Category: News

Hypercar is getting crowdy…

One more brand for the LMH class: Genesis, from Korea. Yesterday they reveled their GMR-001 hypercar, to race in the WEC starting in 2026. GMR stands for “Genesis Magma Racing”, and Genesis is developing the prototype in a partnership with ORECA. The presentation yesterday showed the prototype without an engine, since that is still in development. Magma Racing seems to be serious about their race intentions: not only do they have a VERY hot-looking car, they also contracted André Lotterer and Pipo Derani for the team. Head over to Jalopnik for more info.

As I kind of expected (predicted?), LMH is becoming the GT1 of the 20s, with everybody wanting to get in. I only hope that the FIA, ACO and manufacturers keep up the enthusiasm for a long time.

And Ferrari does it again!

After a grueling 24 hours, Ferrari comes on top again. However, their victory only defined itself in the last hour or so, with plenty of drama and risks. Like having to pit to get a door closed or finishing the race with basically only fumes left in the tank 😲! A very nice race overall, with Porsche Manthey taking first place in GT3 and United Autosport first in LMP2.

For us collectors, Ferrari wining is not exactly great. Why? Because the only game in town will be $Looksmart$, if you want the overall winner 💀. Even so, we now have a hypercar art car (BMW) to look forward to in 1:43, hopefully from Spark (please!).

The best Le Mans ever?

All right, that may be a bit too strong… So, maybe not the best ever but certainly the best in the last 10 years, then? Probably. The race had one of the most exciting beginnings ever, with lots of rain and drama. And after that, it was something or other happening all the time. Honestly, something happened every 15 minutes or so. Even so, the best part was Hypercar, hands down. Lead swaps occurred left and right, a VERY competitive race – so much better than the boring parades of the last five years. Moreover, the cars are absolutely gorgeous!

The bad part? A Ferrari won 🤣. Oh come on, it is bad – a Ferrari winning means that I’ll have to get an expensive Looksmart 😣. Yet, I’m NOT complaining – I was really dreading getting another boring white and red Toyota. And speaking of spending money, things will get expensive for the W-143 Garage: Ferrari 499P (Looksmart 🙄), Porsche 963, Peugeot 9X8, Cadillac V-Series.R, that Garage 56 Camaro, Oreca 07 #34 and the Corvette #33. And perhaps, because of the liveries, the “Dinosaur Porsche”, Nielsen Oreca 07 #14, a Glickenhaus and the Iron Dames Porsche. Oh yeah, the 2023 24 Heures du Mans will definitively be expensive.

Even so, all in all, and as expected, it was a FANTASTIC race! 🏆🏆🏆

New Silver Arrows?

Oh yes! Minichamps released a few new ones:

- Typ B #1 - 1935 AVUSrennen (H.Stuck)
- Typ A Rennlimousine ("Typ Lucca") #4 - 1935 AVUSrennen (B. Rosemeyer) 
- Typ C/D #125 - 1939 Grossglockner Hill Climb (H. P. Muller)
- Typ D Stromlinie #18 - 1938 French Grand Prix (R. Hasse)

I first found out about these models in early 2020 (I talked about them here). At the time, however, I was really skeptical that Minichamps would ever release them. After all, Silberpfeile collectors are a rare breed. Yet, to my surprise, in March Minichamps did actually release some of the models from that list. I found the ones above on eBay, and few online retailers are also offering them. Nonetheless, Minichamps made only a limited quantity of each (200 or 300?). And what that means is that they are already hard to find online 😣. Therefore, DO NOT wait to get them.

WEC 2023: entry list

Oh boy… Things are looking EXCITING for 2023! 🤩🤩🤩

Ferrari joins the party

Ferrari unveiled their new 499P Hypercar a few days ago. The new 499P will be ready for the 2023 WEC season. The car counts on a 200 KW electric motor powering the front axle and a 500 KW twin-turbo V6 powering the rear (that’s around 930 hp total). It is still to be seen if it’s good or not, however it looks MIGHTY fine.

My only issue with it is that probably it will only be available in 1:43 from $Looksmart$ 😣.