[WEC] 2018-2019 WEC Super Season

[Speed-King]

Interestingly, Manor are not the team that has been confirmed earlier as having bought three Ginetta LMP1s.

So here's what we have for 2018/19:

1x Manor Ginetta
2x ??? Ginetta
2x SMP Dallara
1x Dragonspeed [chassis unknown]
2x Toyota (?)
1x ByKolles

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by rdjones

No bug surprise there, it just confirms a rumor that was doing the rounds a couple of months ago.

Funny how ludicrous it was suggested to be that Ginetta would actually sell any cars at the time


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[S griffin]

Well that's good, now that Ginetta have got a team running them, we can look forward to them racing hopefully for wins in LMP1 next season. Every good news is a boost for the series ATM

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by Bcarr6

Funny how ludicrous it was suggested to be that Ginetta would actually sell any cars at the time


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Why? [In general] People have become a tad skeptical over time by all the stories/rumors being thrown at them with a good portion of those turning out to be more wishes and such than reality. So prospective reports are often taken with a grain of salt.

Good for Ginetta to be able to confirm the sale of a 4th car. Testing is expected to start this month according to an earlier report (which also confirms the sale of the first 3 cars to a TBA team - Strakka perhaps?):

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2017/1...lmp1-cars.html

[S griffin]

Well Ginetta have done everything right so far. Selling three chassis and getting a tie up with Manor. Look forward to seeing how they do now

[Canada ALMS fan]

Come on Rebellion, now there is competition, step up !

[Damian Baldi]

2018 it's still a mystery, with all the new chassis, engines and teams nobody could say what could be the performance. We have the Rebellion and ByKolles examples, that had fighting with the AER engines most of the season.

I think we could have more teams joining just before the first Le Mans, or maybe at the begining of 2019. Who knows, but it looks very promision and exiting.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Interestingly, Manor are not the team that has been confirmed earlier as having bought three Ginetta LMP1s.

So here's what we have for 2018/19:

1x Manor Ginetta
2x ??? Ginetta
2x SMP Dallara
1x Dragonspeed [chassis unknown]
2x Toyota (?)
1x ByKolles

Originally Posted by Damian Baldi

2018 it's still a mystery, with all the new chassis, engines and teams nobody could say what could be the performance. We have the Rebellion and ByKolles examples, that had fighting with the AER engines most of the season.

I think we could have more teams joining just before the first Le Mans, or maybe at the begining of 2019. Who knows, but it looks very promision and exiting.

I agree 2018-19 could be very unpredictable. I'm hoping we get some engine diversity with the privateers, you know just for fun. :0

[Damian Baldi]

Originally Posted by joeb

I'm hoping we get some engine diversity with the privateers, you know just for fun. :0

Me too! but it looks like beside the possibility of a Judd v10, all the other options are v6 turbo (Nissan, AER, Mecachrome). The only difference bewteen the different v6 is that that Mecachrome have a single turbo while the others have two.

Another interesting thing too see, could be to see the same chassis with different engines, but I doubt it because the lack of time that the chassis manufacturer have to be ready. And we have to add tires, all teams will use Michelin tires?

[Coach Ep]

I just hope we'll see considerable more cars than in previous years (closer to 40 instead of 30). That's all.

[carbsmith]

That is a regulatory and logistic impossibility.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by carbsmith

That is a regulatory and logistic impossibility.

Haven't they done away with the entry cap now that all freight is done by ship rather than plane?

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by carbsmith

That is a regulatory and logistic impossibility.

Self imposed bullshit!

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Haven't they done away with the entry cap now that all freight is done by ship rather than plane?

No announcements have been made so far. I'm sure they'll cite other 'relevant' reasons not to increase the grid numbers. It's the WEC after all - those big heads need more room.

[Coach Ep]

As we all know the number of auto entrants from the WEC at LM is the big bottleneck I made a little table to make the numbers a little easier to digest.

There are 46 spots available for full season WEC entrants + others.

The number of WEC entrants in this table is just an example but shows clearly there's room for 35+ entries. Keep in mind not all the various auto entries for LM will be taken up (Porsche in P1 and perhaps a couple of others as well - JCDC could theoretically end up with 5 entries if they win both proto classes in AsLMS this season + 2 continued WEC entries).

