[WEC] FIA WEC calendar

[peetleouf]

the additional date will be in Europe, for logistic reasons. Portimao expected, but some manufacturers / teams want Silverstone in summer, Monza in april because this is a high speed track like Le Mans

[Mike E]

Monza before Le Mans would make a lot of sense from a BoP fun and games perspective

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

We're all aware of this. But this is a thread full of fans. So I'm not sure what people expect from these threads.

ACO ask what people want.
Fans say they want Silverstone
ACO pick circuits that aren't Silverstone (for some valid reasons)
Thread pops up about calendar changes
Fans still want Silverstone

Lets be reasonable here. Nobody sits and says "Well I'd prefer Silverstone by understand that the Crown Prince of Bahrain has decided that he wants another play thing, so I'm happy with Bahrain".

Or to put it another way - don't be surprised people keep asking for the same thing after you do a survey of what they want, and then decide that what they want isn't your priority.

Hey, there might be 8 fans in the ME from the UK who would love to see a race at their local track.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

Silverstone is a soulless industrial park, hard for non-UK teams to get to even before Brexit. I’d much rather WEC went to Portimao despite living less than an hour’s drive from Silverstone.

I think it's a lot better than that. I've been going there for many years and hugely enjoyed my sportscar fix there for three days every year. Maybe I want it back because I have no inclination to travel further afield - I do Le Mans and that's it for me. I would cheer very loudly if Silverstone got it's race back.

[Sodemo]

Why did Silverstone "lose" its WEC race? Whenever I attended over the last 10 years it was always really busy...?

[Racing Harz]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Why did Silverstone "lose" its WEC race? Whenever I attended over the last 10 years it was always really busy...?

Brexit, like the most international events, that quit the uk in the last years.

[chernaudi]

Brexit and money. The ACO and FIA since 2017 didn't get a deal with Silverstone (or any other British circuit) that was financially beneficial to them, so they gave up and sort of used Brexit as a cover story/excuse to justify their decision (just like Audi Sport and Porsche Motorsport did with Dieselgate to justify aborting their WEC programs due to poor ROI outside of Le Mans).

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

Brexit and money. The ACO and FIA since 2017 didn't get a deal with Silverstone (or any other British circuit) that was financially beneficial to them, so they gave up and sort of used Brexit as a cover story/excuse to justify their decision (just like Audi Sport and Porsche Motorsport did with Dieselgate to justify aborting their WEC programs due to poor ROI outside of Le Mans).

Exactly. Nothing really to do with Brexit at all.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Exactly. Nothing really to do with Brexit at all.

I would posit F1 had more to do with it than Brexit, can't get a good deal from Silverstone cause F1 burns all the money they have. And Bahrain has cash to spare

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

I would posit F1 had more to do with it than Brexit, can't get a good deal from Silverstone cause F1 burns all the money they have. And Bahrain has cash to spare

You may well be right there....

[Sodemo]

Donington or Brands Hatch not suitable?

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Donington or Brands Hatch not suitable?

For WEC? Surely you jest sir. Only the finest Grade 1 circuits (well you know except that big one) will do here, no lesser circuits may apply

Ok yes Sebring isn't Grade 1 either but you get the point

[tux]

SRO said Brexit too or something but they still keep coming to Brands Hatch so that blows that argument up...

Got to admit that every time ive been to Silverstone its actually been ok other than the lack of grandstands open on certain days.

[Mike E]

I was going to mention Donington earlier. 10 or so Hypercars pouring down Craner Curves? It's not a terrible idea.

https://youtu.be/J1SoNGsgBHQ

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Why did Silverstone "lose" its WEC race? Whenever I attended over the last 10 years it was always really busy...?

We don’t know for sure ofc, but reasonable guess is a combination of (i) it’s not a particularly glamourous place, (ii) they wouldn’t pay enough (or charged too much, I’m not sure which it is for WEC races), (iii) Brexit and (iv) when the calendar was cut back it was the easiest to drop because of all the above.

One other thing about Silverstone is that the grandstands are mostly empty even with the 50k crowd they claimed for WEC, so it never looks full, even when there’s a decent attendance.

Silverstone exists to host the F1 GP and corporate track days. I am sure they would be very happy to have WEC back, but not to the point of vying with other tracks which, to be fair, usually have some form of local or national Govt funding.

Edit: just realised I replied without noticing there was already a page of replies saying similar, sorry!

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by tux

SRO said Brexit too or something but they still keep coming to Brands Hatch so that blows that argument up...

SRO did address this, pointing out that Sprint is 28 cars whereas Endurance is over 50 plus the Lambo supports.

But that came down to money too, I agree. Silverstone was the only GTWC circuit not open on the Friday. I asked why and was told, in an off-guard moment, that SRO refused to pay the rent Silverstone wanted for the extra day. For comparison, at Monza, Paul Ricard and Barcelona, Friday isn’t only open, it’s free entry.

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Donington or Brands Hatch not suitable?

