The sister company of the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team, which is also co-developing the Aston Martin Valkyrie road car, has teamed up with ORECA to successfully provide the branded chassis for the new category of hydrogen-powered prototypes fuel cells.
The first task for the British and French companies is to “carry out and provide a detailed feasibility study for the vehicle concept,” according to the Le Mans organizer Automobile Club de l’Ouest.
Christian Horner, CEO of RBAT, said: “I am very pleased that Red Bull Advanced Technologies has been selected by the ACO together with our partner ORECA to develop the concept of a hydrogen-powered endurance racing car for Le Mans.
“RBAT is well qualified to take on the ACO’s challenge as it has access to many of the tools used in the design and development of the Red Bull Racing F1 car, as well as extensive experience in other state-of-the-art vehicle programs.
“The hydrogen class at Le Mans offers an exciting insight into the future of sustainable motorsport and promises both to advance the use of hydrogen in transport and to deliver exciting races.”
ORECA boss Hugues de Chaunac added: “ORECA enjoys challenges and breakthroughs and we can fully express our talents in such a fascinating company.”
ACO President Pierre Fillon was confident that the involvement of RBAT and ORECA, one of the four designers licensed to manufacture LMP2 chassis, “will generate even more interest from automakers, especially those who regularly contribute to our hydrogen working group “.
RBAT and ORECA are joining Plastic Optimum, which has already been announced as the supplier of the fuel tanks for the new class.
An announcement regarding the powertrains of the new cars is expected shortly.
It is currently unclear whether manufacturers can develop their own fuel cell technology or have to use a common powertrain.
The ACO has been working for three years in collaboration with the GreenGT organization under the banner of Mission H24 towards the new class.
She started the initiative at the round of the Spa European Le Mans Series in September 2018 with the demonstration of the LMPH2G prototype, which is based on an ADESS LMP3 car with a fuel cell that supplies four electric motors with power.
The car was then demonstrated on the entire Le Mans circuit during the week of the 24 Hours in 2019 and later in the same year took part in free practice for a Le Mans Cup event on the ELMS bill in Spa.
A new version of the mobile test bench, which is also based on the ADESS P3 design, was shown at the Le Mans World Endurance Championship planned last year in September.
As part of a data collection exercise for the new class, the car will eventually take part in ACO-approved events.
The post Red Bull and ORECA are building a hydrogen car from Le Mans for 2024 first appeared on monter-une-startup.
