[WEC] FIA WEC calendar

[JT240Z]

I'm being somewhat biased, but I would love to see Road Atlanta added to the spring schedule.

[Simmi]

I was assuming the extra round would be in the spaces after Le Mans, later in the year. But not sure. Would guess they need to freight the cars back to Europe ASAP following Sebring.

[broadrun96]

Think a second US round is out unless someone wants to foot the entire air freight bill to host the round.

Sebring turnaround is days to get everything back out and on ships to Europe again

Portimao, Spa, LM make anything before July impossible

Post LM pre Fuiji possible in Europe but guessing they have to be smoking shipping by early August to get to Japan on time.

Post Fuiji, well that's where things go sideways. Bahrain, Jeddah, Abu Dhabi, Qatar are all right there and oh so loved by FIA AND motorsport fans. But easy ship and generally easier funding

[Coach Ep]

Odds for another M-Eastern Tilke atrocity seem alarmingly high then.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Odds for another M-Eastern Tilke atrocity seem alarmingly high then.

Qatar is currently seeing how quickly they can get the local slaves to build the new F1 circuit.

[Anyopenroad]

Another US round could be run before Sebring ofc, large caveat being that most of the likely venues are a bit chilly in February .

[Mike E]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Indy is the safe bet. Or maybe Daytona?

Please god, not Indy

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by Mike E

Please god, not Indy

Why not?

[Adam43]

I suppose if the choice is Indy or not bother then I’d prefer Indy. However, as this is more a fantasy conversation than a realistic one, I’d rather fantasize about a more, er, interesting track.

[Coach Ep]

Ozarks Int. Raceway would be fun also!

[Akrapovic]

The Bend, please.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

Another US round could be run before Sebring ofc, large caveat being that most of the likely venues are a bit chilly in February .

Where though? Even Sebring is a bit chilly and Daytona was at freezing last season and other years have been torrential rains. Pre-April is out for most all tracks in US and by then they have to be on the boat/halfway to Europe.

Road Atlanta-dear god no cause they'll ask to screw things up like Indy or Cup would but March is iffy at best
COTA-still cold and wet until April
Barber(just cause southern)- middle of NOWHERE and again March maybe out
Daytona-please just no and February is used up between Rolex and 500
Laguna Seca- miserably cold and wet until May

Road America, Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen-bring the snow tires

Could do Roebling Road out by Savannah, everyone else tests and demo street cars out there so should be great for Hypercars and for fans.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Ozarks Int. Raceway would be fun also!

Let's see what those "factory" GT3 guys were crying about in terms of speed and safety. Get some Hypercars lapping and set the lap times FAR from any club kids can get to

[Mike E]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

Why not?

So boring. Flat, short, fiddly, slow.

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Where though? Even Sebring is a bit chilly and Daytona was at freezing last season and other years have been torrential rains. Pre-April is out for most all tracks in US and by then they have to be on the boat/halfway to Europe.

Road Atlanta-dear god no cause they'll ask to screw things up like Indy or Cup would but March is iffy at best
COTA-still cold and wet until April
Barber(just cause southern)- middle of NOWHERE and again March maybe out
Daytona-please just no and February is used up between Rolex and 500
Laguna Seca- miserably cold and wet until May

Road America, Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen-bring the snow tires

Could do Roebling Road out by Savannah, everyone else tests and demo street cars out there so should be great for Hypercars and for fans.

That would be a hoot with lap times under one minute probably!

Seriously, Daytona is an option if they adopt a similar format as Sebring. Yes, it will be cold (for Florida standards) and possibly wet but it ticks a lot of the required boxes for the series. So does Indy at one point later in the season. If the manufacturers prefer a 2nd round in N-A, they'll foot the bill for air transport to get there.

Btw, the only required change for Rd. Atlanta would be for the series to grow a set of bigger nuts! If IMSA can do a 10H enduro, so can WEC for their six!

And if not, I'd rather see an extra round in Europe instead of the Middle East.

[Simmi]

I'd guess Sebring is on the limit already for a season-opener in terms of getting the bulk of stuff over from Europe and prepped. There's the prologue too so feels tricky to get anything earlier.

