[WEC] WEC 2019/20 season

[Deleted]

The old FIA GT races there were pretty fun but I think racing in twilight would've really made it spectacular

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by carbsmith

NASCAR Speedweeks is only 9 days. In '07 IndyCar tested Wednesday-Thursday on the off week between the 24 Hours and ARCA. The main reason there's that gap is because of the Super Bowl.



Mexico City seems the most desirable but depends on the government.

The actual on track team activity yes, but the track prep is much more than the teams and the teams are there for almost 3 full weeks in Daytona. There is ZERO open time in February for another event. It's a non starter using Daytona for WEC.

[carbsmith]

If they could run Grand Am and Cup on the same day in '09 I think they can manage to run ARCA 5 days after a road race or whatever if they felt like it, it's not as if most of the infield campers are there the first weekend.

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by carbsmith

If they could run Grand Am and Cup on the same day in '09 I think they can manage to run ARCA 5 days after a road race or whatever if they felt like it, it's not as if most of the infield campers are there the first weekend.

You obviously haven't met the FIA then...

Surely Mexico City is on pole for this one, it ticks quite a few - if not all - of the boxes that will be left open by Interlagos' exit (too bad as I like it way better than MC but alas). Shouldn't affect logistics to Florida too much either and average weather in February looks okay (better than Texas that time of year anyway).

CotA could work if they bring it to late February - and have World Challenge on the support bill - giving the circus about three weeks to move from Texas to Florida and have it there for Sebring test weekend/St. Pete GP. Weather might be a challenge though as we saw a few years ago for the PWC opener early March.

Portrero easily wins the popular vote - has Neveu even heard of the place?

[canaglia]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

You obviously haven't met the FIA then...

Surely Mexico City is on pole for this one, it ticks quite a few - if not all - of the boxes that will be left open by Interlagos' exit (too bad as I like it way better than MC but alas). Shouldn't affect logistics to Florida too much either and average weather in February looks okay (better than Texas that time of year anyway).

CotA could work if they bring it to late February - and have World Challenge on the support bill - giving the circus about three weeks to move from Texas to Florida and have it there for Sebring test weekend/St. Pete GP. Weather might be a challenge though as we saw a few years ago for the PWC opener early March.

Portrero easily wins the popular vote - has Neveu even heard of the place?

if am I now wrong, COTA will be unavailable on winter because are required works to stabilize land below the circuit.
Homestead road course could fit well if they want to stay close to sebring in february.

[Akrapovic]

I do think Mexico is possibly the best call on this one. Grade 1. Hosted not long ago. Not quite South America, but it's close.

[Juntos]

Why is everyone taking as certain that Brazil is out of the calendar?

[chernaudi]

One, financial issues between the ACO and the promoter, and two, the ACO has set a two week ultimatum for either issues to get sorted, or they may look elsewhere.

[helgi]

As a TV watcher I'd be sad to loose Interlagos. It's an old school masterpiece. Even in dry conditions this 3D landscape looks amazing and last sector sequence is exciting to watch - one of the most thrilling views in racing. New Mexico track is 1/10th of that excitement. Ridiculous stadium section and cut off "Parabolica" are true symbols of tilkedroms. The only interesting bit - huge speed - is hidden by teleobjective lenses. That's why South Africa round would be more interesting. But, for obvious logistics reasons they are to go to Mexico.

[chernaudi]

Doesn't really pertain to this season, but the 2020/21 schedule is due to be released next month, and it might be a 9 race championship, but without Shanghai. Several GT teams, and most of the LMP1 field have objected to the round citing marketing and logistical reasons.

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

Doesn't really pertain to this season, but the 2020/21 schedule is due to be released next month, and it might be a 9 race championship, but without Shanghai. Several GT teams, and most of the LMP1 field have objected to the round citing marketing and logistical reasons.

I don't believe for a second any WC is skipping China these days. Maybe they're replacing Shanghai with another new track in China?

[chernaudi]

Unless the teams' hater-ade (if you want to refer to their objections as such) is directed just at Shanghai being an awkward, strange Tilkedrome, I do think that either you're looking at this from a "China is too big of a market to miss" perspective, or you think that the Shanghai track sucks (it kinda does IMO), or SC365 is blowing such discontent out of proportion.

And even if SC365, who have writers and editors who at least with article titles have been known to blow things out of proportion or embellish such facts, is kinda blowing smoke here, you do have to remember that especially in today's world where it's almost impossible to keep such a secret, where there's smoke, there may be fire.

I can see Toyota and Aston Martin saying that China isn't a huge market for them, or Ferrari or even Porsche. Porsche may be part of Volkswagen Group, but VAG's bread and butter in China are Audi and VW, not Porsche, and Porsche is VAG's sole representative in the WEC as a brand. Combine that with that Shanghai and maybe even China doesn't seem to be a team favorite (and Shanghai for sure isn't a fan favorite based on sentiment here and elsewhere, and the fact that attendance has never been that good), I can see no Shanghai for sure on the WEC calendar next season, and maybe no China at all if the ACO can't get the teams behind it or find a better venue.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

I don't believe for a second any WC is skipping China these days. Maybe they're replacing Shanghai with another new track in China?

Zhuhai is perfectly fine and shouldn't have been dropped from ILMC days

[Purist]

Mexico City may be in Latin America, but close to South America? Well, not exactly. It's just shy of 2,000 miles, as the crow flies, from Mexico City to Bogota, Colombia; so it's basically twice as far as from Mexico City to El Paso, Texas. Sao Paulo is just over 4,600 miles from Mexico City.

