WEC 2025

FLRacingFan

FLRacingFan

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& for other ACO-sanctioned racing series (ELMS, AsLMS).

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Doc Austin said:
I may as well complain about Qatar now and get it over with.
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The best I can say about it is that it’s better than no race at all. It’s not an interesting track, for sure, nor is there much of a crowd to speak of. It’s pretty disappointing to see the season start and end at those types of venues when the races in between all have grown a pretty good crowd and atmosphere again. I’d unquestionably keep Bahrain over Qatar though.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Oil money can write the big checks needed to buy international good will.
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In the case of Qatar it was an event that acted as a mechanism for calendar expansion, granting an eighth event while partnering with Qatar Airways to air freight all the teams’ equipment in between Qatar and Imola and, more importantly, between COTA and Fuji in that compressed September window.

I like Bahrain as a track, but it definitely isn’t on the calendar because of ticket sales.
 
There's the final piece of the puzzle. Sportscar racing will be more epic than ever.
 
Please excuse the ignorant questions but how much difference is there between the Hypercar specs and GTP? Is Heart fielding completely separate cars in each series or will they be shuttling these two cars back and forth?
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Please excuse the ignorant questions but how much difference is there between the Hypercar specs and GTP? Is Heart fielding completely separate cars in each series or will they be shuttling these two cars back and forth?
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There are some very slight bodywork differences between the two specs since the Windshear (NC) and Sauber (Switzerland) wind tunnels produce slightly different results. But they’re transitioning all homologation to Windshear starting in 2026, so any updates (‘jokers’) and new manufacturers will probably be the same moving forward. There are also some electronics differences since WEC uses an onboard marshaling system for race control.

My guess would be THOR have at least four full chassis built up now, one as the IMSA chassis that’s been testing Stateside, two as the WEC race chassis, and it sounds like they have one more full chassis ready to be stripped for spares in the WEC paddock this weekend if necessary. That way they can tear down and build back up, test as necessary, etc. in between races without needing to freight back and forth.
 
Doc Austin said:
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I was kinda worried when they were testing the Valkyrie at Daytona in November with the silencer on it, but now that they’ve uncorked it it just sounds insane. Iirc, it’s sitting one decibel below the WEC db limit now.
 
Haven’t seen an official release, but it appears there won’t be any linear TV coverage on MotorTrend TV this season. Full streaming remains available on the B/R Sports add-on from Max, with FIAWEC.TV available again (after several years of being geoblocked) in the U.S. for ~ $42. The FIAWEC.TV package doesn’t include Le Mans and COTA, so those may still end up on TV somewhere.

 
I remember when it was a problem that the WEC season opened on a Friday afternoon local time in Sebring. Now it’s okay to open at noon (French time) on a Friday in Qatar because of Ramadan or whatever. I acknowledge there are other commercial factors at play, but that fact still sticks out to me.

I’ll always be partial to the LMDh runners and I like the pace we’ve seen out of Cadillac and BMW so far. I think Caddy are poised for a breakout year with the expansion to two cars with new partner JOTA.

I’ll be in St. Pete tomorrow so I’ll try not to have too much of the race spoiled until I can come home and rewatch.
 
Both Action Express and Wayne Taylor Racing got at-large bids to Le Mans. It’s WTR’s first LM24 in the team’s history. Porsche Penske also get a third car courtesy of their IMSA GTP championship last year. Rolex 24 GTD champions AWA are taking up their auto bid from having won the Bob Akin Award last year.



sportscar365.com

21 Hypercars Headline Capacity Le Mans Entry – Sportscar365

21 Hypercars confirmed as part of 24 Hours of Le Mans entry list...
sportscar365.com sportscar365.com
 
Doc Austin said:
That was a hell of a race.
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Finished up on watching the replay this morning. There were some great battles at the end, between Kubica and Pier Guidi for P2 in the Hypercar Ferraris and between Corvette and McLaren for the LMGT3 victory. Still, I think it’s too much of a flowy motorcycle circuit for it to reliably produce good racing over ten hours. It had its moments and went down to the wire though.

Hopefully Imola has more cars in contention, Ferrari just blew the Hypercar class away. A podium sweep is a huge accomplishment.
 
The calendar is expected to remain the same next year, with Qatar moving to the end of March rather February. But expansion to nine races, via long-awaited return to Silverstone, seems increasingly likely for when Ford and McLaren further strengthen the Hypercar grid in 2027.

www.the-race.com

Silverstone in frame to rejoin expanded WEC - but not in 2026

Silverstone is the leading contender to join an expanded WEC calendar - but that expansion is unlikely to come in 2026.
www.the-race.com www.the-race.com
 
FLRacingFan said:
Still , think it’s (Qatar) too much of a flowy motorcycle circuit for it to reliably produce good racing over ten hours. It had its moments and went down to the wire though.
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I caught most of it on a live stream. Ferrari ran away with it, but the GTs in particular raced the hell out of each other. I don't much like the circuit, but it did produce a lot of action. If they race that hard there, imagine what Imola and Spa are going to look like.

FLRacingFan said:
Hopefully Imola has more cars in contention, Ferrari just blew the Hypercar class away. A podium sweep is a huge accomplishment.
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I think you can expect Ferrari get a good old BOP bitch slapping for Imola.
 
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