LE MAN S CONCLUDES THE SEASON IN RADICAL NEW WE C CALENDAR
The World Endurance Championship will run across two calendar years beginning in May 2018, with the season now reaching its climax at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
The calendar will also feature a return to the Sebring 12 Hours, a staple of the IMSA Sportscar Series in America.
The changes are part of a radical package of changes to the WEC put together by series promoter the Automobile Club de l’ouest in conjunction with the FIA in the wake of Porsche’s announcement that it will be leaving the LMP1 division at the end of this season.
WEC boss Gerard Neveu said: “The 2018/19 season will be a season of transition.
“Five years ago, when the WEC was created, we worked on the idea of finishing at Le Mans, but before it was not possible.
“The football World Cup finishes with the final and without Le Mans, there is no WEC, so it makes sense.”
Le Mans will no longer be a double points round, but it will – along with Sebring – feature bonus points due to its longer race format.
The technical regulations for LMP1 will remain unchanged for the ‘super-season’, except for measures designed to give privateers the same chance of victory as the factory hybrids.
This means the end of the separate privateer P1 class.
ACO sporting director Vincent Beaumesnil said: “When we had three manufacturers [before Audi’s withdrawal at the end of 2016] we made regulations that allowed the privateers opportunities to fight.
“Now there is only one manufacturer [presuming Toyota continues] we are going to try to bring them even closer.
“This transition period is a good window for privateers to join.”
For the new rules cycle set to begin in 2020, WEC organiser Automobile Club de l’ouest has backed hybrid technology confirming it will play a part.
Neveu added: “The 2020 LMP1 rules will be substantially altered from what was announced at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
“But the Automobile Club de l’ouest and the FIA [which jointly write the rules] are absolutely certain that technology and hybrid systems must keep their place in endurance racing, although not at any cost.”
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