[WEC] FIA World Endurance Championship

[ger80]

So Silverstone is during the Easter weekend...

[Rodger Davies]

Oh, tell me that's not true... I'm still going to Oulton Park for British GT if it is though.

Also annoyed that they've made bed Spa; would have been awesome to combine the trip with GT Masters at Zandvoort if it was the Saturday it was originally scheduled for.

[TheMightyM]

There was an ELMS driver regulation change that could impact the choice between WEC and ELMS for GTE-Am teams and gentlemen drivers going forward. ELMS races are gaining an extra hour next year, going to four hours from three, so as to attract additional paying drivers ( a third driver per car). There’s a significant catch though. As John Dagys reports:

Clarifications were also made to the driver categorizations, with lineups in [ELMS] GTE and GTC next year requiring at least one Bronze and one Silver driver each, or two Bronze drivers.

Six of the eight ELMS GTE cars used a silver plus a pro driver or two silver plus a pro driver combination in 2013. Should they continue with their existing lineups, they would be forced to add a bronze-rated driver. Whether that’s an attractive option remains to be seen. It certainly is likely to impact the quality of the driver line-ups ELMS GTE teams bring to Le Mans -- if a bronze driver is helping to finance the ELMS season, it might be difficult to keep them from also racing at Le Mans if the team is selected.

At minimum, the change makes ELMS a less attractive option for current WEC silver-rated gentlemen GTE drivers.

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by TheMightyM

Six of the eight ELMS GTE cars used a silver plus a pro driver or two silver plus a pro driver combination in 2013. Should they continue with their existing lineups, they would be forced to add a bronze-rated driver. Whether that’s an attractive option remains to be seen. It certainly is likely to impact the quality of the driver line-ups ELMS GTE teams bring to Le Mans -- if a bronze driver is helping to finance the ELMS season, it might be difficult to keep them from also racing at Le Mans if the team is selected.

At minimum, the change makes ELMS a less attractive option for current WEC silver-rated gentlemen GTE drivers.

I agree with some, but not all of what you're saying. Looking at the ELMS field this year, barely any of the line-ups held firm through Le Mans and the season. So I don't think that will be an issue. Especially given most teams don't have guaranteed entries.

Quite a few silver-rated drivers seem to be hired guns. Not necessarily the ones putting in the money.

[Starfish Primer]

ELMS is working hard to become more irrelevant.

[kober]

Originally Posted by TheMightyM

There was an ELMS driver regulation change that could impact the choice between WEC and ELMS for GTE-Am teams and gentlemen drivers going forward.

The change will be introduced not only to ELMS, but to WEC and AsLMS too, so the balance between ACO's series shouldn't be affected.

[Simmi]

The ACO has also revised a bunch of driver ratings to aid the transition for GT-Am.

Not sure if there are any controversial ones here. Matt Griffin must be gutted he's finally lost his silver rating.

http://sportscar365.com/wec/revised-...ions-revealed/

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by Simmi

The ACO has also revised a bunch of driver ratings to aid the transition for GT-Am.

Not sure if there are any controversial ones here. Matt Griffin must be gutted he's finally lost his silver rating.

http://sportscar365.com/wec/revised-...ions-revealed/

And Jann Mardenborough upgraded from Silver to Gold after only one year in ACO-rules racing (and single-seaters, for that matter...)

[Rodger Davies]

can I ask a likely silly question:

Why do we have 4 ratings, when all regulations that apply to Silver apply to Bronze and the same for Gold and Platinum?

I understand that presently, Silver includes the grey area that is 'unknown' drivers (pros without a huge amount of International experience) but wouldn't it be simpler to just have a 'Pros' and 'Ams' list?

[FstrthnU]

Originally Posted by Rodger Davies

can I ask a likely silly question:

Why do we have 4 ratings, when all regulations that apply to Silver apply to Bronze and the same for Gold and Platinum?

I understand that presently, Silver includes the grey area that is 'unknown' drivers (pros without a huge amount of International experience) but wouldn't it be simpler to just have a 'Pros' and 'Ams' list?

I'm pretty sure that is what IMSA is trying to do for TUSCC, have super simple driver classifications to make driver choice easier for Pro-Am situations.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Rodger Davies

can I ask a likely silly question:

Why do we have 4 ratings, when all regulations that apply to Silver apply to Bronze and the same for Gold and Platinum?

