Looks like the infamous 24 Hours of Le Mans will see more prototype entrants than before as the Automobile Club de I’Ouest has recently announced the creation of a new open-chassis category. Dubbed as the LMP3, this new category will start racing in the European and Asian Le Mans Series from 2015.
Set to replace the Formula Le Mans (or commonly known as LMPC), the LMP3 will be an open chassis formula with a single powertrain supplier and control tires. As for the time being, ACO is still working on the technical regulations, but the performance of the LMP3 will be manipulated to fit perfectly between the LMP2 and GTE-Am.
The creation of this new category is aimed at providing teams and drivers with a lower cost entry option into sportscar racing, where the racecar’s price is fixed at € 150,000 (RM 644,698). The earlier LMPC was designed to boost entries in both European and Asian championships, but the initiative did not go as well as they planned as the Asian Le Mans Series did not even seen an entry in the category, while the European counterparts had seen an average of three LMPC cars per round.
