2023 WEC Season Preview: Return of the “Glory Years”?

Our resident nuclear scientist Nick van der Meulen is excited at the prospect of the upcoming World Endurance Championship. He explains why in his 2023 WEC Season Preview.

The World Endurance Championship has gone through its ups and downs over the years. Endurance racing was at its strongest in the 1960’s, with F1 drivers also racing for large manufacturers in endurance events. The racing form thinned out in the mid-1970’s, with many manufacturers withdrawing amid the fuel crisis. 

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Interest in endurance racing was resurrected in the 1980’s with Group 6 and 5 classes, with Porsche dominating the series. There has always been interest in this class of racing, but it is looking to be most exciting in 2023.

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A New Dawn

The recent LMP1 (Le Mans Prototype) class has been abandoned in favour of the new Hypercar class. The regulation changes have allowed IMSA and ACO to converge their respective sports prototype rulesets into one class. It is now possible to race in Europe or America in their respective endurance races with the same prototype specification. (Mind you, we have similar issues across regions in SA, and that’s within one small country, go figure – Ed.)

Watch the last time that the track as La Sarthe was used without chicanes on the Mulsanne straight.

Automakers Return

Manufacturers are excited at this prospect, as this is the first time this has happened in a good five decades. As a result, BMW, Porsche, Ferrari, Peugeot will attempt to topple reigning WEC champions Toyota off the top of the podium. Glickenhaus and Vanwall are the underdogs as single privateer entries. As this is still very new, BMW are not ready for the first round of the world championship, the 1000 Miles of Sebring. 

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This is interesting, particularly as both BMW and Porsche debuted their new mounts at the Sebring 24 Hours at the end of January 2023. Both suffered mechanical maladies, however, BMW decided to go back to the drawing board. Porsche, on the other hand, decided to iron out its gremlins on track. Cadillac, a stalwart of IMSA racing, has decided to enter the 1000 Miles of Sebring and will be a force to be reckoned with.

LMP2 Battle

The LMP2 class can be confusing for the casual viewer, as the chassis/engine combinations are very similar. Last season, for instance, saw about 12 regular entries with only two different chassis types. Nevertheless, the racing is extremely close between the entrants and there is always some form of drama. As an example, the class honours at the 24 Hours of Sebring in January was settled at the final corner (as you can watch here).

Must Watch

Endurance racing is exciting to watch for a number of reasons. Amazingly, there are battles for the front of each class throughout and it is seldom to see one machine dominate. There are many well-known drivers competing in the various classes – even ex-F1 world champions (Jacques Villeneuve). The battle between manufacturers (particularly in the GT class) is always fascinating. Expect to see Porsche, Ferrari, Corvette, Aston Martin vie for supremacy every race weekend.

The first round (of seven) of the WEC begins this weekend. Sebring is very bumpy and will test the machines (and their drivers) to their limit. There is the opportunity to watch the race using the new WEC app, if you can’t find it on television…don’t miss it, I know I won’t.