[WEC] World Endurance Championship - A New Proposal

[Beetle]

As I am following MJones94's Hypercars as the new GT1s? with great care, I felt like I should bring up a few points that I feel would not be simple "pipe dreams" or impossible ventures but actually something that would ease the pressure within teams in the FIA World Endurance Championship while raising the entries drastically at the same time. I came across this idea as I was designing a race track and jotting down potential Le Mans entries last evening.

I think it should first begin with the current 2013 FIA WEC schedule.

6 Hours of Silverstone - 14 April (GREAT BRITAIN)
6 Hours of Spa - 4 May (BELGIUM)
24 Hours of Le Mans - 22-23 June (FRANCE)
6 Hours of Sao Paulo - 1 September (BRAZIL)
6 Hours of Austin - 22 September (UNITED STATES)
6 Hours of Fuji - 20 October (JAPAN)
6 Hours of Shanghai - 10 November (CHINA)
6 Hours of Bahrain - 30 November (BAHRAIN)

With the exciting introduction of the new Asian Le Mans Series, which I predict will expand to bigger and better things in 2014 in comparison to the rather humble beginnings and entries for 2013, I feel that there is something more to be made from just two different series run by one "government".

Here's the provisional, and rather turbulent, 2013 Asian Le Mans Series schedule.

3 Hours of Zhuhai - 5 May (CHINA)
3 Hours of Shanghai - 26 May (CHINA)
3 Hours of Ordos - 7 July (CHINA)
3 Hours of Inje - 4 August (SOUTH KOREA)
3 Hours of Fuji - 22 September (JAPAN)
3 Hours of Sentul - 8 December (INDONESIA)

Also, the ELMS will be running with the WEC on the weekend of the 13-14 of April.

And, as probably everyone here knows, the American Le Mans Series, in 2013, will race on the same weekend as the FIA World Endurance Championship at Circuit of the Americas.

Now, the main idea I get from this is the variety of classes.

LMP1= ALMS and WEC LMP1 cars
LMP2 = ALMS, Asian Le Mans, and WEC LMP2 cars
GTE-Pro = ALMS, Asian Le Mans, and WEC GTE-Pro cars
GTE-Am = ALMS, Asian Le Mans, and WEC GTE-Am cars

That's what we know now. But what about adding LMPC (ALMS, Asian Le Mans, and ELMS cars) and GTC (FIA GT3, DTM, Asian Le Mans, and Super GT300 cars) to the races?

That leads me to some ideas. What if we make most of the schedule in the WEC a combined effort, both financially-wise and entry-wise. As in...

6 Hours of Silverstone (WEC & ELMS)
6 Hours of Spa (WEC & ELMS)
24 Hours of Le Mans (WEC, ELMS, ALMS, Asian Le Mans - only with LMP1, LMP2, and GTE)
6 Hours of Sao Paulo (WEC)
6 Hours of Austin (WEC, ALMS)
6 Hours of Fuji (WEC, Asian Le Mans)
6 Hours of Shanghai (WEC, Asian Le Mans)
6 Hours of Bahrain (WEC)

It would require lots of facilitating and compromising between the ELMS, Asian Le Mans Series, and the WEC as far as scheduling goes. However, we'd get...

- A 6 Hours of Silverstone with WEC LMP1s; WEC and ELMS LMP2s; ELMS LMPCs; WEC and ELMS GTEs; and (possibly) ELMS GTCs.
- A 6 Hours of Spa with the same as above.
- A 24 Hours of Le Mans with WEC and ALMS LMP1s; WEC, ELMS, Asian Le Mans, and ALMS LMP2s; and WEC, ALMS, ELMS, and Asian Le Mans GTEs.
- A 6 Hours of Sao Paulo with WEC LMP1s, LMP2s, and GTEs
- A 6 Hours of Austin with WEC and ALMS LMP1s; WEC and ALMS LMP2s; ALMS LMPCs; WEC and ALMS GTEs; and ALMS GTCs (different from Asian Le Mans/ELMS GTCs).
- A 6 Hours of Fuji with WEC LMP1s; WEC and Asian Le Mans LMP2s; Asian Le Mans LMPCs; WEC and Asian Le Mans GTEs; and Asian Le Mans GTCs.
- A 6 Hours of Shanghai with the same as above.
- A 6 Hours of Bahrain with the same as Sao Paulo.

This would mean one massive race for each weekend, sometimes with LMP1s, LMP2s, GTEs, Asian or American LMPCs, and GTCs racing at the same time!

