As F1 was thrashing round Spa on 1st September the first race of the new WEC season took place at Silverstone.
The grid is a little lighter this season than it was in the Super Season. Toyota are still the only hybrid team and walked away with the first race. In the non-hybrid LMP1 class only Rebellion and Team LNT (Ginetta) are competing. Having seen the cars at Silverstone the Ginetta's look fabulous but are a real handful for the drivers. Lots of fishtailing in the dry, almost un-driveable in the wet.
LMP2 still has a fairly healthy number of entries and gives some really competitive racing although ELMS appears to be the more important series for many of the teams this year. GTE Pro has lost both BMW (because they didn't win anything) and Ford (because they won everything so the rules were going to be changed to stop them, leaving Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin to fight it out. GTE Am is also competitive, with the same teams as Pro but mainly privately entered teams.
So why the shortage of teams? Well, this is the last time out for the existing LMP1 rules before a new formula starts for the 2020/21 season.
If you haven't seen these cars in action try and get to one of the races. Silverstone has passed you by there is a 6 hour race in Spa and, of course, the 24 hours of Le Mans in April and June next year.
2020/21 looks like to will be quite exciting but enjoy these beasts while they are still here.
The grid is a little lighter this season than it was in the Super Season. Toyota are still the only hybrid team and walked away with the first race. In the non-hybrid LMP1 class only Rebellion and Team LNT (Ginetta) are competing. Having seen the cars at Silverstone the Ginetta's look fabulous but are a real handful for the drivers. Lots of fishtailing in the dry, almost un-driveable in the wet.
LMP2 still has a fairly healthy number of entries and gives some really competitive racing although ELMS appears to be the more important series for many of the teams this year. GTE Pro has lost both BMW (because they didn't win anything) and Ford (because they won everything so the rules were going to be changed to stop them, leaving Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin to fight it out. GTE Am is also competitive, with the same teams as Pro but mainly privately entered teams.
So why the shortage of teams? Well, this is the last time out for the existing LMP1 rules before a new formula starts for the 2020/21 season.
If you haven't seen these cars in action try and get to one of the races. Silverstone has passed you by there is a 6 hour race in Spa and, of course, the 24 hours of Le Mans in April and June next year.
2020/21 looks like to will be quite exciting but enjoy these beasts while they are still here.
