Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Legendary Formula One designer Gordon Murray is evaluating an entry into the new 2021 WEC Hypercar category, planning to field his work-in-progress T.50 Supercar.
Murray is perhaps best known as the design genius behind numerous Brabham and McLaren Grand Prix cars, having spent 15 years in Formula One before turning his attention to the world or sportscars and GT racing, winning Le Mans in 1995 with the now iconic McLaren F1 - the car which has proven the inspiration for this new Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 supercar.
Now running his own Gordon Murray Automotive company, the South African-born British designer has his sights set on joining the World Endurance Championship from 2021, fielding the new car in what could be a famous return to the race track, and Le Mans, for the popular motorsport personality.
Although the T.50 hypercar is still very much in the design infancy, Murray has already opened pre-orders for the road going version, and has even fielded interest from folks looking to run the new machine once a race specification car becomes available;
With the car publicly announced, and the considerable history of motorsport participation for Murray in his long career, it is perhaps inevitable that the designer already has an eye on the new regulations;
The beauty of the newly confirmed WEC Hypercar regulations is the opportunity for lesser known brands such as Gordon Murray Automotive to get involved with the sport at the top level, hopefully competing on an even footing with already confirmed big name manufacturers Aston Martin, Toyota, Peugeot and as is highly likely to be confirmed soon, McLaren.
Another small volume producing new manufacturer has already confirmed their intention to review a possible WEC entry in future, with David Brabham expressing interest in bringing the new 600bhp Brabham BT62 supercar into the top level of GT racing post 2021 - adding yet more exceptionally intriguing variety into what looks likely to become a golden period for sportscar racing once again. Oh, and what about a Fittipaldi EF7 too.....
If you want to talk all things racing, get over to the Motorsport sub forum and put together a new thread to chat with our awesome community!
Murray is perhaps best known as the design genius behind numerous Brabham and McLaren Grand Prix cars, having spent 15 years in Formula One before turning his attention to the world or sportscars and GT racing, winning Le Mans in 1995 with the now iconic McLaren F1 - the car which has proven the inspiration for this new Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 supercar.
Now running his own Gordon Murray Automotive company, the South African-born British designer has his sights set on joining the World Endurance Championship from 2021, fielding the new car in what could be a famous return to the race track, and Le Mans, for the popular motorsport personality.
Although the T.50 hypercar is still very much in the design infancy, Murray has already opened pre-orders for the road going version, and has even fielded interest from folks looking to run the new machine once a race specification car becomes available;
"we have had some customers who are very interested in racing the car. We are all racers here, so we are very interested in racing it, too. It is in our DNA.
"We are about to announce very soon a tie-up with an F1 team for the use a wind-tunnel in the development of the T.50, so we are a step closer to racing already."
With the car publicly announced, and the considerable history of motorsport participation for Murray in his long career, it is perhaps inevitable that the designer already has an eye on the new regulations;
"A racing version of the T.50 would probably come out at about 900kg, so bolting in a couple of hundred kilogrammes of ballast doesn't appeal," he said.
"But because the new rules are based on performance balancing, hopefully there would be some way for us to run lighter but with less power."
"The people who run the series (WEC) are very interested in having us back after our history at Le Mans with the F1 GTR — I spoke to the ACO and the FIA back in February this year," Murray told Motosport.com.
The beauty of the newly confirmed WEC Hypercar regulations is the opportunity for lesser known brands such as Gordon Murray Automotive to get involved with the sport at the top level, hopefully competing on an even footing with already confirmed big name manufacturers Aston Martin, Toyota, Peugeot and as is highly likely to be confirmed soon, McLaren.
Another small volume producing new manufacturer has already confirmed their intention to review a possible WEC entry in future, with David Brabham expressing interest in bringing the new 600bhp Brabham BT62 supercar into the top level of GT racing post 2021 - adding yet more exceptionally intriguing variety into what looks likely to become a golden period for sportscar racing once again. Oh, and what about a Fittipaldi EF7 too.....
If you want to talk all things racing, get over to the Motorsport sub forum and put together a new thread to chat with our awesome community!
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