Please add/correct if I've overlooked an auto invite or otherwise.

P1
Porsche	LM P1 winner	1
P2
JCDC	LM P2 winner	1
G-Drive Dragonspeed	ELMS P2 winner	1
United	ELMS P3 winner	1
?	IMSA	1
AsLMS	P2 winner	1
AsLMS	P3 winner	1
GTE Pro
AMR	LM GTE Pro winner	1
GTE Am
JMW	LM GTE Am winner	1
Ebimotors	LM GT3 Cup winner	1
?	IMSA	1
GTE Pro or AM
JMW	ELMS GTE winner	1
TF	ELMS GTE runner up	1
?	AsLMS GTE winner	1
subtotal		14
full season entrants	WEC
?	others	46
max. @ LM		60

[Akrapovic]

I believe there are 2 AsLMS GT invitations. It was intended that a GT-Am class be formed for AsLMS this year, as the GT class was pretty popular. So it was going to be GT and GT Am that got invitations. But a lot of the GT runners moved to Blancpain Asia, so that idea hasn't (yet) taken off. So the second GT invitation current;y goes to the GT runner up.

That's probably subject to change though. Note that the AsLMS GT class is GT3, not GTE.

[hondafan37]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

As we all know the number of auto entrants from the WEC at LM is the big bottleneck I made a little table to make the numbers a little easier to digest.

There are 46 spots available for full season WEC entrants + others.

The number of WEC entrants in this table is just an example but shows clearly there's room for 35+ entries. Keep in mind not all the various auto entries for LM will be taken up (Porsche in P1 and perhaps a couple of others as well - JCDC could theoretically end up with 5 entries if they win both proto classes in AsLMS this season + 2 continued WEC entries).

Please add/correct if I've overlooked an auto invite or otherwise.

The table does not take into account the 6 or 7 GTE PRO (GTLM) of IMSA that do not participate in the WEC and will be in Le Mans.
They are 2 Corvette, 2 Ford GT, 1 Porsche 911, the Risi Ferrari and maybe 1 BMW. Therefore, there are 39 or 40 spaces for WEC cars.

[Akrapovic]

These aren't automatic invitations though. IMSA gets 2 and the rest is the ACOs discretion so are "other". There was no IMSA Porsche last year either - both were WEC entries.

Personally I don't think any manufacturer should get more than 3 cars. 4 Fords when we lost regulars was simply not fair, IMO.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by blankfile

Hmm is it allowed for a bronze driver to enter lmp1? I seem to remember something about there being a restriction about this.

Hedman is being promoted to Silver.

[hondafan37]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

These aren't automatic invitations though. IMSA gets 2 and the rest is the ACOs discretion so are "other". There was no IMSA Porsche last year either - both were WEC entries.

Personally I don't think any manufacturer should get more than 3 cars. 4 Fords when we lost regulars was simply not fair, IMO.

Anyone of the GTLM (GTE PRO) is much more important than another GTE AM or LMP2 car, the ACO will allow all the factory cars.
Concerning to Porsche Sportscar365 said last September 8:
"Porsche could run a third factory GTE-Pro entry in next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring"

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/p...r-24h-le-mans/

[Akrapovic]

I disagree about GTLM (or LMP1) being more important than GTE-Am or LMP2. We've seen how it goes when all the eggs are put in the manufacturer basket. We seen it with GT1, and we're seeing it again with LMP1. The private teams are the backbone of Le Mans, and the only constant whilst factory teams come and go.

I'm not saying we should be turning away all manufacturer entries, but we shouldn't be taking away entries from long time regular supporters such as JMW, just so Ford can have a 4th entry. All that does is harm the small teams, the teams who are going to stick around for as long as they can, whilst adding nothing extra to the field. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see the field padded out by teams who are out of their depth (anyone remember JLOC and even worse, T2M?), but if Le Mans is meant to also include diversity, then I'd rather we do include those like Graff and JMW. If Ford don't get the fourth entry, or Porsche still only get 2, it doesn't really make a huge difference to them. But it is a huge difference to the team they displaced.

