The P4/5 Competizione project evolves - but no official Ferrari involvement

Last May, during the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, James Glickenhaus, the force behind the fan favorite P4/5 Competizione confided in us that he'd like to take part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in his special one-off car. Since then, things have evolved and the car will be in action again at the end of October for the final VLN meeting on the famed Nordschleife. The P4/5 Competizione's impressive performance during the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring helped James Glickenhaus make the decision to move to a hybrid system for the car.

"We're hoping to improve our time on the north loop to go below the 6min51sec mark, which remains the record for a Ferrari. What's more, the race that will be held in October will be part of the FIA World Championship Alternate Energy Cup and we are leading that championship in class 7. We're hoping to take the World Championship during this race."

James Glickenhaus is already thinking of the future: "We're studying several possibilities for 2013 and 2014. The LMP1 rules for 2014 seem more favorable for alternative energies and we're not excluding the opportunity to build an P4/5 LMP for 2014. For this, however, we need to find partners, which isn't always a sure thing."

But for those who may be making the logical association between the P4/5 LMP and any official participation or support from Ferrari, James Glickenhaus is quick to put those rumours to rest: "If we're able to find the necessary partners for this project, it will be completed. One thing is certain, it will be an entirely private operation. Ferrari is not implicated in this program whatsoever. That said, we haven't excluded participation from another manufacturer.

Even though the P4/5 Competizione may remind readers of a Ferrari, we only need to look back at what Glickenhaus said after a good 12th place overall (1st in E1-XP class) at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring earlier this year: " Ferrari brings no support to the program, and actually I received no congratulations from Luca di Montezemolo for our performance. However, I did receive notes from Mercedes F1, Red Bull F1, Caterham F1, Ford Motorsports and VW Motorsports."