Also, I feel like GTE Pro and Am should be abandoned. I think there should only be one "GTE", and that all the Am teams should either go faster or go to GTC, which would be the same cars as you find in the FIA GT3/Blancpain Endurance Series and possibly the GT300 series of Super GT and DTM. LMPCs would probably retain the GM motor and Oreca chassis.

What I'm thinking of is a huge, cooperative group of several different racing organizations coming together to put on a great show. If this was to have been established for 2013, here's how the calendar might look.

2013 Asian Le Mans Series

Round 1 - 3 Hours of Zhuhai (May)
Round 2 - 3 Hours of Shanghai (May)
Round 3 - 3 Hours of Ordos (July)
Round 4 - 3 Hours of Inje (August)
Round 5 - 6 Hours of Fuji (October) w/ WEC
Round 6 - 6 Hours of Shanghai (November) w/ WEC
Round 7 - 3 Hours of Sentul (December)

While we're on he topic, this series is begging, in my mind, to include Buddh, Yeongam, Sepang, Suzuka, Twin Ring Motegi, SUGO, Autopolis, and Okayama.

2013 European Le Mans Series

Round 1 - 6 Hours of Silverstone (April) w/ WEC
Round 2 - 6 Hours of Spa (May) w/ WEC
Round 3 - 3 Hours of Imola (May)
Round 4 - 24 Hours of Le Mans (June) w/ WEC and ALMS and Asian Le Mans invites (points race)
Round 5 - 3 Hours of Osterreich (July)
Round 6 - 3 Hours of Hungaroring (September)
Round 7 - 3 Hours of Le Castellet (September)

Again, while we're on the topic, this series is begging to have Portimao, Catalunya, Brno, Hockenheim, and Moscow added to it.

So how can this cut costs...?

Well, the cold hard cash that is the bedrock of all organizations could be split for one weekend by over two series, usually. Plus, with the added benefit of GTC, teams struggling to hang on in GTE or too amateur for GTE (I mentioned this above) could easily move down to GTC, which would be cheaper but just as fun to run, not to mention GT3 (what would be known as GTC) cars are just as fast (actually half a second faster around Spa) as modern GTEs. As you may recall, the final round of the ILMC at Zhuhai in 2011 showed some very close times between GTE and GTC cars, with only 2 10ths of a second separating the #55 BMW (pole GTE) and the #98 Audi Sport C Racing (pole GTC), driven by Edoardo Mortara.

So what do you guys think... what's your feedback? I spent a long time on this and it may be complete junk, but I feel like it may hold some merit and I wanted to share the idea with you. I think this joint effort could keep series that have recently been struggling like the ELMS and, honestly, the ALMS, upright, and new series like the Asian Le Mans Series from falling out.

I think, as a unified effort, this could produce the biggest events sportscar racing has ever seen. This may be a little bit too much for one go, but the off-season and lack of racing drives me close to madness.

Cheers!

[MJones94]

Originally Posted by Beetle

As I am following MJones94's Hypercars as the new GT1s? with great care, I felt like I should bring up a few points that I feel would not be simple "pipe dreams" or impossible ventures but actually something that would ease the pressure within teams in the FIA World Endurance Championship while raising the entries drastically at the same time. I came across this idea as I was designing a race track and jotting down potential Le Mans entries last evening.

I think it should first begin with the current 2013 FIA WEC schedule.

6 Hours of Silverstone - 14 April (GREAT BRITAIN)
6 Hours of Spa - 4 May (BELGIUM)
24 Hours of Le Mans - 22-23 June (FRANCE)
6 Hours of Sao Paulo - 1 September (BRAZIL)
6 Hours of Austin - 22 September (UNITED STATES)
6 Hours of Fuji - 20 October (JAPAN)
6 Hours of Shanghai - 10 November (CHINA)
6 Hours of Bahrain - 30 November (BAHRAIN)

With the exciting introduction of the new Asian Le Mans Series, which I predict will expand to bigger and better things in 2014 in comparison to the rather humble beginnings and entries for 2013, I feel that there is something more to be made from just two different series run by one "government".

Here's the provisional, and rather turbulent, 2013 Asian Le Mans Series schedule.

3 Hours of Zhuhai - 5 May (CHINA)
3 Hours of Shanghai - 26 May (CHINA)
3 Hours of Ordos - 7 July (CHINA)
3 Hours of Inje - 4 August (SOUTH KOREA)
3 Hours of Fuji - 22 September (JAPAN)
3 Hours of Sentul - 8 December (INDONESIA)

Also, the ELMS will be running with the WEC on the weekend of the 13-14 of April.

