[WEC] New rules. New manufacturers. The 2021 and beyond positivity thread!

[Graham Goodwin]

Originally Posted by veeten

Well, they were promised a privateer 9X8 a while back...

No - no they weren't

They expressed interest in running one - it was clear from the start they did not have remotely enough budget and were counting on fullsome support from a single sponsor that told us immediately that it wasn't happening

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Ferrari333SP

Surely Mercedes would go for a LMH vs LMDH, right? Freedom to design the car how they want, combined with more than enough budget to fund the development.

Of any manufacturer that could come in I think they are the most likely to go LMH. They are a little like Ferrari like that in that they could use old F1 resource that isn’t needed with the budget cap. Although their facilities are quite the same.

However LMDh is very attractive to do. There is still stuff to do and it is nice a simple to get into. This makes it the most likely if they do enter.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Ferrari333SP

Surely Mercedes would go for a LMH vs LMDH, right? Freedom to design the car how they want, combined with more than enough budget to fund the development.

Ferrari uses the same tub as Caddy and BMW, so the freedom of lmh is mostly just front wheel drive. You can win wec races with an lmdh so why not start with a crash tested tub and make it your own?

[TF110]

Originally Posted by joeb

Ferrari uses the same tub as Caddy and BMW, so the freedom of lmh is mostly just front wheel drive. You can win wec races with an lmdh so why not start with a crash tested tub and make it your own?

I know it's Dallara but I thought I read it was a Ferrari design and Dallara was the constructor?

[chernaudi]

It's a Ferrari design built by Dallara, though it's been said that the Ferrari tub has more similarities to the Dallara GTP tub than Ferrari are willing to admit to...

[tomcug]

LMH surely gives freedom with hybrid that LMDh doesn't but I think there are other reasons why specific manufacturers or teams went that way (maybe even more important):

• ability to join the grid before 2023 (Toyota, Glickenhaus, Peugeot)
• you can't have no wing with LMDh (Peugeot)
• your car can be 100% yours on paper at least (Ferrari which has a Dallara co-designed chassis -> but not on paper)
• you're a garagist with no production capacity to be eligible for LMDh (Glick, "Vanwall", Isotta)
• ability to run without a hybrid (Aston)

There might be more that I missed. In general LMDh is a cheaper option, capable of winning races and championships so it's no surprise it's a bit more popular.

[Adam43]

The front wheel drive hybrid obviously gives something, but I feel that it is a simple win in some ways. Just obvious how you use it. Although clearly you can play with it to maximise it.

The rear wheel drive hybrid still can be used to tune the car and in a less obvious way. It is the development area in LMDh. I think Acura really put effort in and got a jump here. The others have caught up. Obviously Porsche, but my guess was that Cadillac have really ironed out some issues they initially had with consistency here. Not seen a messy braking from them for a bit.

Anyway, comedy theories aside, it is a key area front or rear.

[v8supes]

I think its all but confirmed now that Lamborghini will ditch the WEC program. Ultimately i think the project is finished already, sad really.

They've moved their Super Trofeo series back to the SRO GTWC Europe events for 2025.

[v8supes]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

It's a Ferrari design built by Dallara, though it's been said that the Ferrari tub has more similarities to the Dallara GTP tub than Ferrari are willing to admit to...

Its very obvious that its pretty much a spec series in that regard. Look at all the cars built by the same companies just with different engines and bodywork.

[Simmi]

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...-lmdh-program/

All a bit of a mess to be honest this programme. Really sad. Funds seem barely there to run, let alone re-develop the flawed design of the car.

No point spending cash to campaign a car in two series which will never be competitive in its current guise. But you do feel like if they draw away to focus on testing/jokers etc, it might never re-appear again.

[J Jay]

I know it was mentioned at the time, but Sanna's departure really was the warning flag that this program was under fire, and that it had been for a while.


Lamborghini might be the first "suffering from success" casualty of hypercar - they are improving pace and reliability, but with so many other cars/teams to compete against, a big step forwards means 10th rather than podium contention.


The issue is more pronounced in WEC with the bigger field, so I doubt they'll be back there. Hopefully something is put together for at least a full IMSA season.

[TF110]

I think they'll bide their time and see what they can come up with in terms of staying in their budget. If they drop the wec program then it gives them budget to develop their car and perhaps win a race in IMSA. If not then I don't see them improving any and that's completely out the window. So something has to give, but the signs are pointing to no more budget so IMSA endurance cup it is for now, imo!

[flatlandsman]

I think spending probably huge salaries on the likes of Kvyat and Grosjean probably does not help.

[tomcug]

Come on ACO, bring that Kolles back!

[TF110]

Originally Posted by tomcug

Come on ACO, bring that Kolles back!

Replace one green prototype with another!

[chernaudi]

New rules for 2025's WEC season are as follows, after being ratified by the ACO and the FIA's WMSC today:


--New leader lights system, switching from the three podium position indicator lights to a new number/info panel seemingly similar to the ones used by IMSA, the SRO and N24.


--Minimum drive times to score points in the drivers' championship for each driver in (apparently) each class was lowered to 45 minutes instead of 60 minutes.


--Confirmation of the ACO's desire to have two cars from each full time manufacturer in the championship, as the WMSC ratified that as a rule for next season. Says two cars for each full time manufacturer, but not necessarily from the same team.

[Mike E]

[QUOTE=chernaudi;4231274]New rules for 2025's WEC season are as follows, after being ratified by the ACO and the FIA's WMSC today:


--New leader lights system, switching from the three podium position indicator lights to a new number/info panel seemingly similar to the ones used by IMSA, the SRO and N24.


/QUOTE]

Good, this is long overdue

[Simmi]

Hopefully they can move the tech forward rather than just implementing what other series have had for a decade or so.

Larger, better displays. Let's see what 'a range of information' ends up being.

[Simmi]

Actually looks pretty decent - https://x.com/onlyendurance/status/1846984734708003052

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Simmi

Actually looks pretty decent - https://x.com/onlyendurance/status/1846984734708003052

They aren't bad as long as WEC tells teams to get their designs OFF the screen. AO and the Mustangs have a lit box around the screen and it's completely unreadable trackside

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Simmi

Actually looks pretty decent - https://x.com/onlyendurance/status/1846984734708003052

Ooo I do like the blue!

[Adam43]

Brilliant. Love it. Nice little addition. Glad it’s come to WEC.

[Mike E]

I wonder how this will work at Le Mans with non-WEC cars

[S griffin]

Love the design. Can’t wait to see it in proper BMW colours

[Adam43]

I guess they’ll just fit them.