I understand that presently, Silver includes the grey area that is 'unknown' drivers (pros without a huge amount of International experience) but wouldn't it be simpler to just have a 'Pros' and 'Ams' list?

You would think the people responsible for such rules would have thought about that as well. Maybe it was just to pad the egos of some drivers.

[Rodger Davies]

Actually, there is a single one; bronze cannot drive p1 I believe

[jasonjessica09]

Does anybody have an idea at what the GT grid could look like in 2014? I am wondering if the Pro category in particular could be hurting?

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by jasonjessica09

Does anybody have an idea at what the GT grid could look like in 2014? I am wondering if the Pro category in particular could be hurting?

All pretty uncertain at the moment.

No confirmation from Porsche. AF Corse likewise and they haven't been happy this year.

Aston you'd imagine will be back - but very likely without the third Pro car we've seen for much of this year.

Doesn't seem like any new entries on top of what we've seen this year. Consolidation is the best case scenario IMO.

[JorritVD]

http://sportscar365.com/wec/shanghai-notebook/

Aston Martin Racing 2014:
- Two to Five cars next year
--- Two pro cars confirmed
--- negotiations with its existing GTE-Am customers

[Mike E]

Delta-ADR plans are developing for next year. Good news for the championship.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111292

[FstrthnU]

http://www.racer.com/pecom-wec-team-...rticle/320935/
Pecom confirms they will be leaving the WEC next year, to try and run in TUSCC full-season instead

[Asa]

http://f1.sohu.com/20131114/n390124467.shtml

This Chinese articles says Wuhan is building a new racing circuit in China. They received a visit from Remy Brouard who talked about having a Chinese team (using OAK Racing cars of course) with 3 Chinese drivers and having a WEC race at the new Wuhan International Circuit.

[JorritVD]

DHH David Heinemeier Hansson maybe will race a V8 Vantage GTE in next year's WEC.

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/se...test-notebook/

***Pedro Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana will join Darren Turner in Aston Martin Racing’s Vantage V8 GTE car at Daytona. Turner and David Heinemeier Hansson completed a successful two-day test at Sebring, with the Dane eyeing a possible WEC program with the British manufacturer for 2014.

Will be interesting to see if DHH wants to go with a Pro or a Pro-Am car. I believe he is listed as a Silver driver, so he could drive in the Pro-Am. But I won't be suprised if he wants to make himself a better driver and chooses for the Pro category.

Good to see Paul Dalla Lana is still interested in AMR. But probably testing the car for a TUSCC programm than for WEC.

[Simmi]

A nice boost for next year, particularly with the loss of Pecom, is a two-car SMP Racing P2 programme.

http://sportscar365.com/wec/smp-raci...x-24-programs/

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by JorritVD

Good to see Paul Dalla Lana is still interested in AMR. But probably testing the car for a TUSCC programm than for WEC.

I think PDL will be running a full season in GTD with Turner in their Z4's. The AMR in TUSC seems to be a one off.

[cmk]

Originally Posted by Rodger Davies

can I ask a likely silly question:

Why do we have 4 ratings, when all regulations that apply to Silver apply to Bronze and the same for Gold and Platinum?

I understand that presently, Silver includes the grey area that is 'unknown' drivers (pros without a huge amount of International experience) but wouldn't it be simpler to just have a 'Pros' and 'Ams' list?

I don't get the Gold-Platinum distinction. Pretty sure that's just ego-padding. The Silver-Bronze distinction is important though, beyond the aforementioned restriction preventing the latter from entering in P1. The rules for P2 demand one at least one Silver, while the rules for GTE-Am demand one Bronze and one Silver or two Bronze (for 2014). I see where you're coming from with the Pro-Am distinction, but I like the idea of enforcing 'true' amateurs in a truly amateur class while allowing the P2 teams a chance to take a 'fast amateur' or promising rookie on board in what should be a higher-performance class.

[Coach Ep]

ELMS GTE champs RAM Racing moving up to WEC, one car in the Pro and Am category each, Mowlem and Griffin retained:

www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111505

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

ELMS GTE champs RAM Racing moving up to WEC, one car in the Pro and Am category each, Mowlem and Griffin retained:

www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111505

It's great to have one more GTPro car in the field!

[Canada ALMS fan]

Great news! Nice to see a true privateer in GTE Pro.