The sort variety of the LMH hybrid prototype was revealed together with the livery wherein it should race within the 2023 WEC, in addition to the configuration of the automobile’s inner combustion engine, on its official launch at Imola on Saturday night.
The 499P nomenclature follows a naming custom that dates again to the earliest Ferraris: 499 is the capability in cubic centimetres of 1 cylinder of the automobile’s three-litre V6 twin-turbo powerplant, whereas the ‘P’ stands for prototype.
The LMH’s V6 has the identical 120-degree structure because the engine within the new 296 GT3 launched in July, however is an all-new design.
“It’s not the identical engine,” mentioned Ferdinando Cannizzo, head of design and improvement at Ferrari’s Attivita Sportive GT sportscar racing division.
“It’s the similar structure because the 296, however it’s a confused engine, which implies the construction must be completely completely different.
“Choosing the V6 was undoubtedly the suitable path to comply with contemplating the way in which our vary of street automobiles is shifting – it was pure to go that route.
“Nevertheless it wasn’t a compromise as a result of a V6 is small, gentle and really compact: this provides a bonus in packaging, weight distribution and centre of gravity.”
Ferrari 499P
Picture by: Ferrari
The color scheme wherein the 499P was unveiled at Ferrari’s Finali Mondiali – the world finals for its one-make problem collection – ideas its hat to the final prototype marketing campaign mounted by the manufacturing facility.
The predominantly pink livery with yellow trimming is harking back to the lead Ferrari 312PB entered by the 1972 and ’73 World Championship for Makes seasons for Jacky Ickx, Brian Redman and Arturo Merzario amongst others.
Ferrari received the WCM, the forerunner of at the moment’s WEC, with the three-litre Group 5 automobile within the first of these years.
One of many two 499Ps to be run beneath the Ferrari AF Corse banner in 2023 will carry the race quantity #50 to mark the half century because the marque’s withdrawal as a manufacturing facility from front-line sportscar racing and its final bid for outright honours on the Le Mans 24 Hours.
The second automobile will carry #51, a symbolic quantity for Ferrari in GT racing.
The 4 GTE Professional drivers’ titles claimed by Ferrari because the rebirth of the WEC in 2012 have all been received by the #51 entry fielded by the AF Corse manufacturing facility workforce.
Ferrari sportscar racing boss Antonello Coletta described the Ferrari 499P “as a tribute to our previous and a manifesto for our future”.
“The 499 confirms our dedication to endurance racing, which is a part of our historical past and a part of a convention of utilizing this sort of competitors to check new applied sciences,” he mentioned.
Ferrari 499P full with #50 quantity
Picture by: Ferrari
The LMH guidelines have allowed the 499P to be given a glance that makes it recognisably a Ferrari.
“Once I see this automobile, it’s clearly a Ferrari,” mentioned Cannizzo.
He defined that the dual rear wing set-up had “been fairly attention-grabbing for Centro Stile [Ferrari’s styling department] as a result of they might play a bit of bit with our concepts”.
The decrease factor incorporates the back lights in a single bar operating the width of the wing.
No drivers have been introduced for the LMH WEC programme, however Coletta reiterated Ferrari’s intention to fill the six WEC LMH seats from its present pool of GT drivers.
“The selection of drivers can be from the Ferrari household,” he mentioned.
“We’ve very constant drivers within the GT household; 100% the selection can be from inside our home.”
Ferrari has up to now accomplished greater than 12,000km of testing on two 499P chassis.
Homologation of the automobile is anticipated to be accomplished by the tip of this yr forward of the 499P’s race debut within the opening spherical of subsequent yr’s WEC, the Sebring 1000 Miles in March.
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