The Asian Le Mans Series' Hypercar class is in trouble before it starts
The Asian Le Mans Series wanted to add a Hypercar class and open the top tier to privateers. Weeks before the season, it has two cars entered, and some of its own paddock would rather it did not run at all.
The series' new Hypercar class, part of a rebranded “Winter Le Mans Series” that opens in November at Paul Ricard, is in jeopardy. According to Sportscar365, only two Hypercars have actually registered: an AF Corse-run Ferrari 499P for Cetilar Racing's Roberto Lacorte, and an Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH with an unconfirmed Bronze driver. The organisers deny anything is wrong. “I don't know where this rumour started, but it is not true,” a series representative said when asked about cancellation.
But the gap between ambition and reality is stark.
From a full grid to two cars
Earlier interest suggested a healthy field. BBM Sport had floated up to two Peugeot 9X8s, up to three Ferrari 499Ps, two Porsche 963s and at least one Isotta, with Vanwall also circling. ACO President Pierre Fillon said in June he expected three to six Hypercars for the inaugural season. Getting to two, if it even holds, would fall well short.
Why the interest evaporated
Two problems did the damage. The first is geography. The series moved its entire calendar to Europe, to Paul Ricard, Jerez and Portimão, over concerns about conflict in the Middle East, the same instability that pushed the WEC finale back to Europe. Attempts to keep Southeast Asian rounds at Sepang and Buriram failed, the latter over a MotoGP clash. A “Winter Le Mans Series” that never leaves Europe is a far harder sell, and gentleman driver François Perrodo, linked to a Ferrari, said he would not do a Europe-only campaign.
The second problem is more damaging, because a rules quirk removes the whole point. Each Hypercar must run at least one FIA Bronze-rated driver, but Bronze drivers are not eligible in FIA WEC machinery, which means the Asian Hypercar champions get no automatic invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Take away the golden ticket to Le Mans and much of the reason to build an expensive Hypercar programme goes with it.
An embarrassment its rivals do not want
The pushback is coming from inside the paddock. Several LMP2 team owners have reportedly asked the organisers not to run the Hypercar class at all, arguing that one or two cars at the top would look like an “embarrassment” and overshadow a healthy LMP2 grid of more than a dozen entries. It is an awkward inversion, the premier class becoming a liability the support class wants gone. With LMP3 already split off into a separate Sprint Cup, a thin Hypercar field could leave the series effectively running GT3 and LMP2 alone.
AutoNext Take
This is a small story with a big backdrop. On its own, an under-subscribed Hypercar class in a winter series is a niche problem. But it lands in a rough stretch for the ACO, which is also fighting the FIA over the WEC, and it exposes the same tension: Hypercar racing is booming at the very top, yet the moment you move away from Le Mans itself, the economics get shaky. The cars are expensive, and without the Le Mans carrot, the business case thins out fast.
The organisers may well be right that the class survives in some form, and denials are what organisers do. But when your own LMP2 teams are lobbying to drop your headline category to avoid embarrassment, the problem is real whatever the final entry list says. The lesson is an old one in endurance racing: Hypercars sell when Le Mans is the prize. Take that away, and even a Le Mans-branded series struggles to fill the grid.
