[WEC] 2013 WEC Schedule

[gregtummer]

Isn't the FIA to announce and finalize the 2013 WEC schedule today?

Thought I would make a thread for it.

[Canada ALMS fan]

Hopefully there is a sufficient gap around Sebring, it would be great if Toyota and Audi came to play. Sounds like Rebellion will for sure. The GTE-Pro Aston would be a welcome addition as well.

[gregtummer]

Sebring is March 16th so hopefully the WEC race in Austin will be 2 or 3 weeks later.

[Dead-Eye]

Announcement should be made at 14:30 local time, that's a little more than an hour from now.

[Mal]

2013 Provisional FIA World Endurance Championship Calendar
14 April Round 1 6 Hours of Silverstone GBR
04 May Round 2 WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps BEL
22/23 June Round 3 24 Heures du Mans FRA
24 August Round 4 6 Hours of Sao Paulo BRA
22 September Round 5 6 Hours of Austin * USA
20 October Round 6 6 Hours of Fuji JPN
10 November Round 7 6 Hours of Shanghai * CHN
30 November Round 8 6 Hours of Bahrain BAH

[Mal]

The Austin race is a joint race with ALMS

http://www.lemans.org/en/races/fia-w...dar-_8884.html

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by Mal

The Austin race is a joint race with ALMS

http://www.lemans.org/en/races/fia-w...dar-_8884.html

Will all the cars race together or have two separate races on the same weekend?

[Mal]

Originally Posted by Salamus

Will all the cars race together or have two separate races on the same weekend?

The press release says ALMS Saturday, WEC Sunday

[Dead-Eye]

Originally Posted by Salamus

Will all the cars race together or have two separate races on the same weekend?

ALMS on saturday, WEC on sunday.

[MagVanisher]

Originally Posted by Mal

The Austin race is a joint race with ALMS

http://www.lemans.org/en/races/fia-w...dar-_8884.html

I wonder if the WEC would continue their partnership with the ALMS/GA for 2014? That's the question.

[MJones94]

Ah no Sebring . At least I will be able to make the Silverstone round .

[aneesh99]

Originally Posted by Mal

The Austin race is a joint race with ALMS

http://www.lemans.org/en/races/fia-w...dar-_8884.html

Then why didn't they keep Sebring?! I'd rather Sebring over Austin any day of the week.

Other than that, not a fan of Bahrain, I'd rather Yas Marina if you want the whole spectacle of the night thing going.

[SpikerJack]

2013 Provisional FIA World Endurance Championship Calendar

14 April - Round 1 - 6 Hours of Silverstone GBR
04 May - Round 2 - WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps BEL
22/23 June - Round 3 - 24 Heures du Mans FRA
24 August - Round 4 - 6 Hours of Sao Paulo BRA
22 September - Round 5 - 6 Hours of Austin * USA
20 October - Round 6 - 6 Hours of Fuji JPN
10 November - Round 7 - 6 Hours of Shanghai * CHN
30 November - Round 8 - 6 Hours of Bahrain BAH

From FIAWEC.com

[isynge]

Disappointing to my eyes.

Silverstone in April doesn't fill me with big joy, nor does its proximity to Spa.

The long sequence of fly-aways post Le Mans also raises questions in my mind about how many cars we'll see making the trip.

[Acid09]

Originally Posted by isynge

The long sequence of fly-aways post Le Mans also raises questions in my mind about how many cars we'll see making the trip.

The same doubts were voiced this year and yet the field has remained pretty much stable aside from the unfortunate OAK situation and Pescarolo who would have dropped out no matter what the schedule would have looked like.

[carsten66]

Originally Posted by isynge

Disappointing to my eyes.

Silverstone in April doesn't fill me with big joy, nor does its proximity to Spa.

The long sequence of fly-aways post Le Mans also raises questions in my mind about how many cars we'll see making the trip.

Good three points, yep, that's far from ideal.

[gwyllion]

So no 10 race schedule, with a round in India and in Russia, as rumored.

[Acid09]

Looks good imo, the placement of Austin makes sense, the schedule also allows teams to do Sebring as well.

I think we'll have a bunch of takers as it will be the last time P1s can enter Sebring.

Bahrain as season finale isn't more or less boring than Shanghai, at least the night race should have a nice atmosphere.

[Fogelhund]

Typical FIA degrading of the venues. Oh well, good to see the cars at Spa and LM.

[SpikerJack]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

Typical FIA degrading of the venues. Oh well, good to see the cars at Spa and LM.

Even sebring didn't survive..
Maybe they should replace SPA with India and LM with a "2,4 hours of the world-know historical circuit of Sochi" that is perfect for broadcasting.

[carsten66]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

So no 10 race schedule, with a round in India and in Russia, as rumored.

I agree that 10 races would be much better... but I think they are dealing with great care regarding the needed budgets and prefer to get bigger grids before expanding the schedule. Also they to have to keep in mind the big unknown regarding the merger in 2014.

[isynge]

Originally Posted by Acid09

Looks good imo, the placement of Austin makes sense, the schedule also allows teams to do Sebring as well.

I think we'll have a bunch of takers as it will be the last time P1s can enter Sebring.

Bahrain as season finale isn't more or less boring than Shanghai, at least the night race should have a nice atmosphere.

I'd like to think we'll see a few teams kicking off their season with Sebring, the schedule allows it, and it's undeniably good at ironing out kinks with the car.

Personal preference would see me choose Shanghai over Bahrain every time as a season finale, but I can see how other arguments can be made.

If Silverstone genuinely is a double header with ELMS I'll be genuinely interested to see how that pans out, equally what European season post Le Mans looks like.

[SpikerJack]

Is there any info about the elms calendar?

[kober]

Originally Posted by SpikerJack

Is there any info about the elms calendar?

According to what was said during the interview with ACO President (?) on RLM, the ELMS calendar should be presented in October.

[rblanshard]

While I'm excited about the WEC coming down to Austin - only 3 hours from me up here in Dallas - I am disappointed Sebring is not included. And I'm a bit surprised in the timing of Austin - September?

This year, the weather in Austin was at or near 100 most of the month. Endurance racing with triple digit temperatures will make for an interesting challenge for both the cars and drivers.