Just to outline the timeline these kinds of cars go through:
Hypercar and GTP were basically merged into a double ruleset, meaning the originally separate IMSA (LMDh) and WEC (LMH) types cars can be used for either or both series with minimal modifications (in fact going forward they’ll be using the same wind tunnel for drag certification, so the differences will soon be nonexistent).
The rub is that the classes basically mandate a fixed “spec” that gets registered upon entry to the series (which is to prevent costs ballooning from development wars). This is done by “homologating” the car, essentially registering every single part of the car with the sporting body, which will remain constant for the life of the homologation. Teams/manufacturers are allowed to test and modify as much as they want before homologation, to get their car to a window they’re satisfied with, but once it’s homlogated, that’s how the car is, there’s no changing it.
Upon homologation, teams were offered 5 jokers, which let you change a homologated part or section of the car. Since the ruleset got extended more and more, they cut off the original 5 to expire in 2027, where everyone is then reset to 2, to attempt to balance new manufacturers with ones that entered in the first year. After these are all spent, the car can no longer be changed. That’s the position Peugeot is in, burning up some jokers trying to make the suspension work with the ground effect, and then re-homologating with a wing, and burning their last jokers trying to get the geometry in a better spot after getting more data on the Evo version. They’re now stuck with that car until after 2027 when new jokers are awarded.
Both series mandate homologation around 3 months before the car’s first race, mainly so they they can crunch some initial data and try to get it placed in the BoP table. How this shakes out is that teams will spend 6-12 months privately testing their car, actively changing it and finding what design will work best for them, homologate, and then want another 2-3 months of private testing to fine tune what’s been registered, so the crew can optimize finding setups and software parameters before they do their first race. This is why cars debuting in IMSA end up missing Daytona sometimes (Lamborghini and Aston). Because the race is so early, they homologate less than a month before the race, and don’t have time to learn their spec, so they do the Roar test weekend, skip the 24 hour race, and do their actual debut either at the WEC opener, or Sebring in early spring.
This is all to say, PD likely won’t have access to one of these cars immediately due to its dense and intense testing schedule.
There’s basically no way to have an accurate capture of one of these cars until it’s homologated, and it’s then not clear if PD need special access to performance data to get the car’s “feel” into the game - which might require some telemetry data they gather over a month or two of post-homologation testing.
Genesis was set to debut at the Qatar 1812km at the start of March, and while the war in that region called that race off, the car was likely homologated near new years at the absolute latest. It’s not impossible given the brand partnership that PD had access to CAD data on the shapes of everything, but even so, if the 9 month modeling schedule is to be believed, we couldn’t even see the Genesis until September at the earliest. I would expect longer with a hybrid race car and its need for testing data, and further delayed race data with the Qatar cancelation. If it comes, early spring 2027, maybe.
This I think could be the next car after this set. I believe the TR010 used 3 jokers to make all the changes from the GR010 (front aero, rear aero, and suspension geometry), meaning a lot of what PD has already is usable, and can rely on data/CAD supplied from Toyota to churn this one out quickly. The caveat here is that this is technically the 3rd version of the car, the GR010 used its re-homologation for 2023 instead of using jokers to refine dozens of design parameters in hopes it would be a more effective way to run its upgrades going forwards. I believe we have the original pre-re-homologation car, so it could require more work, regardless, PD could’ve had access to the design before it was released to the public and would be able to have been working on it for a while.
PD has had access to unsuccessful race cars in the past, and therefore I don’t think the Lambo necessarily would be outside that shot, especially with us not knowing how long these cars have been in the pipeline.
What makes the Lambo more complicated is its upgrade schedule and messy partnership history. It received its last Evo package last September going into the round at Indy that year, where a suspension change actually made it somewhat competitive (it was nearly on the podium with the Valkyrie on merit at Petit that year). That would be its “easiest” start point, however, if PD was trying to get it before 2025, then they’d have been working with the project when it was primarily funded and operated by Iron Lynx and Prema. Lambo kept refusing to add funding to the program, and it was clear more testing was needed to make the car work or to identify how to design an evo package. This basically kneecapped development of the car, making Lynx run a terrible car in perpetuity while hemorrhaging money to do so. Then, further, after it was confirmed the two entities would be separating, Lamborghini was caught using Prema’s proprietary steering wheel software while doing initial pre-2025 testing, and they entered a lawsuit.
