WEC Imola
McLaren bids for Le Mans outright victory with future WEC entry
The British marque will return to the top flight of sportscar racing and contest the 24-hour French enduro in 2027 after months of speculation
Gary Watkins
Edited: Apr 10, 2025, 9:33 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
McLaren WEC 2027
Photo by: McLaren
McLaren will chase overall victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time in nearly 30 years as part of a World Endurance Championship campaign in 2027.
In a brief statement on Thursday, the British sportscar manufacturer confirmed an attempt to reprise the Le Mans win with the McLaren F1 GTR 30 years ago.
“1995. Legendary Le Mans victory. Triple Crown glory,” it read.
“Ready to make our mark on the world endurance stage once again.
“Hypercar. 2027 World Endurance Championship.
“Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing said: ‘We’re Back.’”
There were no further details of the Hypercar class programme, which is known to be already under way. But it is known that McLaren will join Hypercar with an LMDh prototype.
It is believed that McLaren has partnered with Italian constructor Dallara, which has also co-developed the Cadillac V-Series.R and BMW M Hybrid V8.
The engine is expected to be based on the architecture of the 120-degree twin-turbo V6 already in use in both road and race versions of the Artura introduced in 2022.
McLaren’s return to the top flight of endurance racing in 2027 follows 30 years after its on-debut win with the F1 GTR.
Race winner #59 Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing McLaren F1 GTR: Yannick Dalmas
Photo by: Sutton Images
It retained a presence on the Le Mans grid until 1998, finishing fourth in 1996, and then second and fourth again with the long-tail variant of the car in 1997 and 1998 respectively.
The marque returned to Le Mans in 2024 on the introduction of the LMGT3 class in the WEC with the 720S GT3 Evo.
McLaren will become the 11th manufacturer in the WEC’s Hypercar division. The eight OEMs on the grid this season will be joined by Hyundai brand Genesis next year and also Ford in 2027.
Acura and Lamborghini are also competing with LMDh machinery in the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s GTP class.
McLaren has long declared its interest in returning to the pinnacle of sportscar racing, with Brown dropping hints that confirmation of a prototype programme in Hypercar was close to sign-off over the past year.
Being questioned about a prototype programme at Le Mans last year, he said it was a case of “more when than if”.
At this season’s February WEC opener in Qatar, he dropped further hints that an announcement was imminent when talking about the 30th anniversary celebrations of its Le Mans win it has planned for this year’s race in June.
“We will have a nice display there in the Le Mans museum and hopefully we will have some exciting stuff to talk about,” he said.
The Kokusai Kaihatsu McLaren F1 GTR driven to victory at Le Mans in 1995 by JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya is already on display at the Le Mans museum on a six-month loan.
Read Also:
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Porsche reveals final Hypercar driver for 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours
Next article Is Gran Turismo star Jann Mardenborough heading for Le Mans return with Ford?
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Gary Watkins
When Can-Am made its controversial comeback
General
When Can-Am made its controversial comeback
WEC Barcelona: Genesis secures maiden series pole from Toyota
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
WEC Barcelona: Genesis secures maiden series pole from Toyota
Latest news
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 7 h
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
9 h
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 9 h
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
9 h
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe