FIA WEC '14 ~ Speculation Thread

[Marcus666]

I would really like to have a 12 hour race at the "Arctic Circle Raceway" in Mo i Rana, Norway. Imagine a race from 8.00 pm to 8.00 am with midnight sun!!!

[Spyderman]

That track is missing a decent straight.

[TF110]

Looks a little short and not much variety in types of corners, but decent looking place.

[SpikerJack]

When will be announced the 2014 schedule?

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by SpikerJack

When will be announced the 2014 schedule?

Been seeing tweets about the schedule being announced before Austin, most likely a World Motorsport Council meeting to approve ratify the F1 and WEC 2014 calendars in a couple of weeks' time.

[SpikerJack]

Found this article:
http://sportscar365.net/wec/wec-fina...2014-schedule/

No additional rounds.
There were negotiations with India, Russia and Germany.

[Simmi]

I'd be inclined to just keep it the same as this year. Another overseas round and it will start creaking even more.

Better to stay stable and try to improve the events you've got.

[joeb]

When (if) the series becomes more popular and financially stable I wouldn't mind seeing one race a year at a different venue, with that venue switching continents each year. Basically have the same base schedule each year, but add a race at a track not normally visited. This way you can expand your market a bit and get more interest in the product.

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by Simmi

I'd be inclined to just keep it the same as this year. Another overseas round and it will start creaking even more.

Better to stay stable and try to improve the events you've got.

Either keep it the same or (if the German round plans come together) add another race in Europe in the post-Le Mans period.

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by joeb

When (if) the series becomes more popular and financially stable I wouldn't mind seeing one race a year at a different venue, with that venue switching continents each year. Basically have the same base schedule each year, but add a race at a track not normally visited. This way you can expand your market a bit and get more interest in the product.

Good idea I think.

If they are going to expand I think they should add a round in Germany in the post-Le Mans gap in 2015. That's all they need to do.

At the bottom of this article Tracy Krohn basically says the biggest reason for staying with the WEC is the consistency - http://sportscar365.net/uscr/krohn-c...-move-to-lmp2/

EDIT: Basically what Victor said.

[avvelenamento]

Reading the article, I see that most of current tracks have a 3 years contract (I guess first year was 2012). Finally in 2015 bahrein and shangai could be kicked out.

[Gingers4Justice]

Can see Bahrain going but there will always be someone beating the drum loudly enough for a race in China to be an inevitability.

The FIA will want a Middle Eastern round to keep certain people happy and to justify F1 going there too. If Bahrain goes, I'd expect another circuit in the area to replace it.

[avvelenamento]

As middle east race I would like to see the 12H of abu dhabi being a WEC event, maybe the last one with extra points (not double) because of the lenght of the race. First of all WEC need another european round. As it is now, we have a great and amazing first part (silverstone-spa-le mans) and a not so great last part with a lot of withdrawing teams.

[Mr Pink]

Originally Posted by TF110

Looks a little short and not much variety in types of corners, but decent looking place.

What doesn't really show in that picture is the great changes in elevation, that's what makes that circuit IMO.

Regarding the middle east, if Bahrain is out I would much rather see Dubai or Losail than Abu Dhabi. But of course in my opinion they should just go to circuits that fit sportscars and where there's an actuall interest but that won't happen..

[SpikerJack]

Well nothing in Italy even for next year I suppose.. :-( sorry I'm italian and a little bit sad, you can imagine..
At least Blancpain and maybe ELMS..

[Beetle]

If Silverstone is destined for the dumps in the near future Italy is, by the results of our poll, the best option. Monza, Imola, or Mugello...

[Starfish Primer]

In my opinion Shanghai and Bahrain need a plus to have more personality. For example, 12 hours or a night race.

FIA always mess everything trying to standardize the races, like in WRC where 1000 Likes is now Finland. I´d like to see a 1000 Milhas Brazil, an Austin 500, more variety to make the races special.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by Starfish Primer

In my opinion Shanghai and Bahrain need a plus to have more personality. For example, 12 hours or a night race.

FIA always mess everything trying to standardize the races, like in WRC where 1000 Likes is now Finland. I´d like to see a 1000 Milhas Brazil, an Austin 500, more variety to make the races special.

The FIA doesn't like variety. They want order and regiment.

'Tis a shame. You got to have some structure and backbone of an organization, but the FIA has recently taken it way to the extreme.

Maybe 6 Hours of Silverstone, 1000 km of Spa, 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1000 Milhas Brazil, 12 Hours of Austin, 1000 km of Fuji, 10 Hours of Shanghai, and 12 Hours of Bahrain.

[Acid09]

Originally Posted by avvelenamento

Reading the article, I see that most of current tracks have a 3 years contract (I guess first year was 2012). Finally in 2015 bahrein and shangai could be kicked out.

Bahrain actually pays the WEC, China is of vital importance for the manufacturers. Both tracks will be going nowhere.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by SpikerJack

Found this article:
http://sportscar365.net/wec/wec-fina...2014-schedule/

No additional rounds.
There were negotiations with India, Russia and Germany.

Doesn't say no additional rounds. Its saying the rounds we have now will remain with India and Russia possibly signing on. There won't be a drastic change and the current tracks staying are the only things that are confirmed. So anything could happen, one more round would be welcome imo.

[rich07]

What are the chances of seeing the Manthey Porsches in GT AM next year albeit run by another team? IMSA perhaps?

There's only those two 991 chassis as far as I know eligible for GT AM next year.

[TF110]

I hope someone runs some Vipers!

[Pontlieue]

I think this hasn't been posted here yet:

The Racing Engineering team, which is currently competing in GP2, is planning to run in the LMP2 category in 2014. They're considering buying either a Lotus or a Dome chassis and Nissan engines.

Source: http://www.motorsport-total.com/wec/...-13082704.html

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by Pontlieue

I think this hasn't been posted here yet:

The Racing Engineering team, which is currently competing in GP2, is planning to run in the LMP2 category in 2014. They're considering buying either a Lotus or a Dome chassis and Nissan engines.

Source: http://www.motorsport-total.com/wec/...-13082704.html

Great stuff (and welcome to the forum).

Saw some chat about this but couldn't find a link. Very happy to see single seater teams of this calibre continue to look at LMP2.

[bella]

alfonso (formerly of this parish, no less) is also a proper racer, and a very astute team boss who finds the best people to work with. you can be sure that if he's looking to be involved with something he's going to have a very serious go at it and not just faff about.

going back to the fia standardisation of race titles and stuff, the "six hours of..." and "three hours of.." titles bug me no end. it sounds nice in french, ie like the "24 heures du mans" but in english it sounds pants. very clumsy and difficult to align with a series for the noobs.