ACO & Le Mans News - ACO and FIA announce major endurance racing shakeups ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

From privateer Hypercars entering the Asian Le Mans Series, and McLaren's LMDh plans with United Autosports, to an extended Hypercar ruleset through 2032, and the full 2026 FIA WEC calendar reveal, Friday's pre-race press conference at Le Mans delivered an expanded vision for the future of global endurance racing in the FIA WEC, IMSA, and regional series under evolving technical and competitive frameworks.

ACO, FIA WEC, AND 24H LE MANS NEWS!

On Friday, a traditional pre-race press conference was held ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where many big news stories were announced for the future of the ACO, FIA WEC, 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as the Asian Le Mans Series and the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Privateer Hypercars in Asian Le Mans Series:

The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), announced that privateer Hypercars will be allowed to compete in the Asian Le Mans Series as a Pro-Am class, starting in the 2026/2027 season. The Asian Le Mans Series currently uses a three class structure of LMP2, LMP3 and GT, so this will add another category to the exciting action over the winter months.

Currently, teams that compete in the Asian Le Mans Series receive automatic entries to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for winning the LMP2 and GT titles, and there has not been any word given whether these privately run Hypercars will gain these invitations too. The new class will also see Pro-Am lineups, where at least one Bronze-rated driver will be required to be a part of the lineup. To date, the only Bronze-rated driver to compete in an LMH or LMDh is Ben Keating, who joined JDC-Miller MotorSports for the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2024, finishing in sixth position and two laps down from the victorious #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport crew.

At present moment, there are just two cars that compete in the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams, which is intended for privateer entries, including the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P and the #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963. Previously, in 2024, the Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963’s were also included in the World Cup.

FIA World Endurance Championship 2026 Calendar:

The FIA World Endurance Championship has revealed its 2026 schedule, which features an unchanged roster of eight circuits. The same eight venues on the 2025 schedule are featured, and mostly on identical weekends, apart from the opening round of the Qatar 1812km, which takes place a month later due to Ramadam taking place earlier in 2026.

There is two clashes with the IMSA SportsCar Championship, which revealed its 2026 calendar in March, where the 6 Hours of Imola will occur on the same weekend as the IMSA round in April at Long Beach, while the 6 Hours of São Paulo will clash with the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park round in July. Also, as announced by Formula One, the Spanish Grand Prix will fall on the same weekend as the 94th Edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2026.

Prologue: Qatar, 22nd - 23rd March 2026

Round 1: Qatar 1812km, Qatar - 28th March 2026

Round 2: 6 Hours of Imola, Italy - 19th April 2026

Round 3: 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium - 9th May 2026

Round 4: 24 Hours of Le Mans, France - 13th - 14th June 2026

Round 5: 6 Hours of São Paulo, Brazil - 12th July 2026

Round 6: Lone Star Le Mans, United States of America - 6th September 2026

Round 7: 6 Hours of Fuji, Japan - 27th September 2026

Round 8: 8 Hours of Bahrain, Bahrain - 7th November 2026

The WEC has previously suggested that a potential ninth round could be added to the schedule in 2027, with Silverstone rumoured to be one of the key candidates to rejoin the ever-growing championship.

New LMP2 Tenders Announced:

The FIA and ACO launched tenders for the new-for-2028 LMP2 technical regulations earlier in 2025, which is set to replace the current generation of prototype cars that have been racing since 2017.

French manufacturers ORECA and Ligier have been named as the two chassis suppliers for the new regulations, while Gibson Technologies has won the new tender, and will continue to supply the powertrains for the LMP2 class in the new generation. These new regulations will last until the end of 2032, and while the LMP2 class is not present in the full FIA World Endurance Championship calendar, it is hugely supported in the European Le Mans and Asian Le Mans Series, with Oreca currently filling most entrants.

Ligier has had a tumultuous few years with their LMP2 program, with Sean Creech Motorsport the only major competitor with the machine in the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship, running only a partial season.

ACO Extends Current Hypercar Regulations to 2032:

The current Hypercar homologation cycle for the cars in the FIA World Endurance Championship has been extended again by an additional three years until the end of the 2032 season. With the incoming manufacturers of Genesis, Ford and McLaren in the next few years, the ACO has decided to allow these OEMS to race and thrive in the ruleset, as well as gain vital competition and development.

John Doonan, IMSA President, has also confirmed that the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s GTP regulations will also be extended, but has also mentioned that the technical regulations could change post-2029, while they are committed to keeping their convergence with the ACO and the FIA WEC.

McLaren’s LMDh Program Unveiled:

McLaren has unveiled more details on their LMDh program, which is expected to debut in the 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship season. British-American squad United Autosports, which is currently participating in the WEC with a pair of McLaren 720s LMGT3 Evo’s, as well as a single entry in the European Le Mans Series, and is co-owned by McLaren Racing’s CEO Zak Brown will be the partner team for its LMDh effort. The unnamed McLaren LMDh will utilise Dallara as its chassis partner, and have stated that the car will utilise a twin-turbocharged V6 engine designed by McLaren Racing and McLaren Automotive. James Barclay, current Team Principal of the Jaguar TCS Racing squad in the FIA Formula E World Championship, and the Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover Motorsport, will take on the team principal role at United Autosports at the end of the current Formula E season in July.

Barclay, who has been with Jaguar’s Formula E programme since November 2015, has seen out every season with the team, including a teams’ championship title in the 2023-24 season, where drivers Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans finished second and third in the drivers’ championship. Jaguar have scored eighteen victories across seven seasons in Formula E under Barclay’s leadership.

While McLaren’s LMDh will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2027, Zak Brown has not ruled out the possibility of an effort in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, however this effort won’t come earlier than 2028.

No. 63 Iron Lynx Mercedes Cleared to Race:

There has been much speculation around allowing the #63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 Evo of Brenton and Stephen Grove, alongside Mercedes factory ace Luca Stolz to race in the 93rd Edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

An Iron Lynx team representative explained that “due to an accident in FP1, the car did not participate in FP2, and due to a technical failure in FP4, only one lap was completed.”, which the stewards accepted the explanation, and has allowed the car to continue in the competition “due to the fact that the drivers have a certain experience in motorsport.”

The stewards outlined in decision number ninety-seven of the bulletins, that the drivers of the #63 Iron Lynx Mercedes were authorised to race, but under strict conditions:

• The fastest driver (Luca Stolz), must start the race;

• The driver Stephen Grove, is not permitted to drive during the night from 10pm to 6am.

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