Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription!
Both Vanwall and Isotta Fraschini, former competitors in the FIA World Endurance Championship's Hypercar class, are looking at competing in the class in the Asian Le Mans Series, Only Endurance can reveal.
The Hypercar class, so far restricted to the WEC, will be added to the series for the 2026-27 season. It will be restricted to customer entries.
'Yes, there is interest. I think we will,' Vanwall team boss, Colin Kolles, told Only Endurance.
While the team has designed a new car, Kolles confirmed Vanwall will likely race the old car in AsLMS in 2026-27.
'The time is too short to homologate the new car. 2026 now, it's too late for us, because we want to be well prepared.
'Due to the circumstances of supplier issues, you have to have long lead times. And we cannot place orders without knowing if we can race or not.'
The old car, the Vanwall Vandervell 680, raced in WEC in 2023.
However, the engine in the car, a Gibson GL458, was at a significant power deficit. At times, the 4.5-litre, naturally aspirated V8 engine was at a power deficit of up to 60kW, or 80 horsepower, compared to the competition. With Hypercars having a maximum power of 520kW as per the technical regulations, that's more than 10% of the total power.
Kolles confirmed to Only Endurance that the car would run in AsLMS with this engine, but he is waiting for clarification regarding the regulations to proceed further.
The plan to race customer Hypercars in AsLMS was announced at the ACO's annual press conference, on Friday, preceding last weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans.
'The team will likely be ByKolles, running a Vanwall car,' Kolles said, although added he is waiting for clarification on whether this is possible from the ACO.
Isotta Fraschini also interested in AsLMS
Like Vanwall, Isotta Fraschini has also expressed an interest in racing in the new AsLMS top class in 2026-27, the company confirmed to Only Endurance.
While there are 'multiple options' available to the manufacturer, one of those routes is 'through partners', a representative said.
Isotta Fraschini raced in five races in the 2024 WEC season, at Losail in Qatar, Imola, Spa, Le Mans, and Interlagos in Brazil. The team, operated by Duqueine on behalf of Isotta Fraschini, then pulled out, and has not been seen on a grid since.
But this confirmation that the company is looking to race in the AsLMS in 2026-27 is a sign that the Italian squad still wants to race its Tipo 6 LMH Competizione.
Additionally, Only Endurance contacted another former WEC manufacturer, Glickenhaus, for a comment on whether there's interest from them to compete in AsLMS. However, at the time of writing, we have not heard back.
Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month, plus go ad-free
Porsche 'starting discussions'
So, what kind of competition would ByKolles/Vanwall and Isotta Fraschini face in AsLMS?
Porsche are the only manufacturer to have offered true customer cars, not counting the AF Corse-run (and now Le Mans-winning) #83 Ferrari 'satellite' entry in WEC.
Urs Kuratle, Porsche's director of LMDh motorsport, told media they were 'just about' to start discussions with teams.
'We're just about to start the discussions with the teams, with potential teams over there, because obviously we would have to set up the customer support in those teams as well,' Kuratle said.
'At the moment, we are set up to have a customer support in the WEC series and one in the IMSA. They can operate independently.
'There's not a line up of teams asking for a 963 in the AsLMS yet, but never say never. We are happy to discuss it, definitely.'
It's unclear if any other Hypercar/GTP manufacturers may offer customer cars. But, from what Kuratle said, it sounds possible that we may see customer Porsche 963s in AsLMS, hopefully alongside Vanwall and Isotta Fraschini.
Update: amended Isotta Fraschini's interest as a company racing in AsLMS, not as a team.
Feature image: Focus Pack Media
This post is brought to you by The Racing Line, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming. Download on iOS today!