101k now, but I don't think anybody mentioned us crossing over the threshold. Onward to 1 million!

Haven't heard anyone talking about the change to Manufacturer's points. I feel it's a pretty major change that will lead to more cars near the front, since manufacturers will be less likely to go for Hail Marys. Thoughts?

I'm having a Bentley relapse, been listening to videos on youtube for the past hour. Might actually buy a miniature from somewhere. Any Boatley fans around?

https://youtu.be/-yFPlcCIE8Q

Considering the massive beef between MBS and the GPDA wich now lead to the weird anti swearing rules that concern all of FIA sanctioned motorsport I am curious if drivers or drivers associations from other series commented on that situation. On a cursory glance I did not find anything about it.

Considering there are some more complaining drivers in the WEC that topic could be very interesting if the FIA decides to be stupid and actually follow through with it. depending on how strict they play it some drivers coul get banned mid race lol

https://en.endurance-info.com/auto/article/115324-heart-racing-announces-world-endurance-championship-lmgt3-lineup

Everyone thoughts on the driver lineup ? Ian James, Zach Robichon and Mattia Drudi

How do i apply to be a photographer for the 6 hours of fuji? I plan to go anyway and will be taking my camera but I’ll have to do it from the stands or wherever i end up. Is there a way to apply for it or do i have to be hired? how does it work? if anyone can help id appreciate it

Hello ppl, i just spoted 3 Peugeot sport trucks in Évora, Portugal, do you guys know if peugeot is doing some event in Portugal?, since thers no tracks near Évora.

Thx in advance :)

Hi everyone, I'm a new fan of WEC and have a few questions. Since the races are long, how do you usually watch them? Do you watch them live, or are the highlights enough to keep you engaged?

Also, are there any YouTube channels besides the official one that talk about WEC?

If I want to get a subscription, is it good value for money, or would sticking to highlights be better?

We are facing epic levels of manufacturer participation in WEC Hypercar competition, with our two car factory effort count up to eight manufacturers this season. That number is set to continue to soar with Genesis and Ford confirmed for the future, and rumours about further interest as well. We have both a wealth of manufacturers with factory Hypercar programs, and, an unprecedented wealth, in terms of competitiveness, from those Hypercar efforts that are already on the grid. The Hypercar 1.0 regulations are a fabulous success. I've never enjoyed a race as much as I've enjoyed the last two 24 Hours of Le Mans.

I think that this grid is unlikely to suddenly collapse in numbers, as the original "golden era" did so quickly. There are few candidates who face serious challenges with being on the grid come McLaren and Ford joining in 2027, and beyond, until the end of the current Hypercar regulations. The regulations are clearly an excellent combination of value for money, and on track product, to attract our list of 11 10 automakers with factory programs. And as they are current until 2029, there are few reasons until 2030 for manufacturers to get pushed out by cost before that due date. This is unlike the ballooning costs that decimated sportscar prototype grids in the early 90s.

I thought I would break down why I think the automakers we have currently and who have announced their future competition should still be on the grid in 2027 and beyond.

To begin: I think Peugeot have potential to do well, but if they don't start showing that potential on track, that they're the most likely candidate to depart the grid. They are spending high levels on the program, as an LMH competitor, with costs running north of $20M per car per year for track competition alone. So I think that we could say goodbye, should performance not improve.

But should performance turn around, and they get a sniff of success at Le Mans, as a French brand, I think they could continue to battle on. Peugeot sell a huge number of cars in France, so winning overall at "the big one" in sportscar racing, that is also their home race, has to be a big draw.

I think 2025 debutants Aston Martin are going to give their cars three seasons minimum before they think about wrapping up factory Hypercar competition. A first preliminary learning season this year, then, warmed up for competition, into two well prepared seasons and shots at the prestige of a Le Mans win. If they don't get the results in that period they desire, there is the potential after those three seasons for their focus to shift exclusively to F1. However, I think at minimum they will still be on the grid in '27, and there is potential for them to continue beyond that.You do have to keep in mind their costs will be higher than LMDh competitors, but without hybridisation it can't be as high as the other LMH factory teams.

Our '26 entrants Genesis will be on only the second year of their program. Hyundai, the company behind the Genesis brand, have proven that they mean serious business in motorsport with their Hyundai WRC effort. They did not come to top level sportscar competition mar their reputation as also rans that pulled out when the going got tough. They certainly haven't in WRC.

