The next round of the World Endurance Championship arrives at the Italian Temple of Speed in Monza this weekend. In the Hypercar category, the Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus car won’t be the last apprentice of the class anymore as Peugeot is making its WEC return to global endurance racing. As our Media Crew travels to Monza, we had a chat with team owner Jim Glickenhaus to explain the benefits of using Motul oil in his SCG Hypercar.
JIM GLICKENHAUS AT MONZA: “THE RIGHT OIL IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS”
06.07.2022
Jim, looking back at the development process, can you explain the benefits of Motul’s lubricants?
Motul has been our partner since the beginning of the project, and above all, having the right oils is crucial in endurance racing. It is the lifeblood of the engine. In addition to protecting it under extraordinarily extreme use, it also has to provide the qualities that enables the engine to make ultra-high horsepower. That’s what Motul 300V oil does: it protects and enables us to make power. That’s really the basis of a great racing oil.
And why is it so important?
Well, endurance racing puts as much stress on a car as driving it 100,000 thousand miles. When we race the 24 hours at the Nürburgring, you can compare the stress on the car with 100,000 to 150,000 road miles on the mechanical parts of the car. So, if the oil can stand up to that, it can stand up for use in your car. We even suggest people should change their oil a little more often than every hundred thousand miles [laughs], but this fact gives you a good idea.
What are the important qualities you’re looking for when coming to find a good engine oil?
We’re looking for an oil that can stand up to abuse. But also, an oil that’s not so thick that it robs horsepower. It’s a matter of fine balance. When we race our buggy in the Baja, it’s a different set of problems. During the Baja rally, the engine oil gets up as high as 300-degrees Fahrenheit, which is frankly beyond its design limitations, but it doesn’t breakdown. The Motul 300V oil enables us to keep racing. That’s the thing: whatever the specifications of the oil are, I think the Motul products far exceeds it, which is very important to us.
How important is that the car can attain its optimum performance?
It’s quite simple, you can’t win an endurance race, unless you finish an endurance race. Having the right oil, such as Motul 300V, that allows you to finish is really the key to success.
You are bringing a new blue livery on the car to Monza. Why this change?
At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, we saw the new Porsche LMDh car in its race livery. As both Porsche and Toyota are now red, white and black, we’ve decided to try something different. As bright as the sky or bright as the future. Our #708 SCG 007 Hypercar will be liveried this weekend with the base colour from the Glickenhaus logo for this weekend’s 6 Hours of Monza.