Thought-Powered Car Confirmed as 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans Garage 56 Entry

One of the coolest motorsports initiatives in recent memory is, without a doubt, the Garage 56 program established by the organizers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans for innovative and experimental vehicles that fall outside the race’s four normal classes. And while past Garage 56 entries have put a focus on efficiency/alternative energy (though this year’s entry will be driven by a quadriplegic man), they’ve got nothing on the just-announced 2018 entry: Mind Over Motor Engineering, which aims to build the world’s first telekinetically-powered racecar.

Team principal Ben da Spoone is quick to explain that propelling and controlling a car using only the human brain offers up multiple benefits. “The main advantage is, of course, no engine or gearbox,” he said. “That means we won’t have to worry about refueling or engine or driveline failure, plus we’ll be a lot lighter. There’s also no need for brakes, since we can utilize telekinetic energy to slow the car as well as accelerate it, and no steering column or wheel, either. The ACO [Automobile Club de l’Ouest, organizer and promoter of the 24 Hours of Le Mans] politely asked us to have a driver physically in the car and an emergency brake for said driver to operate, but we could easily build the car without provisions for either.” da Spoone said the car – which will be called the ESP-R1 – will look like a conventional modern Le Mans prototype, but with hardly any air inlets or scoops, and no exhaust pipes. “It really is the last word in green racing,” he crowed.

As for driving duties, da Spoone revealed that the roster will, having been granted a waiver from the ACO, consist of six people: Three to sit in the cockpit and steer the ESP-R1, and three sitting in the pit garage to steer, accelerate and decelerate it. “Our tentative plan is to find out which psychics work best with which drivers during testing, and then keep them paired together throughout the rotation over the course of the race,” da Spoone explained. He went on to say they’re already evaluating candidates for both roles, noting that they’ve already procured goats for evaluating the psychic candidates. We’re excited to see how this trailblazing racing program shapes up as June 2018 draws nearer.