[WEC] FIA World Endurance Championship

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by Beetle

Are you sure about that? I thought an HPD was slated for next year, full season?

It won't have the hybrid drivetrain so if you want the full package it will be 2015. I don't even think the '14 car is available for the start of the season. But I might be wrong. Christian Mogami seems to be somewhat in the know.



It is pretty gutting to have been, at one point, looking at a whole flurry of P1 privateers only for barely any to materialise. I think we'll get two Rebellion's and an Oak at Le Mans. '15 could be better. Or another false dawn.

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by Simmi

It is pretty gutting to have been, at one point, looking at a whole flurry of P1 privateers only for barely any to materialise. I think we'll get two Rebellion's and an Oak at Le Mans. '15 could be better. Or another false dawn.

It has turned out sort of as I expected it. For 2014, the problem isn't or ever was a lack of cars, but a lack of teams that are willing and able to run P1s in WEC. OAK, Strakka and Rebellion were the only teams we could count on, with a number of potential outsiders (Pickett, Factory DOME team, etc) that were always going to be long shots. With Strakka moving back to P2 (which is better for them), it'll be just OAK and Rebellion, which isn't surprising.

[Maelochs]

Well, P1 for a privateer team is pretty much a losing proposition. factory teams get the exposure which they (hopefully) can use to lever more money out of the PR department.

What does a Privateer team get? A guaranteed spot off the podium ... particularly in 2014 and later, with three (or more) factory teams.

I can't imagine a lot of sponsors are really excited to have their names on the cars which nobody ever looks at (any class leaders, even GTE-Am, will get more coverage---in fact any cars battling for position in class, which can't really happen much in P1-Privateer.)

Really glad there are teams like Oak and Rebellion which, for whatever cause, want to contest P1, but I wouldn't count on the field getting a lot deeper--unless some of the factories start selling customer cars.

[JoestForEver]

Originally Posted by Maelochs

Well, P1 for a privateer team is pretty much a losing proposition. factory teams get the exposure which they (hopefully) can use to lever more money out of the PR department.

What does a Privateer team get? A guaranteed spot off the podium ... particularly in 2014 and later, with three (or more) factory teams.

I can't imagine a lot of sponsors are really excited to have their names on the cars which nobody ever looks at (any class leaders, even GTE-Am, will get more coverage---in fact any cars battling for position in class, which can't really happen much in P1-Privateer.)

Really glad there are teams like Oak and Rebellion which, for whatever cause, want to contest P1, but I wouldn't count on the field getting a lot deeper--unless some of the factories start selling customer cars.

I remember last year the Rebellion Lola did manage to get ahead of one of the four Audis. That would be something for the privateers to expect next year.:P

[wewantourdarbyback]

They get the privateer championship?

[Acid09]

It's a tricky position for potential LMP1 teams to be in. The Audi vs. Porsche vs. Toyota battle is going to eat up all the attention the class will be getting.

With that happening up front, even if there were 4 privateers, would they get much attention? I doubt it. It's also not "needed" to spice up the class as this battle is exciting enough on its own.

More important for the WEC is that LMP2 is as healthy as it has ever been. I was worried about losing teams like Pecom but Alpine, Dome-Strakka and the new Russian effort will fill that void more than well.

[Gingers4Justice]

Going off on a slightly different note here. But does anyone know to whom, if anyone, ACO has devolved the responsibility of dealing with the media and television companies?

I only ask, because as far as I'm concerned, the promotion of the series is absolutely shocking in this department.

I watched the FIA GT finale in Baku and I was kind of a bit jealous. Their stream seemed really professional, and it was really good not to have two completely different sets of pitlane reporters, one of whom is not linked to the actual commentary properly so the commentators have to guess when she's going to pop up (Louise Beckett ahem), with only a graphic as a warning.

On top of that, the on board cameras and the shots they got elsewhere were just so much better.

Unless you're an enthusiast already, it's impossible to get into the WEC. It shouldn't be that way. You could easily condense any 6 hour race into a very watchable hour-long highlights programme.

It's not like the cars don't capture the imagination of the public - on all the big racing games, WEC cars are pretty much what you aspire to drive. So that's not the problem.

[deggis]

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

Going off on a slightly different note here. But does anyone know to whom, if anyone, ACO has devolved the responsibility of dealing with the media and television companies?

