[WEC] FIA WEC calendar

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by RL17

Of course whole IMSA field is not invited. Main way is for full WEC season entries for LMHh cars, plus invites from ACO, series winners and believe IMSA have a few spaces.

My main question is why LMH cars are not going into some of the IMSA Weathertech events?

Daytona Rolex has 60 odd cars, Sebring has recently ranged from 38 to 53 I believe and some events like Long Beach GP seem to have a much smaller field below 30? Plus there are the GTD circuit events. (11 races only 6 with all 5 classes). Some events also exclude LMP2 & LMP3.

So could LMH teams get a thrid car homogolated for IMSA Weathertech and
only do a few races (i.e. get invites for Rolex and Sebring) or would they need to commit to full season for their class? The Sebring IMSA Weathertech format has been in place for 10 years or so

If Toyota were to ask for LMH entry to IMSA, likely as a Lexus if we're honest, they would likely be allowed. But as of yet Toyota NA has not been able to get the home office to sign off

GTD events are run at tracks where GTP would not be as racey, Lime Rock would be entertaining as time trial but not so much the racing itself. But trying to argue there are events that leave out some classes, often by participants' request, is an Marmite to roast beef argument. Yes people like each but no one is paying roast beef price for Marmite, and teams an sell the roast of Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta FAR easier than 100 min on a track they can run club cars on fairly often. And remember Daytona had a cap with extra cars left off the list so no, there aren't open spaces for more cars just floating out there to be grabbed up.

[JT240Z]

Yep, the Michelin Endurance Cup is a series of 4 races within the WeatherTech series.

Michelin Endurance Cup

[Toyotats03OUS]

This is off topic, but does anybody knows where can I buy tickets for the 1000 of Sebring? I can’t find them anywhere. I can see tickets for the IMSA 12 hours of Sebring through the race track website and the IMSA website, but can not find the WEC tickets anywhere.

The second question. IMSA has tickets for Friday and Saturday events, would I be able to access the WEC events/race with this ticket? Or you will need to have the appropriate ticket for each event/series. The WEC race is on Friday so I’m wondering if I will be able to access this race with the IMSA ticket for Friday and Saturday.

Thank you in advance

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by Toyotats03OUS

This is off topic, but does anybody knows where can I buy tickets for the 1000 of Sebring? I can’t find them anywhere. I can see tickets for the IMSA 12 hours of Sebring through the race track website and the IMSA website, but can not find the WEC tickets anywhere.

The second question. IMSA has tickets for Friday and Saturday events, would I be able to access the WEC events/race with this ticket? Or you will need to have the appropriate ticket for each event/series. The WEC race is on Friday so I’m wondering if I will be able to access this race with the IMSA ticket for Friday and Saturday.

Thank you in advance

You just buy tickets from Sebring themselves which will get you everything on that given day. So a Friday ticket would get you access for WEC.

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by Toyotats03OUS

This is off topic, but does anybody knows where can I buy tickets for the 1000 of Sebring? I can’t find them anywhere. I can see tickets for the IMSA 12 hours of Sebring through the race track website and the IMSA website, but can not find the WEC tickets anywhere.

The second question. IMSA has tickets for Friday and Saturday events, would I be able to access the WEC events/race with this ticket? Or you will need to have the appropriate ticket for each event/series. The WEC race is on Friday so I’m wondering if I will be able to access this race with the IMSA ticket for Friday and Saturday.

Thank you in advance

You would think this day and age, people are able to at least look at the official website, available tickets are easy to find on SIR's official website...

BTW, 4 day admission is only $10 more than a 2-day one (115 vs 105) so maybe pack early and arrive Wed or Thu?

[tux]

I see the attraction from a marketing point of view of going to Indy but from a fans point of view it gives me zero enthusiasm. The road course at Indy is just not very exciting imo.

[dwh43scale]

Personally, can't get worked up about anything at Indy; not even sure I want to do the 500.

WEC heading to the sunshine and money of the Middle East ? Meh, I'd rather watch those cars round Spa or even the oft-derided Silverfence than the latest Middle East tarmac-drome.

But Watkins Glen, Road America, Mid Ohio are on the bucket list ...

[Coach Ep]

I like the IndyCar road course race though and with that track being only 2.4 miles in length (assuming they'll use the IndyCar layout, SRO did so for last year's 8H race) it might actually produce some good racing, especially with the packed top class in 2024.

The lap record is 1:09.38 (Newgarden) so I'd expect the Hypercars to do it in 1:15ish (the GT3 qualy lap record is 1:22.1).

