Glickenhaus leads the Le Mans line‑up at Festival of Speed

Fans at this year’s festival will be treated to the sight of the Glickenhaus, driven to the Le Mans podium by Ryan Briscoe, Frank Mailleux and Richard Westbrook, taking to the Hill over the course of the weekend, showing off the very latest Hypercar machinery as we look forward to an influx of new manufacturers including Porsche, Peugeot and Ferrari adding their names to the Le Mans entry list.

The Glickenhaus Hypercar will also be joined by a host of Le Mans racers from the past, present and future, including what is bound to be one of the most picturesque moments of the weekend.

Following on from our evocative demonstration of Porsche 956s and 962s at the 79^th Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport, the Festival of Speed will celebrate of the 40^th anniversary of Group C. This selection of timelessly beautiful sportscars from the 1980s, which features a pair of 956s, including the 1982 Le Mans winning car, three Sauber-Mercedes C9s, a pair of Nissans and a Jaguar XKR12D, will be among the best-looking cars on show.

Speaking of Jaguar, a 1952 C-Type and a 1956 D-Type ‘long-nose’ represent some of the oldest Le Mans machinery in attendance. Other sportscar legends include the 1977 Le Mans winning Porsche 936, Porsche 917K, and a 1965 Ford GT40. All of these will be utterly unmissable attractions, both on the Hill and around the paddocks.

As we commemorate 50 years of BMW M this year, the German marque is bringing a broad selection of some of its greatest motorsport machines, including the BMW-engined McLaren F1 GTR Longtail and the 1999 Le Mans-winning BMW V12 LMR. Both will no doubt draw plenty of attention as they make their way up the Hill throughout the weekend.

It's impossible to talk about world’s most famous sportscar race without mentioning Ferrari, which just so happens to be celebrating its own 75-year anniversary at this year’s Festival, and will also be bringing a handful of Le Mans legends to the famous hillclimb. Among the scarlet fleet, you can expect a 250 TR58, a 250 LM, a 365 GTB/4 Daytona and a 333SP.

Rounding up the list of Le Mans racers in attendance at this years’ Festival of Speed is a trio of GT machines, featuring the 1998 and ’99 LMGTS and 2000 LMGT2 class-winning Dodge Viper GTS-R, a 2010 Porsche GT3 R Hybrid and a 2018 Porsche 911 RSR.

This year’s Le Mans offering will also be looking to the future, and we will once again be welcoming the Mission H24 team, which will be showcasing two hydrogen powered prototypes, and offering us a glimpse towards the potential future of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.