[WEC] WEC 2021 season

[Mike E]

As a South African, I am very happy to see Kyalami on the calendar. Whether it will work for the WEC remains to be seen. It was good for GT3 at the 9 Hours, but LMP1/2/H are much faster and the track is pretty twisty. Having said that, it is emphatically not a Tilke-drome. If you get it wrong, you pay. I think we can all agree that is how it should be. I hope it works.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

Granted, much of this discussion might be be happening if Hypercar didn't get pegged with 1040-1100kg minimum weight and getting pegged back almost certainly back to probably LMP2/last gen non-LMP1 hybrid/first gen LMP1 hybrid lap times.

One bit of irony, though. Slowing down the cars might maybe make it possible for the LM distance record to be in peril of falling. I don't believe that faster cars are bad, but between the ACO relying on gentleman or rookie drivers in non-OEM backed/non-full pro classes and faster cars being harder to handle in general and making big accidents more likely, the slower laptimes might be met with fewer accidents/slow zones/FCYs at LM.

Toyota have had the pace in race trim to match or break the distance record the past couple of years at LM, but FCYs and slow zones kept them from making it.

That being said, if the planet align, 2020 LM might be the best chance for a new distance record.

I don't know if 2020 will be the best chance for distance record, especially with Toyota not having to push, but it will surely be the last chance for a long time. I doubt future slower cars will equal fewer accidents either.

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by Bentley03

Silverstone WEC race is on the Saturday instead of the Sunday (ELMS race switches to Sunday in 2020), so wondering if track action will begin on Thursday instead of Friday...?

I think it will have to. The only way to fit the races into Fri-Sun with WEC on the Sat would be to drop WEC FP3 and do qualifying for each race on the morning. And that leaves little/no space for any support races, yet we know that Britcar Endurance are going to be there too (a very welcome addition to the event).

It's a shame really. That Fri with 4 x 90min practice sessions (2 WEC, 2 ELMS) was terrific value. Spreading the schedule over 4 days doesn't improve the experience. Silverstone doesn't have unlimited days when it can run loud cars so using an extra one of them up for this means something giving elsewhere. It is already the only circuit on the SRO calendar that is closed to spectators on Fridays for their GT events.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by MaskedRacer

Easy. Bahrain has got to go. A waste of an event for sure. COTA or The Bend would be better.

Bahrain is the one weak link, and I'd support an Australian event too. Wouldn't bother with COTA. However it is impressively close to a perfect calendar.

[Deleted]

ILMC 2011 was the ultimate definition for _perfect calendar_ but regardless the one presented here is easily the best WEC has had. I just wish the product itself was better

[Willmaz223]

So I assume the Hypercars will be racing next year.

What cars are confirmed to be racing as struggling to see any apart from Aston Martin at the moment. More of a casual fan of WEC. All very hazy.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Chiana

ILMC 2011 was the ultimate definition for _perfect calendar_ but regardless the one presented here is easily the best WEC has had. I just wish the product itself was better

Imola should be Monza.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by Chiana

I don't know if 2020 will be the best chance for distance record, especially with Toyota not having to push, but it will surely be the last chance for a long time. I doubt future slower cars will equal fewer accidents either.

If Ginetta get on top of their car and Rebellion continue their progress, Toyota will have to push. I don't know what the lap times will be, but I know Ginetta will set records in the straight line speed respect. There's no success penalties there so it will be about pure speed of the car.

I'm looking forward to how fast the new cars will actually be. Total power is now going to be closer to 800hp. I hope for some revisions in the rules to things like weight but there is hope that we'll have unique cars. FAST cars too especially with the power they produce and the free aero on things like the floor and diffuser. While I doubt extreme machines like the FWD Nissan will be seen, I think we're going to see some mixed solutions. With the relaxing of regs associated to cars produced for the road, I think actual hypercars for the street will be produced based on the new cars.

Originally Posted by Willmaz223

So I assume the Hypercars will be racing next year.

What cars are confirmed to be racing as struggling to see any apart from Aston Martin at the moment. More of a casual fan of WEC. All very hazy.

Aston Valkyrie, Toyota (hypersport?), Glickenhaus... maybe a ByKolles (doubtful imo)

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Willmaz223

So I assume the Hypercars will be racing next year.

What cars are confirmed to be racing as struggling to see any apart from Aston Martin at the moment. More of a casual fan of WEC. All very hazy.

If by next year you mean next WEC season and so starting after LeMans then yes, hypercar. 2020 LeMans is current regs so no hypercar.
I'd say Aston is the least likely of the top three. Toyota will have 2 cars and Glickenhaus with 1 possibly 2. Aston seems like they're talking more than building. Kolles usually finds a way so I'm thinking 1 car will appear. McLaren and Porsche seen to be both on the sidelines without worldwide car for ACO/IMSA entry.

