GLICKENHAUS DOWN TO ONE FOR PORTIMAO 8 HOURS

Glickenhaus has firmed up its World Endurance Championship debut at the Algarve Circuit in June. But only one of its new Le Mans Hypercars will be entered in the race, which counts as the second round of the series.

The American entrant has opted to field a solo car in the Portimao 8 Hours on

13 June because it will be arriving in Portugal off the back of its first endurance simuation with the Pipoengined 007LMH. A 30-hour test is scheduled for the Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain at the end of this month.

“We’re gonna test both cars at Aragon: one will do the whole 30 hours and then it’s going to have to be rebuilt, so there’s no way it can be available in time to race in Portimao,” explained team founder Jim Glickenhaus. “The other one will be shaken down at the test and then taken to Portugal.”

A decision on which of the team’s roster of seven drivers will race the two cars over the remainder of the season will be made at Motorland.

The team will be at full strength for the third WEC round, the Monza 6 Hours in July, but the programme beyond the Le Mans 24 Hours in August remains unclear. Glickenhaus stated that its participation in the flyaways at Fuji and in Bahrain in September and November respectively will come down to its ability to find commercial partners for the project.

“For us to continue racing through the WEC is dependent on sponsors who want to pay for that,” he explained. “We’re not this gigantic company with unlimited funds that is simply going to take part in a race just because it’s there. It has to make economic sense for our company.”