Glickenhaus Plotting Hypercar Return for 2023

Glickenhaus is aiming to return to the FIA World Endurance Championship with a full-season, single-car Hypercar entry.

Jim Glickenhaus confirmed to Sportscar365 that his eponymous outfit is mapping out a racing return for the Glickenhaus 007 Pipo, which hasn’t competed in the championship since it retired from the 6 Hours of Monza in July.

The American team owner is present in Qatar for meetings with the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, where the WEC announced a new, six-year deal with the Lusail International Circuit to join the calendar in 2024.

Glickenhaus described the entry as “still a work in progress”, not confirming the team’s presence for the season-opening 1000 Miles of Sebring in March.

“We will be in the season with one car,” said Glickenhaus. “Exactly when we’re going to start… there are huge supply chain issues as you know, but we’re working that out.

“We’re going to give it a good shot. One way or the other we will be in the WEC and we will definitely be at Le Mans.”

While the V8-powered Hypercar is set to be pressed into action for a third season, the American squad is also plotting a return to racing at the Nürburgring as well as ambitions plans for road car development and a target to achieve a zero-emission entry into the Baja 1000 desert race in Mexico.

“It is about building the company’s image and expanding the company into developing Hydrogen and also into developing our own engine for road cars and getting a partner who can help us realise all these goals,” Glickenhaus said about the WEC program.

The possibility of a two-car entry for Le Mans, similar to what the team has run in previous years, is “too early to say”, stating the team was going ‘step by step’ with its plans.

He also expressed confidence about the team’s potential driver lineup. Several of the team’s drivers, like Pipo Derani and Richard Westbrook, have been signed to contracts with rival top-class manufacturers ahead of the 2023 season.

“There are a lot of great drivers that want to drive in the WEC in Hypercar, so we’ll find one or two,” he said about filling any potential vacancies.

“I think we’ll have very good drivers.”

John Dagys contributed to this report