Michelotto postpones the planned debut of Isotta Fraschini’s Le Mans hypercar. The Italian manufacturer that has been brought out of the blue will not make its debut until the 6 Hours of Bahrain in early November at the earliest, as Isotta Motorsport Director Claudio Berro explains.
He does not give a specific reason. However, the originally communicated schedule with a debut at the 6 Hours of Monza from July 7th to 9th was always considered extremely optimistic among insiders. the rollout took place less than a month ago in April, which would have meant just three months of preparation time.
Even the LMDh cars, for which there was already talk of an actually impossible schedule, had six months before their debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona 2023. Isotta Fraschini does not want to rush the debut, but first wants to do enough test drives with them complete the Le Mans Hypercar.
“We have to develop the vehicle sensibly on the track. Because with the homologation of the car, we freeze the specification. We made the decision together with the FIA and the ACO. We have to contest a race this year, but it’s the most important thing to develop the car during test drives,” Berro told Motorsport.com Global.
After the rollout, the Tipo 6 returned to the wind tunnel to complete the FIA tests. He will start his testing program at Monza on May 16th and 17th. Berro speaks of a “very strong test program” planned for the summer.
“We’re going to Vallelunga, then again to Monza and to Aragon. The plan is to cover 10,000 to 15,000 kilometers before the first race.” The homologation of the car should now only take place in October.
The drivers for the test drives have already been determined: ex-Audi LMP1 driver Marco Bonanomi will support Marizio Mediani, as will the two regular Vector LMP2 drivers Gabriel Aubry and Ryan Cullen. Vector Sport has already been confirmed as the operations team for the Isotta Fraschini LMH.
The manufacturer from Milan will be represented at the home game in Monza despite not taking part. Both the Le Mans Hypercar and the Track Day variant “Pista” are to be exhibited in the paddock. According to Berro, the two versions are 97 percent identical.
The prototype, powered by a 3-litre turbocharged HWA V6 engine, requires an exemption from the WEC committee of the FIA and ACO to compete in the Bahrain 6 Hours.