[Coach Ep]

I'm surprised to see the likes of Kvyat and Mazapin being announced as drivers, are the sanctions against Russian drivers lifted or made less restrictive?

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

I'm surprised to see the likes of Kvyat and Mazapin being announced as drivers, are the sanctions against Russian drivers lifted or made less restrictive?

Looking at worldwide sport it feels like as long as you're not representing Russia/Belarus then you're good to go. Whether that's running under a neutral banner or competing for another nation.

EDIT: There's also an FIA declaration drivers have had to sign.

[dwh43scale]

Gryazin has been competing in WRC under "ANA"

[NaBUru38]

Thread bump!

Roger Penske claims that the FIA WEC is unlikely to race at Indianapolis in the short term.

Originally Posted by The Captain

I don’t have anything to announce, I don’t think we are ready to do something in the next 24 months

https://racer.com/2024/03/01/penske-...-race-at-indy/

[tomcug]

Very good news, that track is bad for multiclass racing.

[Coach Ep]

US round likely to be held @ CotA next year then (as the 2024 deal is rumored to contain an option to extend into 2025) - which isn't a great prospect either. As boring/bad of a road course Indy might be, a double header with IMSA in late summer/early fall would have been better than a stand alone event in the scorching Texan heat.

Not that the series cares about attendance anyway (as this weekend shows).

[v8supes]

Its over for Silverstone in the short term. Im guessing theres a decent chance we wont see the Hypercars compete in this country

.
@FIAWEC
CEO Frederic Lequien says he wants the series to race at
@SilverstoneUK
again, but now "is not the right time" to add the new round. Lequien sees this as a "period of stabilisation", taking into account team budgets. #BBMF24

https://x.com/f1broadcasting/status/1783499680485155253

[veeten]

Just proves what I mean, this thing is blowing up BIG. If Spa has crowds like this, and that's before Le Mans, and have similar numbers after, it just points out that the right call was made back in '21.

It also means that two more races are needed to bring all of this together: Great Britain and Germany. Then you would have all the major players in the automotive industry, plus a couple that lends excitement to the schedule, as well as the series.

[Badlands99]

Unfortunately, that means they would have to go to the dump that is Silverstone, with organisers who really don't give a damn about 'paying' fans and have absolutely no interest in anything other than F1!

[broadrun96]

Limit yourself to specific Graded tracks and amenities for the fancy folks and you limit where you go. IMSA doesn't give a rip about that and seems to tell them bring an RV, the only hotel around Road Atlanta is a La Quinta and fans and big wigs have to stay there or venture further afield

[flatlandsman]

Our biggest venue in the UK will be to late tot he party and routinely outbid by the Middle East or the USA I would guess.

In fairness to them they hosted it in two era, the last sort of golden era of LMP1 and also the dead years of Toyota and nothing else.

They did not want it anymore, and would have little interest in bidding for it, they only care about one event all year anyway, and I would imagine they are quite happy to drop MotoGP when their contract runs out too, as crowds have fallen off a cliff at that event too.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by flatlandsman

Our biggest venue in the UK will be to late tot he party and routinely outbid by the Middle East or the USA I would guess.

In fairness to them they hosted it in two era, the last sort of golden era of LMP1 and also the dead years of Toyota and nothing else.

They did not want it anymore, and would have little interest in bidding for it, they only care about one event all year anyway, and I would imagine they are quite happy to drop MotoGP when their contract runs out too, as crowds have fallen off a cliff at that event too.

That Silverstone only care about one event is incorrect.

The GP is their most high profile event. It is also their most risky event. They have to get it right. It has the most focus not because of Silverstone’s uncaring attitude to everything else, but because it is just inherently higher profile.
It’s a right pain for them, the baggage that comes along with it is high, and for those involved it is a real pain. Their life would be way easier to not bother, but that venue size needs it. Otherwise none of the other stuff would happen.

Some harsh realities may come in, especially when trying to make the venue fit the entire spectrum of Motorsport from F1, to national championships, to club racing, to track days. They have to deal with that. They have skin in the game unlike people at home (especially those at home that don’t go to the races!). Although people at home do still have keyboards.

WEC, as you say, hasn’t always been in the top state it is right now to always make it work at such a venue in the UK. It came with some of that world championship baggage, but without the bums on seats. So should Silverstone fight for it when they have a full calendar of other events?

It’s great to see the crowds at Imola in this latest era, but it wasn’t always so as you say.

If MotoGP has become unviable because of the attendance dropping then they’ll have to, but it won’t be because they don’t care.

