The 2024 season of the FIA World Endurance Championship will see 37 cars on the grid, revealed with the publication of the list of entries for next season.
There are 19 Hypercars and 18 LMGT3s for a year that promises to be lively, full of big names and brands at the start, but above all for which the enormous work behind the scenes has required patience and also tough decisions to make.
It is no secret, in fact, that at the end of the window for submitting membership applications (20 November), the FIA and Automobile Club de l’Ouest found a flood of requests on the table, therefore inevitably having to carefully select all the participants.
“The huge number of entries for both Hypercars and LMGT3s underlines the continued growth of the FIA WEC and I would like to take this moment to thank all our brands and teams for putting their trust in us,” said Frédéric Lequien, CEO of the championship .
“The presence of 19 Hypercars and 18 LMGT3s, representing 14 different manufacturers, truly reflects the golden era of endurance racing we are experiencing. The battles on the track next season will be extraordinary and what is even more exciting is that We will expand our calendar to eight races, so even more fans can enjoy the action.”
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
The start of the 8H of Bahrain
Having said that, Lequien inevitably also had to focus on the less… nice aspects, namely the ‘no’ to the registration application which he had to communicate to some manufacturers, including Audi and Mercedes among the GT3s not having the right of pre-emption being without a Hypercar or LMDh (or being part of a group that produces one).
Among the prototypes, the one left out is the Vanwall Racing built by ByKolles, which therefore receives a rejection once again after the one suffered already in 2022.
At the time, the Vandervell 680 LMH still had to be built and therefore the choice became inevitable, also to avoid creating dangerous precedents, while in 2023 the car of the English brand was present with less than satisfactory results.
“I would have preferred to have everyone on the grid, but places are limited and we could only accept 37 cars, so we had to make decisions, in some cases not easy, taking into consideration the selection criteria imposed by the commission and the regulations. I believe that some of them were logical and right, even if difficult,” explains Lequien.
The regulation provides that first of all teams from a brand that builds road cars can enter the Hypercar Class upon presentation of specific documentation demonstrating this, while the four established criteria are the competitor’s previous record, his interest in the championship, the regular participation in the series or its flagship race – namely the 24 Hours of Le Mans – and the financial situation of the team.
ByKolles Racing has taken over the use of the Vanwall brand and has already announced and presented the project to build an electric car called Vandervell S, while boss Colin Kolles had explained a few weeks ago that LMH would mount a different engine for 2024, abandoning the naturally aspirated Gibson V8 and switching to the Pipo.
“We have to take into consideration the history of the team, the performance of the car and also other aspects – continued Lequien – I don’t want to dwell on this very much, but I can say that for Vanwall Racing some of these points were not in place, even though have a lot of respect and admiration for this team. It was a really tough decision to make.”
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
#4 Floyd Vanwall Racing Team Vanwall Vandervell 680: Esteban Guerrieri, Tristan Vautier, Ryan Briscoe
Therefore, leaving the Vanwall discussion aside, the French manager instead underlined the quantity of important names on the 2024 starting grid.
“Now we have the ability to attract some big names and famous riders. Valentino Rossi is a good example, just as Mick Schumacher is a great example. It’s definitely good for the championship, we want to grow the audience and for that we need great names”.
“I also want to underline that the drivers we have in endurance are really very good, specialists. There are three of them in one car, so it’s much more difficult to get the same media coverage as in F1.”
“But welcoming some big names is a very important thing for the WEC because we want to have a big audience and for that we need them.”
Pierre Fillon, President of ACO, added: “As the year of the Centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2023 was a historic season, but 2024 is upon us. Next season will go down in the history of endurance racing and probably of motorsport as a whole”.
“The largest car manufacturers in the world will compete in the eight races that make up the championship, which for the first time includes new circuits on the calendar. The stakes are high for both the Hypercars and the LMGT3. See you in February for the Prologue on the magnificent Lusail Circuit”.
Richard Mille, President of the FIA Endurance Commission, comments: “From one year to the next the FIA WEC continues to grow and never stops evolving. 2024 will be another crucial year, with the Hypercar class reaching its full potential with 19 entries from nine different manufacturers.”
“Furthermore, for the first time in history, the WEC will be made up of two classes, each of which will benefit from very important participations. Next season also marks a new chapter for GT racing, with cars based on the GT3 technical platform, which is by far the FIA’s most successful customer team racing class and which offers the WEC a great variety of makes and models.”
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