Porsche could run a third car, but that isn't confirmed. Even if they decide to run it, it's not an invitation from any series and they have to apply like any other team. So that comes under "other". That table is what we actually know, rather than just a list of likely entries.

I think the fourth automatic AsLMS entry may get scrapped, given the lack of entries this year so far. But as it stands, there isn't word on that so it still goes to the runner up in AsLMS GT.

[hondafan37]

That is simply your opinion, for me any factory car is much more important.
Also GTE AM or LMP2 do not provide any variety, we already have many, Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin or Oreca, 1 more or 1 less does not make any difference.
On the other hand, a factory car gives more prominence to the race.

[Purist]

Any given individual privateer team is just as fickle and potentially unreliable as a factory entrant. As a group, they'll be around, but let's not perpetuate any myths just because we like rooting for the underdog.

Also, a series like the WEC, or F1, doesn't exist without the manufacturers. Privateers don't have the brand recognition/following or cubic dollars to keep a World Championship commercially viable.

That said, I wouldn't necessarily be against capping any one manufacturer team to three entries. As for the next few years at least, with just the one works team in LMP1, I suspect the ACO will be especially loathe to turning away works cars in GT.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by hondafan37

That is simply your opinion, for me any factory car is much more important.
Also GTE AM or LMP2 do not provide any variety, we already have many, Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin or Oreca, 1 more or 1 less does not make any difference.
On the other hand, a factory car gives more prominence to the race.

A factory car is important, but not any factory car. Bending over to factory teams at the expense of small teams is dangerous and leads to problems. F1, BTCC, Le Mans, WEC are all examples of that. Small teams should be kept. Not at any cost, but at a sensible measure.

You're right about LMP2 not adding variety (especially now! ), but GTE-Pro doesn't add any more variety either. So we'll take away a Ferrari and add a Ford? We already have 3 identical Fords in 3 identical liveries. What does that add? Just shuffles the numbers about and takes away another team.

For Porsche, there's the possibility of Proton and Gulf running the new cars as well, so that doesn't add any variety. When all you're doing is shuffling about one car for another, you reduce variety by having less teams and less liveries. That's not variety.

Manufacturer involvement is certainly important, but not at any cost. ACO has long went over the line with that and now we see the results - we're desperately hoping the little guys come back to LMP1 to keep it alive in some fashion. So I'd rather have the sensible middle ground where good long standing supporters of Le Mans and the ACO series (who are also not out of their depth) get entries and we don't just say "Hey Ford, here's 8 entries. Don't worry about Larbre, they aren't needed", and then have to scramble about searching for cars when Ford decide they've had enough. There's a middle ground to be found, and I'd say a gap of 3 is sensible.

But either way it's a bit of a side point - the table just lists confirmed invitations. Not all of those may be taken up (will JMW run 2 cars? Could Jota go to 4 or 5?), and outside of those and WEC entries, you just have to apply like any others. Corvette, Risi etc will probably be in, but they aren't confirmed yet.

[joeb]

For me the one thing being overlooked here is that there were 20 some other Privateer P2 cars available and running. so is the difference between 20 and 22 better or worse than the difference between 10 or 12 gte-pro cars? I'm not sure if I am explaining this correctly but I think the fact that there are less gte-pro cars than there are P2 cars means that the ACO will tend to lean that way if they are deciding between two entries. Besides diversity they have to keep the highest quality entry they can, and is the 22nd best P2 car really on equal footing as the 10th best Factory GTE?

[Coach Ep]

The point I was trying to make was that the WEC auto entries to LM limits the number of entries for the WEC itself. But not at 30-32 like some posters claim but more in the higher 30s/40.

I doubt Beaumesmil and Neveu agree with me however.

On the GTE Pro vs Am/P2 entries: we don't know yet how the updated P2s will perform compared to the Oreca so it could be a more level playing field with hopefully more variety. If not, I'm all in favor of getting as many GTE-Pro's in as possible. No outside WEC/auto invites GTE-Am necessary.

I'm sure there'll also be some overlap between WEC entries and auto invites, freeing up a few spots for - most likely - ELMS runners.

Didn't know about the 2nd AsLMS GTauto invite, let's hope it gets canceled (or is incorrect in the first place).