[Willmaz223]

Ok but not great. Seems maybe we'll have to be patient with regards to numbers.

[RL17]

Good to see Silverstone back up to 6 hours - could work on Sunday with an earlier start. The Sunday race ELMS will now be very quiet

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Imola should be Monza.

While Monza is great, I find Imola is just as good and as added bonus it hasn't got the same F1-sterilization as Monza (mostly notably Parabolica)

But when I say perfect I don't mean tracks alone - for example I would have traded the boring Arena-Silverstone to almost anything else in Europe - but the regional series integration ILMC had for every event. That made it truly perfect season. But of course back then the championships were much more colorful anyway. Integrating regional fleet of spec-Orecas and GTE-AM cars to Hyperwagon train next year wouldn't make that much of difference, even with magnificent circuit like Sebring.

[Purist]

I'm trying to behave myself and actually put this stuff in the proper season's thread.

The F1 Italian GP is that Sunday, which is why the WEC Silverstone race is Saturday. And I'm glad to see the 4-hour races put back up to 6 again.

The ILMC was a good start, and in some ways I preferred having the WEC being made up of select events from the various regional Le Mans Series. Of course, with IMSA, it became the case that US round would have to be a standalone.

Compared to 2011, I'm glad we now have Monza instead of Imola. Also, I think being in Japan is better than just being in China (Zhuhai that year), though I'm hoping that maybe the AsLMS shifting the Japanese round to Suzuka could be a sign of things to come for the WEC. Kyalami seems like a good addition.

I'm frustrated, like a number of people, at the loss of Interlagos, and thus it appears any South American round for the moment. I'm also certainly not thrilled with Bahrain. (I know they pay the bills, and wealthy Middle Easterners buy plenty of Ferraris, Porsches, Lamborghinis, Mercedes, etc.) One thought I've had for that is, if it's not going to be dropped outright, have a rotation. Say, switch it up between Bahrain, Dubai, and Kuwait each successive season. (Then, at least, it wouldn't be the same each year.)

Naturally, more ideally, yes, that region would be dropped. Of course, I don't see Austin getting it since there's already a US round at Sebring. And I made no secret of my lack of excitement for Tailem Bend in Australia. (The lap is too slow and fiddly, making traffic a mess, not to mention the difficulty in actually racing, and that all just makes the long lap seem too long to an even greater extent.) I'd be good with an Australian round, but I'd take Eastern Creek over The Bend, and easily Phillip Island over either one.

Here's an illustration of the 2020-21 circuits, plus several others for reference. I'll give track length, number of turns, and (estimated) number and proportion of high-speed corners (100-mph apex speed) for the high-downforce cars.

On the 2020-21 WEC calendar:
1. Fuji, 2.835, 16, 7 (43.75%)
2. Kyalami, 2.850, 16, 9 (56.25%)
3. Bahrain, 3.366, 15, 7 (46.67%)
4. Monza, 3.600, 13, 8 (61.54%)
5. Silverstone, 3.667, 19, 12 (63.16%)
6. Sebring, 3.700, 17, 9 (52.94%)
7. Spa, 4.352, 22, 14 (63.64%)
8. Le Mans, 8.467 miles, 35, 20 (57.14%)
Not on the 2020-21 WEC calendar:
9. Eastern Creek, 2.442, 11, 5 (45.45%)
10. Interlagos, 2.678, 16, 9 (56.25%)
11. Phillip Island, 2.765, 12, 7 (58.33%)
12. Shanghai, 3.387, 16, 7 (43.75%)
13. Austin, 3.427, 20, 10 (50.00%)
14. Suzuka, 3.608, 20, 12 (60.00%)
15. Miller, 4.486, 23, 10 (43.48%)
16. Tailem Bend, 4.828, 35, 10 (28.57%)

Hopefully this helps infer the relative proportion of lower-speed corners at the various circuits as well. Touching on The Bend one last time, even my most optimistic appraisal only grants it 12 high-speed corners out of the 35 total. BTW, Hungaroring would be 5 out of 15. Of course, given the length of the Australian circuit (4.828 miles), distance-wise, it would be exactly the same as adding Budapest (2.722 miles) to Cleveland (2.106 miles).

[joeb]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

If by next year you mean next WEC season and so starting after LeMans then yes, hypercar. 2020 LeMans is current regs so no hypercar.
I'd say Aston is the least likely of the top three. Toyota will have 2 cars and Glickenhaus with 1 possibly 2. Aston seems like they're talking more than building. Kolles usually finds a way so I'm thinking 1 car will appear. McLaren and Porsche seen to be both on the sidelines without worldwide car for ACO/IMSA entry.

