Koenigsegg Could Race the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2020
Top-level international endurance racing will soon be all about hypercars, and Christian von Koenigsegg is intrigued.
Starting in 2020, the FIA World Endurance Championship will replace its fastest class of cars (LMP1) with "hypercar concept" prototypes. Eponymous Christian von Koenigsegg is enamored with this development and revealed in a recent interview that he may enter his car company into this new racing series.
"This is great. We're so excited by it," Koenigsegg told Top Gear. "What I've understood is the final regulations are not finished yet, but we're looking at them very closely."
Koenigsegg previously attempted to enter the FIA GT Championship's GT1 class in 2007 with the naturally-aspirated, 5.0-liter CCGT, but as development neared completion, homologation rules altered to require 350 units produced annually rather than the prior 20, killing the program. Christian was uninterested in gimping his cars to fit the FIA's classes, so he didn't bother entering at all.
"To bog an Agera down to the GT3 category would be stupid, and with the balance of performance, you'd get beaten by a 911," he continued. "But this new class is fantastic. If it really comes to fruition in a good way, it will be amazing."
With the record-holding Agera discontinued in April, what kind of vehicle Koenigsegg could enter into the new GT1 is not yet known, even to Koenigsegg himself.
"I guess it depends on the regulations. I heard that it might have to be a hybrid, and the successor to the Agera is not a hybrid," Koenigsegg added. "But of course, we could add some hybrid stuff to it if we have to for the regulations. Maybe the Regera's a better candidate. We'll see."