tight turns.&nbsp;The deceleration is violent, the braking intense and&nbsp;the discs then reach extreme temps, causing them to glow. Other areas, such as Mulsanne, Indianapolis and&nbsp;Arnage, also put brakes under severe strain, but with less intensity than the two chicanes.</p>

<p>Red-hot brakes are not&nbsp;a bad sign in and of themselves. On the contrary, they indicate the system is operating at high revs, which is typical of a 24-hour endurance race. The materials used, namely carbon discs and&nbsp;high-performance calipers, are designed to operate within extreme temperature ranges.</p>

<p>But, it&#39;s all a question of balance. If the temperature becomes too high and heat dissipation is insufficient, this can lead to&nbsp;premature wear of the pads and discs, a loss of braking efficiency&nbsp;and&nbsp;risk&nbsp;to driver safety.</p>

<h2>How to Avoid Overheating the Brakes During the Race</h2>

<p>To prevent brake overheating and loss of efficiency&nbsp;while racing, it is essential to keep&nbsp;the air ducts that cool&nbsp;the brakes clean. They&nbsp;must be free of debris or obstructions that could reduce airflow and compromise disc cooling.</p>

<p>Additionally, precise management of disc temperature is crucial. This requires&nbsp;adjusting air duct openings and&nbsp;increasing or decreasing airflow to the brakes.&nbsp;During the race, teams can regulate&nbsp;in real time to maintain&nbsp;an optimal thermal range to&nbsp;avoid&nbsp;overheating and ensure consistent performance without compromising&nbsp;longevity.</p>

<p>The driver&nbsp;can feel the brakes overheating at the pedals. When that happens, brake fluid can boil&nbsp;causing air bubbles to form in the system. However, air is compressible, unlike fluid. As a result, the pedal becomes &quot;softer&quot; or &quot;longer&quot; with a less direct response. This is a sign of a loss of efficiency, and drivers must adapt their driving to compensate.</p>

<h2>A Fascinating and Controlled Phenomenon</h2>

<p>Glowing red&nbsp;does not necessarily indicate&nbsp;dangerous overheating.&nbsp;At the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans, engineers, technicians and drivers know how to monitor, anticipate and master this occurrence.&nbsp;Thanks to customised&nbsp;design and rigorous thermal management, the brakes can burn red&hellip;without ever weakening.</p>

<h4><u>Read</u>:</h4>

<ul>
	<li><strong><a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/brembo-and-the-24-hours-of-le-mans-a-history-of-endurance-and-innovation-59580" target="_blank">Brembo and the 24 Hours of Le Mans &ndash; a history of endurance and innovation</a></strong></li>
	<li><strong><a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/brembo-sheds-light-on-24-hours-of-le-mans-hypercar-brake-systems-59607" target="_blank">Brembo sheds light on 24 Hours of Le Mans Hypercar brake systems</a></strong></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/brembos-collaboration-with-24-hours-of-le-mans-teams-59638" target="_blank"><strong>Brembo&#39;s collaboration with 24 Hours of Le Mans teams</strong></a></li>
</ul>

Why do brakes glow red during the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

Porsche Penske Motorsport will once again take part in the Racing for Charity fundraiser at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (11–15 June). The German manufacturer will be donating 500 Euros for every lap completed by the Porsche 963 Hypercar. The funds raised help two charities care for sick children.

<p>For the third year running, the three Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche&nbsp;963s will display #RacingForCharity on their wings. The funds raised at the 2025 race will be shared between two charities: Interplast Germany e.V. and Kinderherzen retten e.V.<br />
<strong>&ldquo;We are proud to have been contributing to Racing for Charity for the last three years. When our sport can help people in need, especially sick children, we don&rsquo;t hesitate for a second. Helping others has always been part of the Porsche philosophy,&rdquo;</strong> says <strong>Thomas Laudenbach</strong>, vice-chair of Porsche Motorsport.</p>

<h2>1.82 million RAISED</h2>

<p>Since Racing for Charity began in 2023, Porsche has raised over 1.82 million Euros, including 911,000 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Their commitment earned the team the 2023 Sustainable Endurance Award by DHL.</p>

<p>Last year, the #6 Porsche&nbsp;963 was classed fourth overall, having completed 311 laps of the course. This June, once again, each lap is important, for the team and for the people it supports.</p>

<h2>Two charities striving to make the world better</h2>

<p>Fribourg-based charity <strong>Kinderherzen retten e.V</strong>. provides heart operations in Germany for children from developing countries born with heart defects.<br />
Meanwhile <strong>Interplast Germany e.V.</strong>, founded 45 years ago, provides plastic surgery to people in under-resourced communities who don&rsquo;t have access to it. Each humanitarian surgery trip cares for some 100 children.<br />
To Porsche, this programme is part of a wider commitment to make a positive contribution to society. In 2024, the carmaker helped fund 110 projects around the world, in the realms of sport, culture, environment, society, science and education.</p>

<p>With Racing for Charity, Porsche shows that <strong>every lap of the circuit helps improve a child&rsquo;s life</strong>.</p>

With Racing for Charity, Porsche builds up hope, lap after lap

<p style="text-align: justify;">
	At Le Mans, the American outfit will enter the Ligier JS P2-Honda with which it will compete in the entire WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. John Pew (U.S.) and Oswaldo Negri, Jr. (Brazil) will take turns at the wheel. The two teammates will race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time and will be supported by Laurens Vanthoor (one participation in 2015).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
	Neither man speaks a lick of French so, in preparation for their time at the 24 Hours, they have decided to take some rather offbeat French lessons, with their WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teammate, Olivier Pla. Check it out....<br />
	&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
	<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kDnJazHGfGM?feature=oembed" width="459"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
	David Bristol / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
	Video: YouTube - Sunday Group Management<br />
	&nbsp;</p>


24H LE MANS

Michael Shank Racing drivers are introduced to French for Le Mans (video)

Related News

2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Presentation of the Hypercar category

Check out the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans spotter guide

Why do brakes glow red during the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

With Racing for Charity, Porsche builds up hope, lap after lap

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