And, as probably everyone here knows, the American Le Mans Series, in 2013, will race on the same weekend as the FIA World Endurance Championship at Circuit of the Americas.

Now, the main idea I get from this is the variety of classes.

LMP1= ALMS and WEC LMP1 cars
LMP2 = ALMS, Asian Le Mans, and WEC LMP2 cars
GTE-Pro = ALMS, Asian Le Mans, and WEC GTE-Pro cars
GTE-Am = ALMS, Asian Le Mans, and WEC GTE-Am cars

That's what we know now. But what about adding LMPC (ALMS, Asian Le Mans, and ELMS cars) and GTC (FIA GT3, DTM, Asian Le Mans, and Super GT300 cars) to the races?

That leads me to some ideas. What if we make most of the schedule in the WEC a combined effort, both financially-wise and entry-wise. As in...

6 Hours of Silverstone (WEC & ELMS)
6 Hours of Spa (WEC & ELMS)
24 Hours of Le Mans (WEC, ELMS, ALMS, Asian Le Mans - only with LMP1, LMP2, and GTE)
6 Hours of Sao Paulo (WEC)
6 Hours of Austin (WEC, ALMS)
6 Hours of Fuji (WEC, Asian Le Mans)
6 Hours of Shanghai (WEC, Asian Le Mans)
6 Hours of Bahrain (WEC)

It would require lots of facilitating and compromising between the ELMS, Asian Le Mans Series, and the WEC as far as scheduling goes. However, we'd get...

- A 6 Hours of Silverstone with WEC LMP1s; WEC and ELMS LMP2s; ELMS LMPCs; WEC and ELMS GTEs; and (possibly) ELMS GTCs.
- A 6 Hours of Spa with the same as above.
- A 24 Hours of Le Mans with WEC and ALMS LMP1s; WEC, ELMS, Asian Le Mans, and ALMS LMP2s; and WEC, ALMS, ELMS, and Asian Le Mans GTEs.
- A 6 Hours of Sao Paulo with WEC LMP1s, LMP2s, and GTEs
- A 6 Hours of Austin with WEC and ALMS LMP1s; WEC and ALMS LMP2s; ALMS LMPCs; WEC and ALMS GTEs; and ALMS GTCs (different from Asian Le Mans/ELMS GTCs).
- A 6 Hours of Fuji with WEC LMP1s; WEC and Asian Le Mans LMP2s; Asian Le Mans LMPCs; WEC and Asian Le Mans GTEs; and Asian Le Mans GTCs.
- A 6 Hours of Shanghai with the same as above.
- A 6 Hours of Bahrain with the same as Sao Paulo.

This would mean one massive race for each weekend, sometimes with LMP1s, LMP2s, GTEs, Asian or American LMPCs, and GTCs racing at the same time!

Also, I feel like GTE Pro and Am should be abandoned. I think there should only be one "GTE", and that all the Am teams should either go faster or go to GTC, which would be the same cars as you find in the FIA GT3/Blancpain Endurance Series and possibly the GT300 series of Super GT and DTM. LMPCs would probably retain the GM motor and Oreca chassis.

What I'm thinking of is a huge, cooperative group of several different racing organizations coming together to put on a great show. If this was to have been established for 2013, here's how the calendar might look.

2013 Asian Le Mans Series

Round 1 - 3 Hours of Zhuhai (May)
Round 2 - 3 Hours of Shanghai (May)
Round 3 - 3 Hours of Ordos (July)
Round 4 - 3 Hours of Inje (August)
Round 5 - 6 Hours of Fuji (October) w/ WEC
Round 6 - 6 Hours of Shanghai (November) w/ WEC
Round 7 - 3 Hours of Sentul (December)

While we're on he topic, this series is begging, in my mind, to include Buddh, Yeongam, Sepang, Suzuka, Twin Ring Motegi, SUGO, Autopolis, and Okayama.

2013 European Le Mans Series

Round 1 - 6 Hours of Silverstone (April) w/ WEC
Round 2 - 6 Hours of Spa (May) w/ WEC
Round 3 - 3 Hours of Imola (May)
Round 4 - 24 Hours of Le Mans (June) w/ WEC and ALMS and Asian Le Mans invites (points race)
Round 5 - 3 Hours of Osterreich (July)
Round 6 - 3 Hours of Hungaroring (September)
Round 7 - 3 Hours of Le Castellet (September)

Again, while we're on the topic, this series is begging to have Portimao, Catalunya, Brno, Hockenheim, and Moscow added to it.

