Deltawing coupe race debut set back from Laguna Seca ALMS round
The race debut of the new coupe version of the DeltaWing experimental prototype has been set back from next month's Laguna Seca American Le Mans Series round
ALMS founder Don Panoz, who has taken full control of the DeltaWing project for this season, had wanted the new car to race at round three of the US series at the California track.
The problems with the Mazda-based Elan engine, which has replaced last year's Nissan powerplant, at the Sebring 12 Hours last month have forced the DeltaWing Racing Cars squad to refocus its programme.
Team manager Dave Price said: "We will be at Laguna, but it won't be with the coupe. The plan now is to debut it later in the summer.
"We need to get some more testing under our belts and iron out the problems we had at Sebring before we introduce a new car."
The open-top DeltaWing will test at the team's home track at Road Atlanta next week and will then run at Buttonwillow Raceway in California in the lead up to the Laguna Raceway.
Olivier Pla and Andy Meyrick, who raced the car at Sebring, will handle testing duties and race the car at Laguna on May 11.
Price added: "We want to keep consistency in the programme by using the same two. Neither of them will be able to do all the races, so there will be other drivers later in the season."
The new DeltaWing coupe, which was unveiled over the course of Sebring race week, is built around a bespoke monocoque designed and built by Panoz's Elan Motorsports Technologies organisation rather than the Aston Martin AMR-One tub of the original.
Starworks calls time on 2013 World Endurance Championship bid
WEC Silverstone: Andre Lotterer puts Audi on top in Friday practice
How Formula E's double-duty drivers influenced their Le Mans teams' fortunes
Eight Formula E drivers made the 7,000-mile sprint from the streets of Jakarta to the fabled Circuit de la Sarthe and every one had a story to share at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours. Despite a range of triumphs and disappointments, each driver doubling up on the day job played a key role in their teams' fortunes
How an Italian junior formula giant is readying for its Le Mans future
Prema remains a colossus in single-seaters, but the serial Formula 2 and Formula 3 title-winning squad has joined forces with top GT squad Iron Lynx for an attack on sportscars in the World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series. Ahead of its debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours, its sights are firmly fixed on LMP2 glory – and a future in Hypercars next year...
The British rookies targeting a good first impression at Le Mans
Three young Britons will make their first starts in the Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend in the highly-competitive 23-car GTE Am field. But how did they get here? Autosport hears their stories.
The wingless wonder Peugeot hopes will restore it to Le Mans glory
Peugeot went radical with the initial plan for its Le Mans Hypercar project, and then stuck to its guns. Here’s how things are shaping up a few weeks before the debut of the 9X8 in next month's Monza World Endurance Championship round
How Toyota’s sole survivor turned the tables at Spa
After a chastening opening to the season at Sebring that ended in an enormous accident, Toyota's #7 crew got their World Endurance Championship underway with victory at a treacherously slippery Spa to make up for its sister car's Sebring defeat to Alpine, as Glickenhaus's promising qualifying turned to disaster in the race
The Chinese sportscar protege targeting a path to the top with Porsche
Yifei Ye came within one lap of winning the LMP2 class on his Le Mans 24 Hours debut last year, and his eye-catching 2021 has gained Porsche’s interest. With the German manufacturer preparing for a return to the top tier, the Chinese youngster is on the path to join it
How WEC got off to a stormy start in 2022 as rulemakers dampen Toyota's dominance
Toyota’s stranglehold on the World Endurance Championship ended at the 2022 opener at Sebring, but all accusing eyes were on the Balance of Performance system as the key to the shake-up. Here's how it unfolded, to see Alpine celebrating under a stormy sky having blown away the defending champions
Why Penske remains ambitious for its WEC learning year
Team Penske is gearing up for its role in running Porsche’s LMDh programme from 2023 by entering this year's World Endurance Championship with an LMP2 car. Although the team is considering 2022 as a season to learn, it is no less serious about winning than ever - which should make the already fiercely competitive class even more so