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Le Mans / ALMS
LE MANS: Inside The FIA Endurance Commission
FIA Endurance Commission President Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones provides insight into his duties and gives outlook into 2013 FIA WEC season and beyond...
Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones is the President of the FIA Endurance Commission. (Photo: DPPI/FIA WEC)
"The FIA Endurance Commission plays a key role in finding the right balance between the technical rules, the issues of safety and the right level of entertainment, so as to encourage this world championship to operate within the right framework and encourage more competitors to participate. Thanks to the strong leadership expressed by its president Sir Lindsay Owen Jones, the commission mirrors the close co-operation between the FIA and the ACO and safeguards the future of this exciting motor sport discipline.” - Jean Todt, President of the FIA.
Q. What is the main role of the FIA Endurance Commission?
Owen-Jones: “The main role is to guarantee an equitable, sensible and, as far as possible, a stable set of rules and regulations without which you cannot organize any discipline of motorsport. In this particular case, we have an additional role which is to symbolise and make effective the cooperation between the FIA and the ACO, which is the basis for the whole World Endurance Championship.”
Q. The FIA WEC is a partnership between the FIA and the ACO. Could you tell us a bit about the members of the Endurance Commission?
Owen-Jones: “The commission was created to represent a fair balance between the FIA and the ACO and as such there are four members designated by the ACO and four members designated by the FIA with others chosen by the first two groups together.
“What you will see going through the members, we haven’t just got a fair balance between the FIA and the ACO, but a very good and complementary group of competencies. The four representatives for the FIA are Patrick Head, Andrew Craig, Mr Hayami and Christian Schacht. Everyone knows Patrick Head as the technical head and main partner of Williams F1 and he is absolutely fascinating with his insights and the technological aspects of our sport.
"We have Andrew Craig who has been the promoter of major US motorsport championships, so he is an expert on the commercial side of motor racing. Mr Hayami is from Japan and his contribution is to represent local motorsport; those clubs from within the international organisation that we need for basic ground support. Christian Schacht is a major expert in GT racing and this reflects the fact that we are trying to improve understanding of the GTE class.
“From the ACO we have the President Pierre Fillon, Vincent Beaumesnil, the Sporting Director of the ACO and the expert on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA WEC CEO Gerard Neveu and Jean-Francois Veroux, who is the Chairman of the Stewards and beyond that he has huge experience of motor racing and he has a wisdom in general that helps keep things cool when they might be otherwise.
“After that we have representatives from various interest groups. We have a representative from the constructors who is Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, who is an extraordinary chap, he does not represent Audi, he represents the manufacturers. He makes a big effort to do that fairly. They do a special working group between them and when he comes to the Commission, he comes with a resume of what they have said and not just what Audi thinks. We also have Christian Ried from Felbermayr, who is a typical privateer and gives us a grass roots perspective. We also have a representative of the sponsors, Olivier Vialle from Michelin.
“Those are our official commission members but we also have invited guests such as Bernard Niclot, the FIA Technical Director and scientific expert, and Denis Chevrier, who is the FIA Technical Delegate for the WEC and is in the front line trying to sort things out actually at the races.
“We really do have a balanced and complementary group of people and they work very well together. We are extremely lucky that they are all personalities that understand that we have to agree and do everything to avoid the kind of public splits that so often seem to ruin the peace in other championships.”
Q. 2012 was a great first year for the FIA WEC on and off track, which was a great achievement for everyone involved. What do you consider to be the main contribution to that success by the Endurance Commission?
Owen-Jones: “The credit really must, first and foremost, go to the promoter which is the ACO. They obviously did a fantastic job attracting the teams and making people happy. I think our contribution is always behind the scenes. The Endurance Commission is there to constantly remind, and be witness to, the ‘Entente Cordiale’ between the FIA and the ACO. The competitors need to hear this; they need to know this, because this brings credibility, reassurance and some sort or perspective looking forward to the championship both last year and the years ahead. I’d like to think that if we contributed something it was this sense of stability and longevity that helped secure a very good grid for 2013.”
Q. You’ve raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times in 1994, 1995 and 1996. Does this ‘hands on’ experience help you in your role as President of the FIA Endurance Commission?
Owen-Jones: “Probably not on a daily basis because my job is more in management but I do think that everybody knows that I am a genuine enthusiast, that I believe that Le Mans is a life changing experience, I really share the passion of all the competitors at all the levels, that I feel a great respect for all of them. So yes, perhaps that helps me to get on with everybody and to be treated with more respect than my actual race results deserve.”
Q. The Endurance Commission is meeting this week, what will be the main topic of conversation with just eight weeks until the start of the 2013 season?