The people who run Silverstone, the club behind it, and the vast majority of those that work there love all motorsport. I know they love and enthuse about it all even the club stuff. To suggest they don’t care is too simplistic at best.

[Matador]

Would Donnington make sense?

[Adam43]

I’ve seen a high profile sportscar race at Donington back when it was Group C. I think my parents still have the cool box with the event sticker we put on it.

If Imola isn’t appropriate for these cars neither is Donington.

It’d be cool, but I can’t see it happening.

[flatlandsman]

Adam I am afraid I beg to differ about Silverstone, I feel their eggs are only in one basket and right now, they make SOOO much money from it, compared to what they used to they really do not give a toss about anything else, they make an effort for sure, contractually they probably have to, but dwindling gates and a very serious rise in people really starting to loath the place and go elsewhere BECAUSE of this attitude will eventually start to hurt them.

They love clubbies, why? Because they have to do the grand total of sod all to host them, they get no crowd, so have very little to do other than charge a club, provide some basics and that's about it, it is stuff liek BSB, GTWC. those kinds of things that they used to run and now do not at all or as much, they take an awful lot more doing as they can get bigger crowds, which means roe expenditure for less income, they dont expect an income from clubbies, hence they do them, but even in that way there are far,m far less than there were even 5 years ago, I know as I live right next to the damn place. and the calendar now is tiny compared to what it was.

F1 is just a giant money pit for them, fair enough they went though the mill to get here. And hundreds of thousands of sheep are happy to pay vastly inflated prices to watch it, why not mile them. If you can milk sheep.

I would love to see modern WEC there, but it is not going to happen until probably the cirrent bubble bursts, as it will, they always do sadly!!

[Adam43]

We are aligned on that one event is much more impactful and takes more resource than the others. For obvious reasons.

But that is different from not caring. Which is what I’m getting at. So I guess we are just have different use of the word caring here. Unless you are saying they genuinely don’t care (like) Motorsport. Which I guess you are not.

When I’ve been there both for clubbies and also horrible corporate crap those related to the circuit clearly inherently care for the sport. All of it. BTW they run the latter because they are a business. Doing so means it remains open to do what they care about.

Even if they do care a great deal they can’t put on an event that ain’t going to work for them. WEC came with too much (increasing) cost and baggage for reward to be viable.

They have to deal with the harsh realities of running the venue. We don’t, but I’m not so quick to dismiss them.

Also for what it is worth I really like racing there. Best place in UK to play high speed. So maybe that colors my judgement.

[Hedley Verity]

Originally Posted by Adam43

We are aligned on that one event is much more impactful and takes more resource than the others. For obvious reasons.

But that is different from not caring. Which is what I’m getting at. So I guess we are just have different use of the word caring here. Unless you are saying they genuinely don’t care (like) Motorsport. Which I guess you are not.

When I’ve been there both for clubbies and also horrible corporate crap those related to the circuit clearly inherently care for the sport. All of it. BTW they run the latter because they are a business. Doing so means it remains open to do what they care about.

Even if they do care a great deal they can’t put on an event that ain’t going to work for them. WEC came with too much (increasing) cost and baggage for reward to be viable.

They have to deal with the harsh realities of running the venue. We don’t, but I’m not so quick to dismiss them.

Also for what it is worth I really like racing there. Best place in UK to play high speed. So maybe that colors my judgement.

As a spectator rather than a competitor I feel that at best I am an irrelevance to the people running Silverstone.
Silverstone certainly gets some unfair criticism, there’s nothing they can do about the geography, and a crowd which looks fantastic at say, Spa, where the backdrop is green forest, looks terrible at Silverstone against a backdrop of empty grandstands.
I fully understand they won’t open many grandstands for an event like British GT, but a sign of the total lack of thought about the people paying to come in is which stands are opened. Every minor event I’ve been to has the wrong Woodcote stand open, the vast majority end up at one end trying to get a decent view of the Wellington straight and round Luffield. The stand to the right offers much better views but is always closed.
No-one at Silverstone has ever considered this, clearly, it’s obvious to anyone sitting there, they can’t have ever asked the punters which stands they want open, they’ve never looked over and wondered why everyone is crammed in at one end of the stand, those paying to spectate, and how to give them what they want are nowhere in the thought process.
That’s just one example , what they’ve done at Maggots is another.
For me Sunday would be a £100 day out with a 6 hour round trip, to get a substandard view of the races, so I’m staying at home and watching on the telly, I’ll be at Oulton the week after, and then onto Spa, various circuits throughout the season, but not Silverstone once.