Isotta Fraschini to Partner With Duqueine for Debut Season

Isotta Fraschini will partner with Duqueine Engineering for its debut season in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Hypercar class next year.

The Italian manufacturer was granted an entry into the WEC on Monday, fielding a single car for 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans GTE-Am class winner Jean-Karl Vernay and European Le Mans Series LMP3 champion Alejandro Garcia.

The No. 11 Tipo 6 LMH Competizione will be operated by longtime European Le Mans Series competitor Duqueine, which finished fourth in the LMP2 standings this season.

The French organization, which competes in ELMS under the Duqueine Team banner, will manage sporting activities and manage track operations.

Technical management of the Tipo 6 LMH Competizione will remain in the hands of the Italian manufacturer under the supervision of head of motorsport Claudio Berro.

“Since the new Isotta Fraschini management group was appointed, the objective has been the FIA WEC 2024,” Berro said.

“After a year of intense work, assisted by Michelotto Engineering, the project achieved its goal. Now we will have to compete with the most important car manufacturers in the world, a commitment that will motivate us and our sporting partner Duqueine even more.”

The confirmation of Duqueine’s addition to the program comes not long after Vector Sport revealed that it would no longer be involved with the effort.

The British squad had initially signed on to serve as the test and race team for the LMH operation, but released a statement on Monday saying that Isotta did not release the car or its data “despite repeated requests”, with its commercial director Adam Shore claiming a “blatant breach” of the contract.

Berro responded to Vector’s comments by citing ‘economic factors’ tied to the manufacturer only receiving a single-car entry as a reason for the partnership not going ahead for the 2024 season.

“We are happy with the entry for the WEC 2024,” he said.

“Thanks to an important sponsor, we have agreed with Duqueine. We are always in contact with Vector Sport and know of their disappointment, but, unfortunately, having only one car entry was not possible to satisfy Vector’s request.

“The economic factor was predominant. We are still available to work with Vector Sport for a future second car.”

Vector, for its part, has signaled intentions of continuing to compete in the ELMS LMP2 class next year as it looks to return to WEC in 2025.

This story was updated at 1:30 p.m CET (7:30 a.m. ET) to include additional comments issued by Isotta Fraschini