If they had access to the 2024 car, that would likely mean PD would need to license Iron Lynx and Prema entities for the car, and I would imagine those groups don’t really want to be associated with the SC63 anymore, and it could make the task of getting it to the game a bit rocky.
Lamborghini then operated with Riley Motorsport for 2025 with a single car in just the endurance cup in IMSA, but likewise didn’t want to throw too much money at it. The car broke down a lot and wasn’t fast when it worked, so by the time they had the first joker ready Riley was ready to part ways, even if the car had promise in the final few months it raced. If PD started with the Riley-ran car, it could be easier.
These are the 3 that I think basically have no roadblocks beyond the baseline time and scheduling budget.
While we don’t have Cadillacs right now, PD has a good relationship with GM, and Chevy and Cadillac are closely related, particularly on the Motorsports front. Cadillac only ran an internal electronics and software joker early in the program to simplify data collection and equipment calibration, and their real “big” evo package only came this year with a complete rework of the aero design. PD could easily have been working on the pre-Evo car in tandem with the models present in this update.
The Valkyrie double debuted in both series in 2025, WEC Qatar in late February, Sebring IMSA in mid March. I actually know people at the team now, so I’m pretty locked in on this car. Five total have been built, two racing in WEC, one in IMSA, and a fully functional spare car for each series. They ran an intense testing schedule in 2025 - just as an example, after finishing the Sebring 12 hours, post-debut, without tearing down the car, they did a full extra 12 hour test to simulate a 24 hour race with their full personnel and equipment on-site, and see what breaks first/how to prevent a breakdown at Le Mans and Daytona.
While the cars were always active, they haven’t taken any upgrades, so otherwise it would’ve been extremely straightforward for PD to have had access to the car, it’s just timing and availability afaik. Heart of Racing took one of their cars to Goodwood that year, which was around the same time as the Glen 6 hours and the Brazilian WEC round - that meant it had to be one of the spare spare chassis, and that’s also likely around the time the team and car would’ve started getting free time to have PD get involved.
Alpine have had a straightforward program, and are largely a similar story to Cadillac, just starting a year later and using a joker to stop their Mechachrome F2 engine from exploding. They did a full Evo package refresh this year as well, just as Cadillac did, to get their aero window more balanced across the full calendar.
The complicated bit lies in the very existence and future of Alpine itself. Renault is in a reeeaaallly bad spot financially, and I mentioned in an earlier post there’s been rumors Renault could just close Alpine entirely. They could have scanned the car, and then aI Ed to go about releasing it with discounted licensing fees, or Alpine could try and leverage more money for licensing to help fund the brand, it’s impossible to know. Then there’s the issue that the team is trying to sell the assets, potentially to a Chinese buyer, and PD may want to save the work for that project if that’s the case.
Yeah. Glickenhaus likely isn’t coming, his public statements have been that he doesn’t need the marketing, and that he has more than enough customers to sell cars to. He just keeps demanding (apparently) insane licensing contracts, my guess LMU got it in by having a transparent flat rate across every manufacturer, or paid upfront to WEC/FIA/ACO (who may have had more say in who could be represented than the manufacturers themselves) and they distributed it equally to each participating team, preventing any argument to be able to arise out of it.
Acura is messy now because they’re now seemingly suspending the program. They’ve explicitly said they won’t allow private teams to run their cars in IMSA next year, but they could return at another date. Even if they do, they may lose their operations partner in the process, since Meyer Shank wants to keep racing in sportscars and not lay off all his staff. There were rumors that Honda wanted to take it to WEC, but given they’ve suspended the program for next year and are running one of the cars with a crypto sponsor, I think it’s clear it’s a Honda budget issue, much like Alpine and Porsche. It would be a matter of when PD started working on the ARX if they’ve had access to it.
The other privateers probably won’t happen, seemingly both being some type of sham. Vanwall/Bykolles is a prolific shady businessman, and has almost never produced a race car that wouldn’t light itself on fire while competing with the cars from a class or two below. Isotta seemed to be hopeful program to start a boutique bespoke niche auto brand, but their operations partner backed out of running a 2nd car to keep the program running with WEC’s 2-car rule, and the automotive side basically went radio silent near the end of 2024. It’s not clear if they even exist anymore, and I don’t think they ended up selling or delivering a single road car.
Mclaren and Ford are too early, they debut next year, so they’re unlikely to be homologated until the fall at the earliest, and as mentioned earlier, PD probably would t have access to them until after that point.