So how can this cut costs...?

Well, the cold hard cash that is the bedrock of all organizations could be split for one weekend by over two series, usually. Plus, with the added benefit of GTC, teams struggling to hang on in GTE or too amateur for GTE (I mentioned this above) could easily move down to GTC, which would be cheaper but just as fun to run, not to mention GT3 (what would be known as GTC) cars are just as fast (actually half a second faster around Spa) as modern GTEs. As you may recall, the final round of the ILMC at Zhuhai in 2011 showed some very close times between GTE and GTC cars, with only 2 10ths of a second separating the #55 BMW (pole GTE) and the #98 Audi Sport C Racing (pole GTC), driven by Edoardo Mortara.

So what do you guys think... what's your feedback? I spent a long time on this and it may be complete junk, but I feel like it may hold some merit and I wanted to share the idea with you. I think this joint effort could keep series that have recently been struggling like the ELMS and, honestly, the ALMS, upright, and new series like the Asian Le Mans Series from falling out.

I think, as a unified effort, this could produce the biggest events sportscar racing has ever seen. This may be a little bit too much for one go, but the off-season and lack of racing drives me close to madness.

Cheers!

I get so bored in the off season too, which is probably why we have both made our threads. It would be great if the event weekends could be combined, it would make sense in terms of crowds and ticketing, perhaps some events (beside Le Mans) could get attendances of 50,000+ if there was the right marketing drive.

I agree with you on making the GTE class without Pro and Am divisions, it looks strange and just makes it unnecessarily confusing for the casual viewer who is wanting to get into endurance racing.

[The Badger]

Scrap Silverstone ..... they already have lots of cash from their F1 circus , spread the money out a bit or you might just be left with Silverstone !!!

Give Donington a chance for a change , pretty circuit , elevation changes , greenery ..... but best of all would be a return to Brands Hatch !!!

Australia deserves a round in the Asian series , if just to drum up interest .

Imola ..... excellant idea !!! ,,,,, and manage to fit Suzuka in some place too .

Porsche have an interesting idea about GTE ..... there should be a manufacturers class with works support , and a privateer side too ..... which will eventually lead to the same thing .
Could still be called Pro/Am .........

[MJones94]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Scrap Silverstone ..... they already have lots of cash from their F1 circus , spread the money out a bit or you might just be left with Silverstone !!!

Give Donington a chance for a change , pretty circuit , elevation changes , greenery ..... but best of all would be a return to Brands Hatch !!!

Australia deserves a round in the Asian series , if just to drum up interest .

Imola ..... excellant idea !!! ,,,,, and manage to fit Suzuka in some place too .

Porsche have an interesting idea about GTE ..... there should be a manufacturers class with works support , and a privateer side too ..... which will eventually lead to the same thing .
Could still be called Pro/Am .........

Brands Hatch would be a constant race of weaving through traffic, the action would be mega! Imola is a fantastic circuit, yet the ILMC 2011 round got such a poor attendance, so I'm guessing the circuit owners did not push for a WEC round since I doubt they would get much of a ROI.

The idea that Porsche have has more relevance to the division of the GTE class, I would support that judgement. You could do the same in P1 as well.

When does the GTE/GT3 merger come into effect anyway?

[Starfish Primer]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Scrap Silverstone ..... they already have lots of cash from their F1 circus , spread the money out a bit or you might just be left with Silverstone !!!

Give Donington a chance for a change , pretty circuit , elevation changes , greenery ..... but best of all would be a return to Brands Hatch !!!

Australia deserves a round in the Asian series , if just to drum up interest .

Imola ..... excellant idea !!! ,,,,, and manage to fit Suzuka in some place too .

Porsche have an interesting idea about GTE ..... there should be a manufacturers class with works support , and a privateer side too ..... which will eventually lead to the same thing .
Could still be called Pro/Am .........

Donington facilities cannot handle an event like the WEC, they are very old. The track is nice but the paddock has 20 years of delay. Brands Hatch security is unacceptable for LMPs (remember the Seat Leon landing in the marshals zone).

[gregtummer]

Also, is the Brands Hatch full course usable anymore?

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by gregtummer

Also, is the Brands Hatch full course usable anymore?

Only on a very limited number of weekends per year (4 or 5, and they're taken up already by other championships), and noise curfew is at 6 PM (i.e. no racing activity, even on those weekends, after that time).