Perhaps Aston is behind where they want, but at least they have had a car out on track! Sure, it wasn't quite the race car, but all they have to do is take some power away and it will be ready to go, right?

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Imola should be Monza.

Imola and Monza should alter. So should Silverstone and Brands Hatch.

Ring needs to be back and we need a race in South America (not Mexico which isn't S-A anyway) at either Interlagos or Potrero de los Funes - oh, what the heck, let them alternate as well!

There's your perfect calendar for you.

Anyway, big upgrade compared to this and previous years. Now get those entry numbers up!

[Purist]

We'll heck, if we're doing that, either Monza alone or rotating with Mugello.

As for Britain, if it's a rotation, Brands Hatch GP and Donington Park GP.

Honestly, since they cut down Hockenheim and added the stadium to Nurburgring GP, I'm leaning more toward Sachsenring for Germany. And considering IMSA runs Mid Ohio and Laguna Seca, no, that circuit doesn't seem so terribly short.

Unfortunately, Sao Paulo is too far from either Buenos Aires (1,390 mi) or San Luis (1,660 mi) to establish an annual event for a significantly overlapping fanbase. Now, Buenos Aires and San Luis are rather closer to being doable, at just 492 miles apart. Of course, I would still rather either Interlagos or Potrero de los Funes,but I must admit I think I'd find watching the field of cars whipping around that lake loop at Buenos Aires to be a fairly impressive sight.

Okay, now with that more out of my system, yes, keeping a healthy car count, and a healthy count in each class, should definitely be a priority.

[TF110]

I think Brands is too short for these cars. Well, seeing they're slower now by about 4 seconds a lap it might not be.

[Trev Campbell]

Originally Posted by TF110

I was hoping to see them go to Australia or somewhere in South America like my favorite in Argentina. But glad to see Monza. I'm not convinced Kyalami is a good track for these cars but we'll see because I haven't witnessed any races on the revised track.

Yep, Drop Bahrain and go to 'The Bend' in Australia. Then the Calendar would be pretty much perfect. Also running the Bend on the 31st December, like the Race of 1000 years with a huge party would be pretty awesome.

[Purist]

Track Lengths:
Red Bull Ring- 2.684 miles
Mexico City- 2.674 miles
Brands Hatch- 2.623 miles
Road Atlanta- 2.540 miles
Donington Park- 2.493 miles
Mosport Park- 2.459 miles
Sachsenring- 2.281 miles
Mid Ohio- 2.258 miles
Laguna Seca- 2.238 miles

I think Brands is alright on lap length.

Okay, having studied the track maps, watched onboards, watched some GT3 racing, plus a smidge of the Supercars, I simply don't get the hype around The Bend that people keep bringing up. What is the standout appeal of the track itself? ( I mean, it's not simply that it's a new circuit, or has a fancy pit/garage, right?)

Long course (what the AsLMS is supposed to be using):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TD9DGGDRRo

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by TF110

I think Brands is too short for these cars. Well, seeing they're slower now by about 4 seconds a lap it might not be.

It's only 180 meters shorter than Road Atlanta where they run with infinitely bigger grid of 56 cars in 2011, so it would be fine

[Akrapovic]

Brands Hatch sounds nice but it is too small. It's length is fine but it's pretty tight. The racing would be awful. Great track but I don't think it's up to LMP1s tbh. I think LMP2s would even be pushing it.

Donington, however...

[chernaudi]

Brands Hatch is interesting, but I don't think that even the full circuit is well suited to current LMP1s if run at full pelt for sure. Not due to track length but it's nature. Same reason why Sonoma/Sears Point isn't very well suited IMO for IMSA right now, especially the prototypes.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Brands Hatch sounds nice but it is too small. It's length is fine but it's pretty tight. The racing would be awful. Great track but I don't think it's up to LMP1s tbh. I think LMP2s would even be pushing it.

Donington, however...

If 908 is able to handle it, I'm sure Hyperwagons and Oreca 07 fleet can as well
https://youtu.be/U1eJYAyLps0

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Chiana

If 908 is able to handle it, I'm sure Hyperwagons and Oreca 07 fleet can as well
https://youtu.be/U1eJYAyLps0

It does, but I'm not sure about the viability of a whole field. Brands can be small for GT3 at times.

[Willmaz223]

Originally Posted by Chiana

If 908 is able to handle it, I'm sure Hyperwagons and Oreca 07 fleet can as well
https://youtu.be/U1eJYAyLps0

Yes but the Masters Historic boss said it was a mistake taking them there. He even said Donington would not be good. MSVR wanted them back for obvious reasons.

Maybe Zandvoort with its new developments.