ACO president Pierre Fillon stated an intent to progressively introduce the new fuel at the centrepiece round of the World Endurance Championship between 2026 and the start of the next decade ahead of this weekend’s Fuji 24 Hours in which Toyota is competing with a hydrogen-powered Corolla.
The road map he laid down included two key announcements about the new class for hydrogen-powered prototypes, which the ACO has been planning since 2018.
The introduction of a category, which is intended to create machinery capable of winning overall from the outset, has been pushed back by a year for a second time and is now set for a 2026 debut.
He also confirmed that combustion-engined cars using hydrogen will be allowed to compete along the zero-emissions fuel cell machinery for which the class was originally envisaged.
“In 2026, we will have a hydrogen category at Le Mans at the same level as Hypercar,” said Fillon.
“At Le Mans it's important that we allow manufacturers to test different technologies: it has been the case for 100 years and we want to continue to do that.
“The idea is to introduce H2 category progressively after 2026, and the idea in 2030 to have 100% of the top category with hydrogen.”
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Fillon has talked openly since last year about a desire to increase the remit of the hydrogen class to incorporate internal combustion engines and not just fuel cells, which create electricity via the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen.
“The fuel cell was initially chosen for its potential, which is still relevant,” he said at Fuji on Saturday.
Source: Autosport