I'd imagine the manufacturers would get a big say in where an extra round might be. Used to go to China. We've also had three previous events on German soil.

[Akrapovic]

Should expand the calendar to be more world wide. Interlagos, Kyalami and The Bend would introduce new continents to the current calendar.

[Coach Ep]

Valid points both.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Road Atlanta-dear god no cause they'll ask to screw things up like Indy or Cup would

Fair point. That’s a worry.

And if any body wants to race there then there is a solution and it just means waiting a few months…

I think the premise for this discussion is another round would be good, needs to be cost effective, so race somewhere you’ve already got the cars to minimise shipping. And we’ve been talking US. Another in the US is cool, but I think it would make more sense to just add another in Europe. Cheap as chips. Germany, one of the two, probably would end up being Nurburgring. Or somewhere else.

[JT240Z]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Fair point. That’s a worry.

And if any body wants to race there then there is a solution and it just means waiting a few months…

I think the premise for this discussion is another round would be good, needs to be cost effective, so race somewhere you’ve already got the cars to minimise shipping. And we’ve been talking US. Another in the US is cool, but I think it would make more sense to just add another in Europe. Cheap as chips. Germany, one of the two, probably would end up being Nurburgring. Or somewhere else.

Someone please explain how Road Atlanta would "screw things up"? Personally, I feel that Don Panoz and Road Atlanta saved road racing in the USA with the American Le Mans series. Not a fan of the current ownership by the France family but it did combine both series in the USA to one functional series.

Let's face it... When you think about road racing in North America, Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glan and Road Atlanta come to mind. I am more of a long duration race enthusiast though.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by JT240Z

Someone please explain how Road Atlanta would "screw things up"? Personally, I feel that Don Panoz and Road Atlanta saved road racing in the USA with the American Le Mans series. Not a fan of the current ownership by the France family but it did combine both series in the USA to one functional series.

Let's face it... When you think about road racing in North America, Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glan and Road Atlanta come to mind. I am more of a long duration race enthusiast though.

I think they are referring to the fact that the series would mandate the track to make changes, possibly to run off areas, and possibly to spectator areas. The general feeling is that changing those things would not enhance the experience for the fans but make it less fun.

[JT240Z]

Originally Posted by joeb

I think they are referring to the fact that the series would mandate the track to make changes, possibly to run off areas, and possibly to spectator areas. The general feeling is that changing those things would not enhance the experience for the fans but make it less fun.

Got it. That makes more sense. Although the track has been through some big changes over the years, it is still considered a more "traditional" track with some definite challenges for the drivers and teams. I would just like to see some additional "international" racing come into play here. FIA would be a logical addition.

[Coach Ep]

Let's keep the FIA as far away from Rd. Atl. as possible. It's bad enough they found their way back into Sebring.

[Adam43]

I think it worked at Sebring. Great edition. And wonderful for those in WEC that don’t normally get there to see it. Those I know stay to watch the main event.

No need to repeat it elsewhere though.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Adam43

I think it worked at Sebring. Great edition. And wonderful for those in WEC that don’t normally get there to see it. Those I know stay to watch the main event.

No need to repeat it elsewhere though.

Exactly that AND IMSA had the leverage to tell WEC to shut it, you're joining our event so deal with it as is. A spring event would not have that leverage as it would be standalone.

And yes, my fears are purely motivated by costs and changes already. The previous tape that was up to limit parking along the T3-Esses fencing is gone but now you can't walk the fence from T4 to the top of the Esses as it is RV camping to the fence. Trees have been planted but nothing to improve the comfort stations, the hot water was not this year. Porsche took away the camping for Petit inside of T10 for their car corral so people who had been there for years were throw aside. The corral was cancelled this year but still no camping allowed. And the entire run from Bobs' Hill around and to the Esses along the track was converted to Reserved RV sites, I pay it but it's not cheap. But hey we have a new tower. And that's without the FIA mandating who knows what but they would try and then we'll get nickel and dimed as the fans to fund it.

And Road Atlanta has a spring event that packs the place pretty regularly, The Mitty with HSR fills many of the camping areas. Ok, not the fancy guys with Reserved RVs out on the skid pad and T6 and T7 but you can park right there and see everyone pretty close to the track