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by Starfish Primer

Donington facilities cannot handle an event like the WEC, they are very old. The track is nice but the paddock has 20 years of delay. Brands Hatch security is unacceptable for LMPs (remember the Seat Leon landing in the marshals zone).

Old or not , they did manage F1 not so far back , so whats the differance from then to a WEC grid , unless its fallen to ruin ?

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by gregtummer

Also, is the Brands Hatch full course usable anymore?

Your kidding , right !

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by Victor_RO

Only on a very limited number of weekends per year (4 or 5, and they're taken up already by other championships), and noise curfew is at 6 PM (i.e. no racing activity, even on those weekends, after that time).

Man , someone should drop a chemical weapon on that bunch of cribbers who complain about noise ..... give them something to whinge about then !!!

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Old or not , they did manage F1 not so far back , so whats the differance from then to a WEC grid , unless its fallen to ruin ?

Not so far back? Things have moved on rather too much in terms of what FIA world championships demand in terms of facilities since 1993, and that's the last time Donington actually hosted F1 cars officially.

[Starfish Primer]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Old or not , they did manage F1 not so far back , so whats the differance from then to a WEC grid , unless its fallen to ruin ?

Not so far back are 20 years! Some seasons ago they bid for the British GP but they couldn´t secure the funding to revamp the facilities.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by MJones94

Brands Hatch would be a constant race of weaving through traffic, the action would be mega! Imola is a fantastic circuit, yet the ILMC 2011 round got such a poor attendance, so I'm guessing the circuit owners did not push for a WEC round since I doubt they would get much of a ROI.

The idea that Porsche have has more relevance to the division of the GTE class, I would support that judgement. You could do the same in P1 as well.

When does the GTE/GT3 merger come into effect anyway?

2015.

I'm not really talking about schedule changes, that could be a different thread. What I am talking about is the change in categories and merging of some series so that Asian Le Mans runs with the WEC on Asian rounds in the WEC, ALMS with WEC in Austin, and ELMS with WEC in the European rounds. Which leaves only Sao Paulo and Bahrain, which would be down on entries compared to the other rounds... no getting around that.

Australia really needs an FIA Grade 1 PERMANENT COURSE. Albert Park is Grade 1, and I really love the track. But it's temporary, and getting to close down the roads again may be a wee bit of a stretch. I hope they do more work on Eastern Creek and maybe get that track to at least Grade 1T.

I agree with you, MJones94, it would be awesome action... at any track. But what I find most intriguing is the number of entries you'd get at any given race other than Bahrain and Sao Paulo. Austin and the European races would probably be the biggest, although it really depends how the Asian Le Mans Series turns out.

Maybe my "GTC" idea should be scrapped and GTE-Pro should be GTE cars and GTE-Am should be the GT3 cars of today. No difference in speed these days... just cheaper and maybe not quite as advanced. Of course, that would change the class names to GT-Pro and GT-Am, which I prefer. But it would probably, in hindsight, be easier just to do GTE and GTC.

We could have an entry count of about 65 at Austin, I calculated, if the series raced together. About like Sebring.

As far as a schedule goes, I think we should have 10 races. Maybe scrap Shanghai and go with Monza, Catalunya, and Yas Marina...

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by Beetle

2015.

Getting a little ahead of the curve there!







L.P.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

Getting a little ahead of the curve there!







L.P.

That's my style.

[ensign14]

I'd like a rethink of the formula. Have two classes; one, allow anything so long as it's got 2 seats and is road-legal; two, anything that has had 500 sold. If there's a need for a third, make it 25 a la 917.

That way there's a championship for what is possible, and one for what is feasible...

[Tim the Grey]

I'll go with that, but with one small proviso?
Here is your 'bucket' of energy. It's all you have to go to the end of this race. Use it wisely.
Be that diesel, petrol, electric, I don't care. If someone can get a steam car running, and efficiently, maybe that's the way to go? But how will I know till it's been done...

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by Tim the Grey

I'll go with that, but with one small proviso?
Here is your 'bucket' of energy. It's all you have to go to the end of this race. Use it wisely.
Be that diesel, petrol, electric, I don't care. If someone can get a steam car running, and efficiently, maybe that's the way to go? But how will I know till it's been done...

I don't quite get what you mean.

[DeathOrGlory]

Much like Group C, but with more tech. Here's your gas/diesel, make it last until the end of the race.

[ArnageWRC]

Originally Posted by DeathOrGlory

Much like Group C, but with more tech. Here's your gas/diesel, make it last until the end of the race.

Yes, I'll go for that. More and more Motorsport has to be seen to be doing something, and becoming even more 'Road relevant'.