Owen-Jones: “By now the technical people are already in 2014. They are now ironing out all the bugs, all the small questions that occur when the people get into projects, all the little things that have to be clarified and better defined. On the sporting side, there are still many things which have to be looked at in detail, everything from the optimum regulation for the safety car to questions on the exact interpretation of the sporting rules and could there be a way of getting round them? They will still be working on them, making sure everything from the good running of the races to initiatives to reduce costs, are constantly being moved forward even as the championship is being run.”
Q. What is the main role of the FIA Endurance Commission?
Owen-Jones: “The main role is to guarantee an equitable, sensible and, as far as possible, a stable set of rules and regulations without which you cannot organize any discipline of motorsport. In this particular case, we have an additional role which is to symbolise and make effective the cooperation between the FIA and the ACO, which is the basis for the whole World Endurance Championship.”
Q. The FIA WEC is a partnership between the FIA and the ACO. Could you tell us a bit about the members of the Endurance Commission?
Owen-Jones: “The commission was created to represent a fair balance between the FIA and the ACO and as such there are four members designated by the ACO and four members designated by the FIA with others chosen by the first two groups together.
“What you will see going through the members, we haven’t just got a fair balance between the FIA and the ACO, but a very good and complementary group of competencies. The four representatives for the FIA are Patrick Head, Andrew Craig, Mr Hayami and Christian Schacht. Everyone knows Patrick Head as the technical head and main partner of Williams F1 and he is absolutely fascinating with his insights and the technological aspects of our sport.
"We have Andrew Craig who has been the promoter of major US motorsport championships, so he is an expert on the commercial side of motor racing. Mr Hayami is from Japan and his contribution is to represent local motorsport; those clubs from within the international organisation that we need for basic ground support. Christian Schacht is a major expert in GT racing and this reflects the fact that we are trying to improve understanding of the GTE class.
“From the ACO we have the President Pierre Fillon, Vincent Beaumesnil, the Sporting Director of the ACO and the expert on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA WEC CEO Gerard Neveu and Jean-Francois Veroux, who is the Chairman of the Stewards and beyond that he has huge experience of motor racing and he has a wisdom in general that helps keep things cool when they might be otherwise.
“After that we have representatives from various interest groups. We have a representative from the constructors who is Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, who is an extraordinary chap, he does not represent Audi, he represents the manufacturers. He makes a big effort to do that fairly. They do a special working group between them and when he comes to the Commission, he comes with a resume of what they have said and not just what Audi thinks. We also have Christian Ried from Felbermayr, who is a typical privateer and gives us a grass roots perspective. We also have a representative of the sponsors, Olivier Vialle from Michelin.
“Those are our official commission members but we also have invited guests such as Bernard Niclot, the FIA Technical Director and scientific expert, and Denis Chevrier, who is the FIA Technical Delegate for the WEC and is in the front line trying to sort things out actually at the races.
“We really do have a balanced and complementary group of people and they work very well together. We are extremely lucky that they are all personalities that understand that we have to agree and do everything to avoid the kind of public splits that so often seem to ruin the peace in other championships.”
Q. 2012 was a great first year for the FIA WEC on and off track, which was a great achievement for everyone involved. What do you consider to be the main contribution to that success by the Endurance Commission?
Owen-Jones: “The credit really must, first and foremost, go to the promoter which is the ACO. They obviously did a fantastic job attracting the teams and making people happy. I think our contribution is always behind the scenes. The Endurance Commission is there to constantly remind, and be witness to, the ‘Entente Cordiale’ between the FIA and the ACO. The competitors need to hear this; they need to know this, because this brings credibility, reassurance and some sort or perspective looking forward to the championship both last year and the years ahead. I’d like to think that if we contributed something it was this sense of stability and longevity that helped secure a very good grid for 2013.”
Q. You’ve raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times in 1994, 1995 and 1996. Does this ‘hands on’ experience help you in your role as President of the FIA Endurance Commission?
Owen-Jones: “Probably not on a daily basis because my job is more in management but I do think that everybody knows that I am a genuine enthusiast, that I believe that Le Mans is a life changing experience, I really share the passion of all the competitors at all the levels, that I feel a great respect for all of them. So yes, perhaps that helps me to get on with everybody and to be treated with more respect than my actual race results deserve.”
Q. The Endurance Commission is meeting this week, what will be the main topic of conversation with just eight weeks until the start of the 2013 season?
Owen-Jones: “By now the technical people are already in 2014. They are now ironing out all the bugs, all the small questions that occur when the people get into projects, all the little things that have to be clarified and better defined. On the sporting side, there are still many things which have to be looked at in detail, everything from the optimum regulation for the safety car to questions on the exact interpretation of the sporting rules and could there be a way of getting round them? They will still be working on them, making sure everything from the good running of the races to initiatives to reduce costs, are constantly being moved forward even as the championship is being run.”
FIA WEC Six Hours of Spa
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