Perhaps:

Le Mans Endurance Management, a joint venture between the ACO and Peter Auto, already in charge of the World Endurance Championship.

http://www.endurance-info.com/fr/act...durance-12756/

Unless you're an enthusiast already, it's impossible to get into the WEC. It shouldn't be that way. You could easily condense any 6 hour race into a very watchable hour-long highlights programme.

Don't they already do that? http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x15...as-review_auto

That's the one they sell to tv channels. Not so confident about the "watchable" part though, the narrator is off-putting and third of the time is wasted on non-racing crap.

[chernaudi]

In the US, we're supposed to get hour long highlights shows on Fox Sports 1, but the FIA/ACO don't name an exact date that we're supposed to get them, and using FS' channel guide is a pain, with no search function for events.

Also, they're geo-blocked in NA until FS1 gets around to showing them.

If the FIA and ACO are serious about promoting the WEC in North America, they can't just rely on Audi and Porsche and other OEMs to do it for them all the time. You know, sort of the same thing that got the ALMS into problems when Audi and Porsche pulled out of the series?

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by deggis

Don't they already do that? http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x15...as-review_auto

That's the one they sell to tv channels. Not so confident about the "watchable" part though, the narrator is off-putting and third of the time is wasted on non-racing crap.

That's precisely what I mean. How hard is it to find someone who can type a script in some form of normal English, and narrated by someone who actually sounds something a bit like a human being? It's shockingly poor.

Even the WRC in the worst of the worst times has had better highlights than that. It's just so lazy. No wonder no television companies want the highlights.

[Bandicoot17]

Originally Posted by deggis

Don't they already do that? http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x15...as-review_auto

"It was plain sailing for Audi" *images of Audi with a tire on the roof....
The script is so bad it's funny.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

Going off on a slightly different note here. But does anyone know to whom, if anyone, ACO has devolved the responsibility of dealing with the media and television companies?

I only ask, because as far as I'm concerned, the promotion of the series is absolutely shocking in this department.

I watched the FIA GT finale in Baku and I was kind of a bit jealous. Their stream seemed really professional, and it was really good not to have two completely different sets of pitlane reporters, one of whom is not linked to the actual commentary properly so the commentators have to guess when she's going to pop up (Louise Beckett ahem), with only a graphic as a warning.

On top of that, the on board cameras and the shots they got elsewhere were just so much better.

Unless you're an enthusiast already, it's impossible to get into the WEC. It shouldn't be that way. You could easily condense any 6 hour race into a very watchable hour-long highlights programme.

It's not like the cars don't capture the imagination of the public - on all the big racing games, WEC cars are pretty much what you aspire to drive. So that's not the problem.

Its quite sad when you hear the Radio LM guys talking over team radios relaying important information. Then the "thank you Louise" as if she can hear them. This is suppose to be the FIA, get with it guys. Now with 3 major manufacturers in the top class, this should get the recognition it deserves. Will the professionalism follow suit? I hope so.

[Canada ALMS fan]

Graham Goodwin just said on RLM from FP2 at Bahrain that Oak WILL debut their new factory entered LMP1 starting at Spa in privateer spec (non-hybrid) but if a car manufacturer came along it could be hybridized. They didn't say if they would be running this year's car at Silverstone? He was told this by the team in Shanghai. Sounds like good news for Rebellion. They have one of their B12/60 in Bahrain for sale for $700,000 USD. Scott Tucker are you listening?
In P2.
Graham also said Lotus have been very quiet about next year, not a good sign.

[JoestForEver]

Originally Posted by Canada ALMS fan

Graham Goodwin just said on RLM from FP2 at Bahrain that Oak WILL debut their new factory entered LMP1 starting at Spa in privateer spec (non-hybrid) but if a car manufacturer came along it could be hybridized. They didn't say if they would be running this year's car at Silverstone? He was told this by the team in Shanghai. Sounds like good news for Rebellion. They have one of their B12/60 in Bahrain for sale for $700,000 USD. Scott Tucker are you listening?
In P2.
Graham also said Lotus have been very quiet about next year, not a good sign.

They've been dwarfed by other P2 cars with a 2014 P1 coupe body the whole year. If they give up halfway, that's even more humiliating for the Lotus badge. Pity. Old Lola chassis is no longer eligible for narrower new P1 regulations, so that's a price tag for collectors I believe.

[Canada ALMS fan]

There is a one year grandfather period for current spec LMP1 machinery next year.

[TheMightyM]

The future of the WEC/TUSC date at COTA is uncertain. Seems that the WEC didn't like that only 8,000 people showed up on the Sunday to see them race....

