SCG 007 LMH racer flashes carbon-fiber bodywork at debut track outing
Update, 2/26/2021: Due to supply-chain and travel logistics wrinkles, as reported by dailysportscar, Glickenhaus will not be able to homologate SCG 007 in time for the WEC season opener in early April. The SCG team does not appear on the 8 Hours of Portimaõ entry list, linked here.
Ahead of its competition debut at the WEC season opener at Portimaõ this April, Glickenhaus’ LMH racer has hit the track in anger for the first time. Two-time Le Mans winner Romain Dumas, who’s on Glickenhaus’ driver roster for the 2021 season, slid behind the wheel of the SCG 007 and took the twin-turbo V-8 beast out on Rome’s Vallelunga circuit for a shakedown session.
Two days of testing went very well! We are fast. We are reliable and she is pretty. More than that you do not get! #poweredbymotul pic.twitter.com/Ukr8vJpyKi
— Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus (@Glickenhaus) February 26, 2021
This is our first glimpse of the car fully clad in its carbon-fiber bodywork. A few weeks ago, Glickenhaus treated fans to a look inside its race shop, wherein the SCG 007 was parked, shorn of wheels and body panels. That’s when we first heard its Pipo Moteurs-built V-8 bark to life. We also got a sneak peak at some details of its aero package, which we took the privilege of examining in more detail.
All entries for the 007’s LMH class—in which Glickenhaus will be joined by Toyota, ByKolles, and Peugeot—must conform to a 4:1 downforce to drag ratio. (Active aero, though initially on the table for the LMH regulation, has since been banned in the ACO and FIA’s attempts to equalize the LMH and LMDh classes.)
That giant wing spanning the rear fenders is mounted with little fins, presumably to aid the car’s stability under aggressive yaw angles. Toyota Gazoo Racing’s entry—in the same LMH class as Glickenhaus’ 007—uses a high-flying wing as well, but it uses a swan-neck attachment and doesn’t feature extra fins.
Comparing the Toyota with the SCG car head-on, we can see how much flexibility the LMH regulations allow. (Absurd lighting is absurd.) Unlike the Toyota, too, the SCG 007 adds a winglet wrapping each front fender.
The 007’s top-mounted hood scoop helps cool the mid-mounted engine, and a giant radiator is mounted on either side of the monocoque. (Though hybrid powertrains are allowed under the LMH regulations, Glickenhaus has chosen to supplement its internal-combustion engine exclusively with forced induction.) The charge air coolers sit just ahead of the rear wheels to help that French-built V-8 boost to the maximum allowed output of 671 hp.
We’ll see the 007 in full-attack mode come April 2 in Portugal, when it will line up against two Toyota GR010 Hybrids and one non-hybrid Alpine LMP1 racer grandfathered into the LMH category for 2021. We can’t wait for our first taste of Le Mans Hypercar competition.