Hyundai is an enormous corporation in Korea. It is the largest in the country, sprawling across many industries. So, they have the finances to fund Genesis to compete, even though Genesis may have a comparatively small footprint as a brand.

And, with that competition, the Genesis brand to market and reposition as more than "fancy Hyundai", with the potential for financial success for Genesis as a result. They chose LMDh, so costs should be acceptable. I think they are a safe bet to see out the Hypercar 1.0 formula.

Ford are an auto giant, with sportscar prototype competition interwoven in it's history. They have something to prove in WEC, and I can foresee them continuing until they see success. They badly want to beat Ferrari at Le Mans again. I think they will one day be fearsomely competitive, and will strive and work until they are in the interim. I really don't think they'd abandon the project like Lamborghini, fleeing from the field with their tail between their legs, before they see success. It's hard to judge from here what they would do should they succeed at Le Mans and secure their big headline, but I don't think that's going to happen in their first year.

Alpine is a bit of an unknown. But the car is on an upward trend of performance, and it looks like it's on the precipice of it's first race win. And I think with last year's elimination of the costly Renault F1 engine program, there has already been a financial re-shuffle in the company that included their factory sportscar effort being continued.

And, one must remember that Alpine is a brand that parent company Renault are investing heavily into future products for. The allure of promoting your brand as Le Mans winners must be attractive for the French automaker. Racing sustainable fuel ICE cars to sell electric cars is I hope something they see the merit to in the future, as I presume they do today. I think for at least the next two seasons we don't need to worry about their departure. They're really not far off, competitively speaking, and they know it.

BMW is a large company. They also have a market position that motorsport really flatters, carved out in the sporty premium niche. However, there is no easy way into F1, which is for a big OEM like BMW the biggest competition for WEC, aside from spending an enormous sum more than their sportscar efforts. And, with a growing audience for that sportscar effort, with what are I imagine attractive demographics in WEC and IMSA audiences, I can't see why they'd abandon their efforts with the LMDh. A large part of the spend has already been done, as the chassis is pretty competitive as is and so is not needing massive investment in joker development. BMW just launched a new evo of the M4 GT3, so at least at the moment they are all in on sportscar racing. Perhaps when the new regs hit we see them drop out, but I think they're a pretty unlikely team to depart before then.

Cadillac do face some financial challenges. They are split, investing deep in both GTP/Hypercar competition and F1 preparation, with five factory LMDh entries this year, and their F1 chassis and engine programs on top. But GM is all in on high margin products, and for that, Cadillac is their bread and butter.

Sure, the F1 effort will absolutely consume a significant amount of finances. You can't forget that engines are an extra $95m USD a year budget cap, on top of the expensive budget cap for the race team effort. And there is no outside money coming into the F1 team until they are competing next year either - sponsors don't pay you unless they get something out of it.

However, having said that, I expect that Cadillac will not be spending a crazy amount on F1 down the road once they are competitive. As an American factory team I think they will attract a premium on sponsorship once they are swinging for punches with success. And with that success in F1 comes a massive amount of prize money, which is the other source of funding for the effort, aside from the OEM themselves and their sponsors.

McLaren, for example, make a healthy profit on F1 competition, with more than $300m in turnover in '23 - according to Zak himself. I understand that Scuderia Ferrari, even with a factory power unit program, make money as well. Why not the same for Cadillac? Ferrari don't have a plethora of wealthy Italian sponsors who wish to draw on nationalistic identity, unlike Cadillac's US cohabitant corporations, who are together part of the most valuable economy in the world. I think they will pay top dollar to be associated with a winning American manufacturer factory F1 team, should it come into being.

Cadillac will have to bridge the gap in finances in the interim, but I think that's an achievable feat for GM, a US auto giant. And once the F1 effort is in the black financially, which should happen down the line, Cadillac will be in an excellent position. I think that with this goal is in mind, the money spent along the way with the F1 and sportscar prototype programs is seen as an acceptable cost by GM. Luxury vehicles are lucrative and GM is all in. So I think the V Series R will continue to lap tracks in anger into the future.

Porsche are locked out of F1. VW went all in on Audi's F1 entry. And as they refuse to let the Audi PU be rebranded across to Porsche, there is in my opinion no chance of Porsche to join the series. They tried and failed already to piece together an F1 effort.