The future of the shared sports car weekend at Circuit of The Americas is unclear, as the FIA World Endurance Championship has proposed changes to the event’s timetable before confirming its U.S. event for next year.

Series boss Gerard Neveu revealed that discussions are underway between IMSA and COTA regarding the organization of the weekend.

More from John Dagys here.

[Simmi]

Can't over emphasise the importance of this news:
http://sportscar365.com/wec/porsche-...ogram-in-2014/

It would have been easy for Porsche to bin off the GTs in the WEC and push that side of it to America. It was by no means a given they would continue on the world stage with the P1 coming in.

With Aston and AF Corse also now looking to roughly replicate this years' programmes the value of continuity is massive here.

[Acid09]

Great news to see Porsche stick around. GTE should be every bit as good next year as it is this year.

Nice to see them standing their ground with regards to COTA as well.

The WEC is steadily improving and growing every year and you get the feeling that the people running the show know very well what they're doing.

[TheMightyM]

Originally Posted by Acid09

Great news to see Porsche stick around. GTE should be every bit as good next year as it is this year.

Nice to see them standing their ground with regards to COTA as well.

The WEC is steadily improving and growing every year and you get the feeling that the people running the show know very well what they're doing.

The WEC isn't standing their ground at COTA — rather they are attempting to take the time ("ground" if you will) that the ALMS held last year. The WEC on the Sunday didn't draw as well as the ALMS on Saturday, so now the WEC wants to race on Saturday too, and in the process push the now TUSC into less desirable time slots.

[Acid09]

Originally Posted by TheMightyM

The WEC isn't standing their ground at COTA — rather they are attempting to take the time ("ground" if you will) that the ALMS held last year. The WEC on the Sunday didn't draw as well as the ALMS on Saturday, so now the WEC wants to race on Saturday too, and in the process push the now TUSC into less desirable time slots.

The WEC is the main event and their race was set up to be an afterthought this year.

As Neveu explained, the majority of the media was there for them, not the ALMS.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by Acid09

The WEC is the main event and their race was set up to be an afterthought this year.

Why didn't anyone complain before the race, then? Isn't Sunday the usual day for the headline race?

As Neveu explained, the majority of the media was there for them, not the ALMS.

The majority of spectators apparently wasn't. But that of course doesn't fit the "factory P1s as the be all end all" narrative so popular on here....

[chernaudi]

For the WEC, Dagys did point out on his twitter page that, in his opinion, the ACO and the FIA have basically bombed as far as promoting the series in North America. Minimal promotion outside of what OEMs do and only a hour long highlight show that comes on god knows when (I just found Shanghai's, it's on Sunday night, Dec. 2, not Dec.1 as the FIA proposed) is not enough, especially for a world championship.

And in general, at another forum, I've heard just as many negative things about COTA, namely their management, as I've heard positive. I know that the FIA and the ACO have a fetish at this stage for running on FIA Grade 1 circuits outside of Le Mans when possible, and IMSA wanted a piece of COTA's action, but I think that a change of venue might be necessary, not only for the WEC, but also TUSCC--both the FIA/ACO and IMSA didn't seem to be very happy with how certain aspects of COTA turned out.

Also reportedly, the WEC were thinking of racing at Road America until the COTA deal was signed. What would we as fans rather have: WEC/TUSCC shared weekend at COTA, or WEC/TUSCC shared weekend at Road America or Road Atlanta, just to name a couple of alternatives?

[TF110]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Why didn't anyone complain before the race, then? Isn't Sunday the usual day for the headline race?



The majority of spectators apparently wasn't. But that of course doesn't fit the "factory P1s as the be all end all" narrative so popular on here....

Are you familiar with American football? NFL trumps WEC, thats why there was only a small number of spectators. Staging an event on a Sunday during NFL season is not wise for a lesser known motorsport. F1 might get away with it, but even that was down from last year.

[Rodger Davies]

Speed-King, I'm with you on this one. It appears to me that WEC thought they'd be the biggest show in town and, rather than admitting a mistake in their long-term strategy or realising their place as a supporting event, they're blaming anyone but themselves.

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by Acid09

Great news to see Porsche stick around. GTE should be every bit as good next year as it is this year.

It could be even better if they get the BoP right.

It's also good news for the Porsche drivers that won't be part of the LMP1 program. Manthey's WEC effort will provide the likes of Pat Pilet, Pat Long, Bergmeister etc. with high-profile competitive seats instead of having to go back to pro-am efforts and regional series. I'm sure they'll be happy with that.