Saleen Plotting Le Mans Return With Hydrogen-Powered Car

Photo: Solution F

Steve Saleen has outlined plans for a potential return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a hydrogen-powered prototype around the ACO’s new set of regulations.

Announced on Thursday in the Hydrogen Village at Circuit de la Sarthe, Saleen Automotive inked a deal with Solution F, which will develop internal combustion hydrogen powertrains for future Saleen road cars, including a planned supercar.

The V6 twin-turbo engine, developed by the French company with support from Motul, has the ability to operate on both hydrogen and traditional/synthetic fuels.

A demonstration hydrogen-powered Saleen road car is expected to be ready by the fourth quarter of this year, ahead of production in the ‘coming years.’

Saleen, whose namesake was most recently represented at Le Mans in 2010 with the Saleen S7-R that took GT1 class victory with Larbre Competition, declared his intention to race his new hydrogen-powered car.

He proclaimed it would be the first American-made hydrogen supercar.

“There’s a reason why we’re at the track,” Saleen said. “Of course there’s plans to race cars. Racing is part of our DNA at Saleen. Le Mans is one of the leading proponents.

“Obviously having the Hydrogen Village here, it makes all the sense where future racing really can lie.”

When asked by Sportscar365 on the timeline for such an endeavorer, Saleen said: “We’ll have to see how the rules develop and how quickly we can bring the car.

“The [production] car will probably be another couple of years out.

“We’ll have the demo car before the end of this calendar year but actually having a production car that someone can actually purchase and drive every day, it takes a while to go through all of certification requirements.

“Not just emission but crash, airbag deployment, headlights, taillights, all the things that require bringing an automotive product to the market.”

It’s unclear if Saleen Automotive is currently involved in the ACO’s technical working group meetings for hydrogen.

Solution F’s self-built hydrogen race car, the Foenix H2 (pictured above). along with other prototypes including the Alpine Alpenglow and Ligier JS2 RH2, are set for demonstration laps of Le Mans on Saturday prior to the race start.

GCK Group chairman Eric Boudot added: “The nearly 40 years of experience in the engine field acquired by Eric Chantriaux, the founder of Solution F, and his technical team is a significant asset in the deployment of the GCK Group’s hydrogen strategy.

“We’re proud to scale up to industrial production and to participate in creating the first dual-fuel supercar in history, sharing our technical expertise in hydrogen with a prestigious manufacturer like Saleen.”

Further news on the ACO’s planned platform, which is currently slated for a 2027 debut, could be announced at Friday’s annual press conference.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John