I think they are here in sportscars guaranteed at least until we say sayonara to the Hypercar 1.0 formula, and I would consider them a strong candidate to continue in the new reg era as well. Their enormous history in sportscars cannot be ignored by us or them. Their program is delivering great results in both series as well. They have every incentive to continue, and not a lot of options when it comes to alternatives.

Ferrari will compete so long as they can design their own car. The brand has built it's prestige on the back of motorsport competition. Scuderia Ferrari in F1 pays it's own bills and then some, so the WEC program makes financial sense, even if it costs them a little on the bottom line.

Toyota is large enough to have many motorsport programs, even with their involvement in F1 now growing. They are the worlds largest automaker by number of cars produced, after all.

Both these Italian and Japanese marquees love the prestige and reputation they get from Le Mans wins - and they've both had a taste in the Hypercar era of that success. They aren't going anywhere.

I was sad to see Lamborghini and the three privateer efforts not be able to continue or rejoin. This is a harsh reality of the current two car mandate recipe, and the current competitive field, as we have no current or prospective future privateer chassis. That is a loss of that kind of privateer versus factory field diversity we once had in WEC and at Le Mans.

However, I think that a two car mandate is a much cleaner competition, in that it is easier to understand, for both new fans, and in regards to the championships. Also, the result on track of having proper two car minimum representation from each brand I think really adds to the value of the WEC both sportingly and as entertainment, even if, sadly, privateers are priced out. And even without the two car mandate, we had already lost all three privateers, due to the increased nature of the competition in Hypercar (and Vanwall being so utterly hopeless and thus not securing an entry to compete last year). I'm not sure even without the two car mandate we would have a privateer join the field. The days of the likes of Glickenhaus are over, there are too many cars in the field, by much wealthier teams well prepared for competition.

As Cadillac continued on this year despite the increase in costs incurred by running two cars, and Aston were happy to step their planned single car WEC effort up to a dual car program as well, I think that the two car mandate is here to stay. We only lost Lamborghini from the grid due to it, and I think WEC management see that as an acceptable cost.

As a side note: it doesn't make sense to end Hypercar 1.0 with the current end date after the '29 season. With this unprecedented success, why not just allow the hydrogen cars to compete at the current Hypercar level and keep the current regs alongside?

I think that, in the name of preserving the golden age, the FIA and the ACO should extend the regs again. This is so that you would not have a needless giant wave of development costs, with a new field of cars needing funding. Thus, as many teams as possible can continue to fight on for wins both around the world and at Le Mans, for as long as possible. If I were to have a voice in the coversation, I would aim for minimum two further years, with new cars in the '32 season at the earliest. That's only four total years extended from the original deadline - I don't think that is an unreasonable departure from the original plan, considering Hypercar 1.0's unexpectable success that we are currently enjoying.

With the success of potentially having 11 10 manufacturers in the top class, we should preserve the recipe that has brought and will continue to bring manufacturer participation unprecedented in sportscar history for as long as possible.

Most brands, as I have outlined, are sure-footed in their programs. I think that the modern Golden Era of Sportscar Racing™ is here to stay. I don't mean to say there is a definite chance we see every brand mentioned still in the sport come '27 and beyond, but I don't think there are any in particular who are very likely to leave, either, with Lamborghini now gone. Perhaps Peugeot is the most likely, but they are the only one with which there is more than the slimmest chance of them leaving.

Anyways, that was my two cents. Thanks for reading.

Is WEC confirmed going to be on HBO Max again this year? Is any type of add-on subscription required to gain access, or does the standard premium subscription include WEC coverage?

With the first round of the WEC coming up in Qatar, THOR still hasn't confirmed their driver lineups apart from having Harry Tincknell and Alex Riberas in the 007 and 009 cars respectively.

Realistically, what drivers would they sign? From their IMSA GTD Pro team they would also probably include Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn, but that still leaves 2 other seats. Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim both recently won the Spa 24 with Aston Martin putting them in contention, but I reckon they'd prefer a more world class/experienced driver with prototypes.

Personally I'd love to see someone like Sebastian Vettel or Maro Engel in the car. Thoughts?

Seeing as how WEC and IMSA has become more popular lately just thought I’d again share one of my most prized possessions. It took a few years of dragging it to various race tracks, but it has the signature of each and every one of the 192 drivers who competed at the first ever WEC race and the 60th Sebring. And yes, the podium celebration is still going to this day! 😜