The Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) have partnered with GreenGT to launch H24Racing Team to boost its plans to introduce a hydrogen fuel category to the Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race.
Although details of the project remain scarce, it forms part of the ACO's Mission H24 plans which aims to see alternative powered cars, such as a hydrogen-cell car, compete alongside traditional combustion engined cars.
The aim is for this to happen at the 2024 Le Mans, which will form the final round of the 2023-24 FIA World Endurance Championship season.
Meanwhile H24Racing aims to run its LMPH2G, an electric-hydrogen-powered racing prototype, as soon as possible in a yet-to-be named championship, to prove its concept.
"A new team spells excitement, enthusiasm, expectancy and promise," commented Pierre Fillon, ACO President. "I have to admit a sense of fulfilment in announcing the arrival of H24Racing. With this team, we are making our project real. GreenGT’s accomplishments in research, development and implementation in fuel cell technology are unprecedented.
"Last September, the ACO and GreenGT launched MissionH24, to promote hydrogen power and zero-emission solutions and draw attention to how fast this energy is progressing. The aura of Le Mans will help raise the profile of the technology.
"H24Racing is the result of the ACO-GreenGT partnership. With this team, our joint venture becomes a truly sporting endeavour with a tangible demonstration of our intentions. We’ll be putting our new technology to the test, on track, pitting it against other fuels and power trains. The realisation that 2024 is just around the corner and the 24 Hours of Le Mans will soon have a hydrogen car on the grid is particularly gratifying. But, make no mistake, we are well aware that this is just the beginning of an immense challenge. Today H24 Racing is setting out on a long journey."
Gérard Neveu, CEO of FIA WEC, added: "In 2012, when the FIA World Endurance Championship hosted the first hybrid prototypes, endurance racing led the way. It was a pioneer. Today, with MissionH24 and H24Racing, the ACO and GreenGT's sporting convictions about hydrogen show that our series, our championships will enter a new dimension.
"They will be the testing ground, the launch pad to achieve MissionH24's stated objective: a category for Hydrogen cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2024. We are racing in the present and we are racing for the future."