Donington doesn’t have the facilities and Brands Hatch is too narrow for modern GTs and Prototypes, especially when the latter are lapping the former. It would be a very pretty succession of safety car periods.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

One other thing about Silverstone is that the grandstands are mostly empty even with the 50k crowd they claimed for WEC, so it never looks full, even when there’s a decent attendance.

Yes, but that's nothing much to do with those attending, that was always Silverstone's choice not to man them so they couldn't open them. There were even occasions in the past where they said they would be open online but they weren't.

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Yes, but that's nothing much to do with those attending, that was always Silverstone's choice not to man them so they couldn't open them. There were even occasions in the past where they said they would be open online but they weren't.

Oh for sure. The refusal to open grandstands was/is absolutely infuriating. Sorry I should have been more clear - the grandstands are empty because Silverstone don’t open them, not because spectators prefer to sit on grass behind fencing!

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

SRO did address this, pointing out that Sprint is 28 cars whereas Endurance is over 50 plus the Lambo supports.

In addition to this, GT4 Europe has stopped attending the UK post-Brexit. The GTWC Sprint event at Brands Hatch used UK based series for support. In 2019, the support series included GT4 Europe, Formula Renault Europe and Lambos.

Brexit has impacted SRO racing in the UK, without a doubt.

[ArnageWRC]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

Silverstone exists to host the F1 GP and corporate track days. I am sure they would be very happy to have WEC back, but not to the point of vying with other tracks which, to be fair, usually have some form of local or national Govt funding.

Edit: just realised I replied without noticing there was already a page of replies saying similar, sorry!

Agree; Silverstone/ BRDC is all about F1.....And in the UK I can't see Govt/regional assembly/tourist boards handing over cash for niche motorsport events anymore. Look at RallyGB.....

[rdjones]

Originally Posted by ArnageWRC

And in the UK I can't see Govt/regional assembly/tourist boards handing over cash for niche motorsport events anymore. Look at RallyGB.....

Another good example of that is the Tour de Yorkshire which was a massive event brought in loads of people and exposure to Yorkshire, the local councils have walked away as it cost to much and it looks like sadly it is coming back.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by rdjones

Another good example of that is the Tour de Yorkshire which was a massive event brought in loads of people and exposure to Yorkshire, the local councils have walked away as it cost to much and it looks like sadly it is coming back.

** Off Topic **

It's a bit different to 'the local councils walked away because it cost too much'. They were never involved with funding the event directly in the first place. It was actually WtY that claimed it cost too much.

Tour de Yorkshire is owned by the french Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and was part funded by Welcome to Yorkshire Ltd (WtY) - a business that went into administration on 1 March 2022 and ultimately was placed into liquidation.
At the time of the liquidation, the company owed North Yorkshire Pension Fund over £1.4 million along with a further question mark hanging over the company following an expenses scandal in 2019.

Councils (understandably) agreed to cease funding WtY until there was clarity in the ownership of the company. WtY declared that they were no longer able to subsidise the event and nine local councils were approached to provide £100k each.

An email from former WtY chief executive James Mason reads "Whilst we are fully supportive of the race and is a fantastic event which brings a huge amount of civic pride and economic activity to the region, it has never delivered a profit for WtY and in fact one could argue the financial drain on the organisation has created some of our challenges in recent years as the organisation has had to put in large chunks of its operational budget to cover the shortfall. We can no longer afford to do this."

Since that date - the rights to the event have been sold to Silicon Dales who are planning to get the race running again for the 10th anniversary of the 2014 Yorkshire Grand Depart in 2024.

It is highly unlikely to return any earlier because the initial 10-year contract terms for that WtY was required to support the race until 2024.

The lack of Tour de Yorkshire is also one of the reasons that the Tour of Britain can ride through Yorkshire now. The ASO and WtY contract prohibits Yorkshire Councils from hosting another major cycling race two months before, or one month after, the Tour de Yorkshire.


** Off Topic Ends **

[ArnageWRC]

Actually, before the Tour de France Grand Depart in 2014, there were strong rumours that WtY were going to back an IRC Rally Yorkshire.....however, when the chance to host Le Tour came along, those plans/rumours got torn up.

Incidentally, WtY backed the UCI MTB World Cup in Dalby Forest....but that had it's funding taken away as well.....and has never returned. The venue of Nino's first Elite World Cup win.

[NaBUru38]

2023 FIA World Endurance Championship schedule:

• March 11-12: Prologue at Sebring
• March 17: Sebring
• April 16: Algarve
• April 29: Spa-Francorchamps
• June 10-11: Le Mans
• July 9: Monza
• September 10: Fuji
• November 4: Bahrain

[NaBUru38]

Algarve clashes with IMSA at Long Beach and the Chinese GP, and Spa clashes with the Azerbaijan GP.


If both WEC races were moved one week later, Algarve would clash neither F1 or IMSA, and Spa would clash the Miami GP (not that bad).