The Slovenian exhaust system manufacturer Akrapovič has signed a multi-year agreement with the Italian sports car manufacturer Ferrari that will see Akrapovič become a technical partner for Ferrari Hypercar, which competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).

The Slovenian company said the partnership will entail close cooperation on technical aspects, beginning with the Le Mans Hypercar, the Ferrari 499P, which is competing in the top class of the WEC.

The Ferrari 499P is a four-wheel-drive, hybrid-engine, endurance prototype racer that delivers a maximum power output of 500 kW to the wheels and has a minimum weight of 1,030 kg.

"Everybody at Akrapovič is delighted about this new partnership," Akrapovič CEO Davorin Dobočnik commented. "To be seen as the Ferrari Hypercar Technical Partner is a great honour," he added.

Akrapovič will join forces with Ferrari for the seven remaining rounds of the 2024 FIA WEC, which will begin at Imola, Italy, this week, before moving to Belgium, followed by the 24h Le Mans in France in mid-June.

The rest of the calendar will see races in Brazil, the US, and Japan before the culmination of the season in Bahrain in November.

Two of Ferrari 499P cars will line up on the starting grid.

The two companies believe that the racetrack is the ideal laboratory for developing cutting-edge technological solutions for motorsport.

"It will be great to see the debut of this partnership, and there is no circuit better suited to our first race together than the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola," Dobočnik said.

Akrapovič has been successfully supporting leading teams in various racing championships. Using its exhaust systems, 175 world champions on two and four wheels have raced to success.

The company was founded in 1991 by Igor Akrapovič, a former motorcycle racer.