New LMP3 rules cycle outlined for 2020 and includes power boost

LMP3 cars will have an extra 35bhp, bringing them up to a total of 455bhp, when the second rules cycle for the category introduced in 2015 by Le Mans 24 Hours organiser the Automobile Club de l'Ouest comes into force next year.

A new Nissan normally-aspirated V8 powerplant, the VK56, will be introduced, but the existing VK50 P3 powerplants can be upgraded to the higher output until the end of their life cycle.

French motorsport group ORECA has retained its contract to service the engines and gearboxes.

Traction control will also be introduced to the LMP3 car.

A chassis upgrade from each of the four constructors granted P3 licenses by the ACO for 2020-24 will be permitted.

Those manufacturers are Ligier, Ginetta, ADESS and Duqueine Engineering, which merged with French constructor Norma at the end of 2017.

This upgrade will include new safety features, including the introduction of Zylon side-intrusion panels.

A maximum price for the update kit has been set at €50,000 (£44,000). The cost-cap for a new car will be €239,000 (£210,000).

ACO sporting director Vincent Beaumesnil stressed that it had been important to ensure that costs did not rise in LMP3 with the introduction of new rules.

He pointed out that there were 170 LMP3 cars in existence and that the ACO didn't want to render them obsolete.

The new rules will come into force next season in the European Le Mans Series and its Michelin Le Mans Cup support championship, as well as the Road to Le Mans event on the Le Mans bill.

The Asian Le Mans Series, which runs to a winter format, will adopt the new regulations for its 2020/21 season.