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Le Mans / ALMS
LE MANS: A Brave New World Endurance Championship
SPEED.com sits down with FIA World Endurance Championship CEO Gerard Neveu for an exclusive interview on the prospects of the new globe-trotting sports car series...
This weekend has seen the dawn of the FIA World Endurance Championship. (Photo: Jean-Michel LeMeur/DPPI)
When the green flag flies for today’s 60th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, a new era in sports car racing will be ushered in with the launch of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Born from the groundwork laid by the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, the first FIA-sanctioned world championship for Le Mans-style cars in some 20 years takes the sport back on to the global stage, as part of a collaborative effort between the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest.
Initially announced at Le Mans last June, the WEC continually gained traction over the past nine months, with manufacturers, teams and drivers from all corners of the world committing to the championship.
As FIA WEC CEO Gerard Neveu explains, in a SPEED.com exclusive interview, the transformation from ILMC to WEC has been more than just a simple name change but rather a new beginning for the sport.
“The ILMC was the necessary step before crossing to a world championship,” Neveu explains. “The WEC is now the big family [member] of endurance.
“You have mother and father in the same basket. That means you have the mother, the ACO, the place where endurance was born, with Le Mans and the most important endurance race in the world, which is a place where the legends are born.
“After that, you have the FIA, the international federation with a big knowledge of the sport and regulation and a good experience with the official stamp. If you add these two major structures together, you have a fantastic family in the end.”
Having formed committees and technical working groups encompassing members from both organizations, the FIA and ACO’s biggest test begins this weekend, with the first round, a combined race with the American Le Mans Series, that kicks off the globe-trotting tour.
While Peugeot’s shock withdrawal no doubt left a major dent in LMP1, a solid field of 30 full-season entries, including a late commitment from Toyota, which will begin its works campaign in the second round at Spa, has kept the factory prototype fight alive with stalwarts Audi.
Add the strong customer programs from the likes of Honda Performance Development and Nissan in LMP1 and LMP2, along with the production-based GTE ranks seeing factory of works-supported efforts by Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin and Corvette, and the field is stacked with significant manufacturer involvement.
“To have 30 cars at the beginning of the season is a huge amount,” Neveu says. “It was my top provision before the problem with Peugeot. Considering the situation and the economical situation around the world, it's a good start.
“When you have 30, you are ready to welcome 34 or 35; it doesn't matter. The only thing we have to make sure is to keep a good average of teams [throughout the year]. I think the grid is very impressive. Two more cars [in GTE-Pro] would have made it perfect for me. LMP1 is good and LMP2 is more than I expected and GTE-Am is very good.”
With additional entries, known as ‘Wild Cards’ allowed for select rounds, Neveu is hopeful of seeing on average between 35 to 40 cars for the balance of the season, not counting the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which will feature a 56-car starting grid. An increase is also expected to come for the Six Hours of Spa, the traditional warm-up race to Le Mans.
Born from the groundwork laid by the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, the first FIA-sanctioned world championship for Le Mans-style cars in some 20 years takes the sport back on to the global stage, as part of a collaborative effort between the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest.
Initially announced at Le Mans last June, the WEC continually gained traction over the past nine months, with manufacturers, teams and drivers from all corners of the world committing to the championship.
As FIA WEC CEO Gerard Neveu explains, in a SPEED.com exclusive interview, the transformation from ILMC to WEC has been more than just a simple name change but rather a new beginning for the sport.
“The ILMC was the necessary step before crossing to a world championship,” Neveu explains. “The WEC is now the big family [member] of endurance.
“You have mother and father in the same basket. That means you have the mother, the ACO, the place where endurance was born, with Le Mans and the most important endurance race in the world, which is a place where the legends are born.
“After that, you have the FIA, the international federation with a big knowledge of the sport and regulation and a good experience with the official stamp. If you add these two major structures together, you have a fantastic family in the end.”
Having formed committees and technical working groups encompassing members from both organizations, the FIA and ACO’s biggest test begins this weekend, with the first round, a combined race with the American Le Mans Series, that kicks off the globe-trotting tour.
While Peugeot’s shock withdrawal no doubt left a major dent in LMP1, a solid field of 30 full-season entries, including a late commitment from Toyota, which will begin its works campaign in the second round at Spa, has kept the factory prototype fight alive with stalwarts Audi.
Add the strong customer programs from the likes of Honda Performance Development and Nissan in LMP1 and LMP2, along with the production-based GTE ranks seeing factory of works-supported efforts by Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin and Corvette, and the field is stacked with significant manufacturer involvement.
“To have 30 cars at the beginning of the season is a huge amount,” Neveu says. “It was my top provision before the problem with Peugeot. Considering the situation and the economical situation around the world, it's a good start.
“When you have 30, you are ready to welcome 34 or 35; it doesn't matter. The only thing we have to make sure is to keep a good average of teams [throughout the year]. I think the grid is very impressive. Two more cars [in GTE-Pro] would have made it perfect for me. LMP1 is good and LMP2 is more than I expected and GTE-Am is very good.”
With additional entries, known as ‘Wild Cards’ allowed for select rounds, Neveu is hopeful of seeing on average between 35 to 40 cars for the balance of the season, not counting the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which will feature a 56-car starting grid. An increase is also expected to come for the Six Hours of Spa, the traditional warm-up race to Le Mans.
FIA WEC Six Hours of Spa
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