Yeah, Interlagos gets my juices going more than either the new Kyalami, or especially the redone Mexico City. Interlagos is a roller-coaster ride, and in that last sector, Bico de Pato to Juncao is a textbook example of how to make a great sequence that's also excellent for overtaking: downhill acceleration zone, uphill braking zone.

Zhuhai hasn't been consistently on the international racing calendar, and isn't Grade 1. With this being an official FIA World Championship, they may also be more sticklers for the regs, in which case, Zhuhai would technically be considered on the short side for a Prototype and GT endurance race. All that said, yes, I'd personally take Zhuhai over Shanghai, or just about any of the other Chinese options.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Purist

Mexico City may be in Latin America, but close to South America? Well, not exactly. It's just shy of 2,000 miles, as the crow flies, from Mexico City to Bogota, Colombia; so it's basically twice as far as from Mexico City to El Paso, Texas. Sao Paulo is just over 4,600 miles from Mexico City.

Yeah, Interlagos gets my juices going more than either the new Kyalami, or especially the redone Mexico City. Interlagos is a roller-coaster ride, and in that last sector, Bico de Pato to Juncao is a textbook example of how to make a great sequence that's also excellent for overtaking: downhill acceleration zone, uphill braking zone.

Zhuhai hasn't been consistently on the international racing calendar, and isn't Grade 1. With this being an official FIA World Championship, they may also be more sticklers for the regs, in which case, Zhuhai would technically be considered on the short side for a Prototype and GT endurance race. All that said, yes, I'd personally take Zhuhai over Shanghai, or just about any of the other Chinese options.

Well, if you're talking geography then lets be fair - everything is relative. broadrun96 was right that they can't just go off to Australia with AsLMS because they need to be on the same side of the world as the US to move everything to Sebring. Brazil fitted that, and Mexico fits it too. In terms of the logistics of moving cars about to Sebring, Mexico is close enough to Brazil that it works.

I would prefer Kyalami, or The Bend, but the logistics of it aren't happening. Especially now that WEC does surface transport, not flights.

[Purist]

Well, going south and then back north is about equivalent to a Pacific crossing. So, ideally, you'd like to double up, and if they're expanding the calendar, do Brazil and South Africa in one go, for instance. However, maybe it'll have to be Australia and South Africa in the end.

Hopefully, this all gets sorted out, and they don't need to go to one of the alternates; no, I'm not holding my breath on it though.

[Mike E]

For a flavour of what we almost certainly won't get, here is a Sports & GT race on the current Kyalami layout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3__QoHDx0g


And a quick onboard lap (from an A1GP car).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xldhXIBBlIM

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by Mike E

For a flavour of what we almost certainly won't get, here is a Sports & GT race on the current Kyalami layout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3__QoHDx0g


And a quick onboard lap (from an A1GP car).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xldhXIBBlIM

Not my favorite track of all time but as dull as it was for F1 all those years back, it might actually be well suited for multi class SC&GT racing, seems the track is good enough (albeit somewhat on the twisty side with hardly any high speed turns) and track limits should be less of an issue than Mexico City or CotA - which I think we would all see as a plus. If anything, it'll be fresh air compared to aforementioned tracks, even if it were to be for only once! With the track being tied to Porsche, similar to how Fuji is to Toyota, let's hope it pushes for a Kyalami visit.

On the clip itself: love that extremely diverse field with, what, over 30 cars or so? And did I see the good old Sintura GT in there (the gold car around 8th place)? Very cool, thanks for posting Mike!

Edit: and let's add that series as a support race to the event!

[TF110]

The track is kind of dull, but at least there's defined track limits. The layout isn't too complicated nor is it too cookie cutter.

[Purist]

Harder to say for the GTs, but for the LMPs, the Kink, Jukskei, Sunset, the Esses, Mineshaft, and Cheetah should all be plenty quick. The current LMP2s ought to be faster than the A1GP car, and the LMP1s even quicker than that.

I'll definitely take the reduced specter of track limits, and in most places around the lap, there's enough room between corners for some possible traffic negotiation.

[helgi]

Kyalami looks a bit narrow but there're plenty of interesting corners with elevation changes (It wasn't Tilke who reconstructed this track, was it?). Cameras are located quite well bringing some effect of "waves" with cars diving and rising atop of the hills in a single shot. Should be a perfect track for national class prototypes and powered touring cars. Would be interesting to watch WEC too. I hope there would be more enthusiasm among local fans than in some other countries which are blessed to have international racing events.

[Mike E]

Originally Posted by helgi

I hope there would be more enthusiasm among local fans than in some other countries which are blessed to have international racing events.

Let's see how many turn up for the 9 Hours at the end of this month.

[S griffin]

That's the first time I've seen footage of cars racing at the revised Kyalami and it looks good

[Mike E]

"FIA WEC CEO Gerard Neveu will be in attendance this weekend. Kyalami is understood to be on the shortlist of potential replacements for February’s Six Hours of Sao Paulo, which is in question due to financial issues with the promoter and local government.

***The WEC has also suggested interest in the South African circuit for the future, with Kyalami having been listed on a questionnaire sent to teams for possible new events for the 2020-21 schedule or beyond."

https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/ky...sday-notebook/

[Coach Ep]

Update on the possible (likely?) Interlaces cancellation and potential replacement(s) - seems Kyalami is out, leaving Mexico City and CotA:

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...-future-round/

Man, you just gotta love Neveu's continuous delusions of grandeur...