Ferrari will return to racing in the main category of the Le Mans 24 Hours from 2023 onwards.
The Italian manufacturer announced Wednesday it is building a hypercar to enter sports car racing’s main series, the World Endurance Championship.
Ferrari has not competed in the premier class of the Le Mans 24 Hours, WEC’s most famous race, since 1973. It will compete to win the race outright from 2023 onwards with its new hypercar.
The World Endurance Championship is undergoing a revamp of its rules, with emphasis on road-relevant hypercars aimed at attracting big manufacturers such as Ferrari.
Ferrari won Le Mans nine times, the last of which came in 1964. The end of its dominant run in the race was chronicled in the 2019 film Ford vs Ferrari.
Ferrari president John Elkann said: “In over 70 years of racing, on tracks all over the world, we led our closed-wheel cars to victory by exploring cutting-edge technological solutions: innovations that arise from the track and make every road car produced in Maranello extraordinary.
“With the new Le Mans Hypercar programme, Ferrari once again asserts its sporting commitment and determination to be a protagonist in the major global motorsport events.”
“Today is a great day for endurance racing: Ferrari is coming back to the top level, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship,” said ACO president Pierre Fillon. “The Hypercar field promises some epic battles. Alongside Ferrari, In 2023, many manufacturers who have already joined us are sure to pull out all the stops to win the race in its centenary year. This is excellent news for a discipline whose rule base forms a solid foundation on which to build a bright future.”
FIA president Jean Todt, Ferrari’s former F1 team boss, praised the company’s decision.