McLaren has confirmed plans to enter the World Endurance Championship’s (WEC) Hypercar class in 2027. With this, the brand will aim for its overall victory at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race for the first time in 29 years. The last time it raced in the top class of endurance racing was back in 1998.
- McLaren will be opting for LMDh rules
- Will become the 11th OEM in the Hypercar class
McLaren working on LMDh race car
McLaren will become the 11th manufacturer to join the WEC Hypercar class. Eight manufacturers – Ferrari, Alpine, BMW, Cadillac, Toyota, Peugeot, Porsche, and Aston Martin – currently compete in this class. They’ll be joined by Genesis in 2026 and Ford and McLaren in 2027.
It is understood that McLaren will opt for the LMDh (Le Mans Daytona) regulations, where the cars are loosely based on LMP2 machinery. It has reportedly partnered with Italian constructor Dallara, who also provides the chassis for Cadillac and BMW.
There’s no word yet on whether McLaren is also planning to race in the USA-based IMSA championship. Further details are expected to be revealed closer to this year’s Le Mans race in June.
McLaren targeting motorsport triple crown
This year marks 30 years since McLaren’s legendary Le Mans win in 1995 when the F1 GTR (driven by JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya) won the race on its debut. Three more F1 GTRs finished in the top five.
The manufacturer left the WEC at the end of the 1998 season and only returned last year, competing in the new LMGT3 class with the 720S GT3 Evo.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown shared that the team will be aiming for motorsport’s triple crown in 2027 – hoping to win the F1 Monaco GP, Indy 500 race and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the same year.
“30 years ago, we won on our debut at Le Mans in a car that wasn’t even supposed to race,” Brown said. “That sealed for us being the only team in history to have ever won the triple crown – The Monaco Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 hours of Le Mans. And now, with this exciting news, we’re going to try and win all three of these big races in the same year. We’re up for it, we’re ready, we’ll see you at the track.”
Dipan Sur
