zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
The World Endurance Championship Could Be In More Trouble Than We Thought: Report
The World Endurance Championship Could Be In More Trouble Than We Thought: Report-October 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:20

Things aren’t looking great for the FIA World Endurance Championship these days. Rising costs in endurance prototype racing have , and a new, thinly sourced report claims that the series may chop a third of its schedule and shift to running in the winter months.

reports that up to three of the World Endurance Championship’s nine rounds could be eliminated for next season, and that the series, which runs from April to November currently, could morph into a winter series with that starts after the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the summer.

One of the races that’s reportedly on the chopping block is the World Endurance Championship’s Silverstone date, which currently opens up the season. That’s the only section of the report that Sportscar365 sourced, reporting that multiple sources said the circuit is unlikely to be back on the schedule.

The rest of the report isn’t attributed to anyone, which, of course, means that you shouldn’t take it as the least bit concrete. But if any of it becomes a reality, it’s not the best news for the series.

One of the most ominous parts of the Sportscar365 report is about Toyota, the lone manufacturer left in the series’ top LMP1 class. Without citing where it came from, the website reports that Toyota could run a limited schedule next year. If that happens and no one joins LMP1—which —it would leave the series without a top class in one or more of its events.

Here’s some of the other stuff that Sportscar365 reports could happen, including a questionable future for the World Endurance Championship’s events at Circuit of The Americas and Mexico City. The circuits’ contracts expire after this year, Sportscar365 reports, but didn’t say why they wouldn’t renew:

As a result, a more drastic change to a winter season, , could be made, with French media reporting the 2018 season may not begin until after next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

WEC CEO Gerard Neveu revealed in May that , including a possible reduction to eight rounds at that time, as well as the addition of qualifying races for GTE-Pro cars. ...

It’s understood at least six rounds, on three continents, are required for the WEC to retain World Championship status, which it intends to do so thanks to the new-for-2017 world titles for GTE manufacturers and drivers.

The report links the potential for the season shifting to winter back to the near demise of its top LMP1 class, which was spurred by the annually when that kind of money could be spent elsewhere for much higher return. (Ferrari, for example, runs about 20 races annually with its Formula One program .)

Both and dropped WEC for a much less expensive and much more relevant-to-future-road-cars series, the electric FIA Formula E Championship that can be run on about $4 million annually. Both series are new, with WEC starting as a reincarnation of past global endurance championships in 2012 and Formula E starting as its own thing in 2014. Formula E’s electric cars just offer more for the money compared to WEC’s offerings to test hybrid technology.

Sportscar365 reports that it couldn’t get comment on these reports from World Endurance Championship CEO Gerard Neveu or Automobile Club de l’Ouest president Pierre Fillon. Jalopnik reached out to WEC, and a spokesperson for the series said Neveu will do a briefing about 2018 in Mexico on Friday, but that it “won’t include announcing the calendar as it is not yet finalised.”

“The USA is important for all our teams, especially the manufacturers which of course include Aston Martin, Ferrari, Ford, Porsche and Toyota,” the WEC spokesperson tole Jalopnik. “But right now I don’t have a crystal ball to predict what will be on the calendar for the seasons ahead.”

Jalopnik has reached out to Circuit of The Americas, the series’ only U.S. race date, for comment on the reports as well.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
After Delivering 8 Seasons At The Back Of The Grid, Haas F1 Team Dumps Guenther Steiner
After Delivering 8 Seasons At The Back Of The Grid, Haas F1 Team Dumps Guenther Steiner
The partially North Carolina-based squad has determined that after , it needs to mix things up a little. The team’s firebrand has been following an abysmal 2023 season which saw the team score just four points-paying finishes. The team’s , where scored a fourth-place finish, but that season too...
Oct 21, 2024
You've Probably Never Heard Of The Coolest Canadian Car Ever Built
You've Probably Never Heard Of The Coolest Canadian Car Ever Built
Name a car from the early 1960s built by a famed racing driver with curvy, lightweight aluminum bodywork, a big American engine, and a reputation for being unruly and fast as all hell. Your first thought was probably the famed Shelby Cobra, did you know there was a who...
Oct 21, 2024
Local Businesses Want Compensation After Allegedly Losing Money During Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
Local Businesses Want Compensation After Allegedly Losing Money During Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
If you listen to Formula 1 or local officials from Las Vegas and Clark County, you’d probably think November’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix was a success. Some sources estimated that the city of Las Vegas made over $1 billion in revenue from the event — but there were...
Oct 21, 2024
Get Ready To Spend All Your Money On Retro Formula 1 Merch
Get Ready To Spend All Your Money On Retro Formula 1 Merch
Fellow nerds, get ready to open your wallets, because I’ve found what may be the greatest store of all time. With designs from Formula 1 teams like , you’re sure to find something that fits your particular nostalgic niche. I’d like to introduce you to Racing Retro. I first...
Oct 21, 2024
Listen To In-Car Audio From Race Cars While You Work
Listen To In-Car Audio From Race Cars While You Work
If you follow racing in the U.S., you probably already know about the . Most of the episodes are too much of a distraction to put on as background noise while you work, but a couple of recent entries in his series have been working incredibly well for me....
Oct 21, 2024
Race Team Would Rather Create A Fake AI Woman Rather Than Hire A Real One
Race Team Would Rather Create A Fake AI Woman Rather Than Hire A Real One
In another unsurprising example of motorsport’s inhospitable mindset toward hiring competent women, the Racing team has announced a new partnership with Ava Rose, a literal , who will... engage with fans? Share knowledge about technology? “Navigate the cutting edge of innovation to create positive change” (whatever that means)? I...
Oct 21, 2024
Copyright 2023-2024 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved