[WEC Sportscar & GT Championship 2020-2021]

WEC, Blancpain, Le Mans Series, Rolex and special events like the Le Mans 24h
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erwin greven
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[WEC Sportscar & GT Championship 2020-2021]

#1

Post by erwin greven »

For the WEC Sportscar & GT Championship 2019-2020 season go to this topic.
For news and other items about the Hypercar and DPi 2.0 go to this topic.
Kyalami, Monza Confirmed on New-Look 2020-21 Schedule

WEC confirms African debut, first race in Italy for 2020-21 season…

Kyalami and Monza will host FIA World Endurance Championship races for the first time after being confirmed on the provisional calendar for the 2020-21 season.

The two former World Sportscar Championship venues will each hold a six-hour race in the ninth season of the current WEC that will start at Silverstone on Sept. 5 as a Saturday race.

Kyalami, which takes up an early February 2020 date, last hosted a world championship endurance race in 1984 and an FIA world championship race of any kind in 1993.

The former South African Grand Prix venue near Johannesburg recently returned to the global motorsports calendar as the final round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli.

Last month, WEC CEO Gerard Neveu, who was present at the recent IGTC race, told Sportscar365 that the championship was “seriously considering” a future race in Africa.

Monza, meanwhile, is slated to host a six-hour race in early October that will evoke the classic 1000km of Monza enduro first held in 1954.

The Italian circuit is now set to hold two ACO long-distance races next year with the WEC round taking place five months after the European Le Mans Series visits.

The additions of Kyalami and Monza have resulted in Shanghai International Circuit dropping off the schedule after hosting the WEC on eight consecutive occasions.

Shanghai has been an ever-present since its inclusion on the season one calendar in 2012 but the Chinese venue’s November slot will now be taken up by Fuji which moves to a later date in the year.

The omission of Shanghai, which was first reported last month, and the non-inclusion of either Sao Paulo or Circuit of The Americas keeps next season’s calendar at eight rounds.

The returning events from the current 2019-20 schedule are the 8 Hours of Bahrain, 1000 Miles of Sebring, 6 Hours of Spa and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The pre-season test will take place on Aug. 31 – Sept. 1, the week prior to the Silverstone season-opener.

Thursday’s schedule announcement details remain provisional until approved by the FIA World Motor Sport Council, which next meets in Geneva on March 6.

2020-21 FIA WEC Schedule:
Sept. 5 – 6H Silverstone
Oct. 4 – 6H Monza
Nov. 1 – 6H Fuji
Dec. 5 – 8H Bahrain
Feb. 6 – 6H Kyalami
March 19 – 1000 Miles of Sebring
April 24 – 6H Spa
Jun. 12-13 – 24H Le Mans
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/kya ... -schedule/
Brian Redman: "Mr. Fangio, how do you come so fast?" "More throttle, less brakes...."
User avatar
erwin greven
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Staff
Posts: 20027
Joined: 19 years ago
Real Name: Erwin Greven
Favourite Motorsport: Endurance Racing
Favourite Racing Car: Lancia Delta 038 S4 Group B
Favourite Driver: Ronnie Peterson
Favourite Circuit: Nuerburgring Nordschleife
Car(s) Currently Owned: Peugeot 206 SW Air-Line 3 2007
Location: Stadskanaal, Groningen
Contact:

#2

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Ginetta Planning to Continue LMP1 Program in 2020-21

LNT would be willing to run Ginetta LMP1 against Hypercars next season if no customer found…


Ginetta is planning for its LMP1 car to be grandfathered in competition against Le Mans Hypercar machinery during next season’s FIA World Endurance Championship.

The Yorkshire constructor’s chairman Lawrence Tomlinson told Sportscar365 that Ginetta wants to extend the lifespan of the non-hybrid G60-LT-P1 AER, which is now midway through its first full campaign.

The WEC released separate 2020-21 technical regulations for the Le Mans Hypercar and LMP1 formulas – split into hybrid and non-hybrid – earlier this week.

These different cars will be allowed to race against each other in the top class of the WEC for at least the first season before LMP1 is phased out at a yet-to-be-defined date.

“I think it would be great if it’s grandfathered in,” said Tomlinson, in reference to the G60.

“If the [Aston Martin] Valkyrie comes and the Toyota [GR Super Sport] comes… the last time Aston did a brand-new car for Le Mans [the AMR-One] was a straight-six which I remember in the top class, and everyone failed within an hour and a half.

“I see it as a great opportunity. 2020 Le Mans is a good opportunity for us, but 2021 is also a good opportunity depending on what happens.”

Tomlinson confirmed that he is aiming to attract a customer to run the G60 next season.

When it became clear that Ginetta wouldn’t have a customer ready to be on the grid for the current campaign, Tomlinson took the running of the race project in-house with his own LNT outfit.

While Tomlinson believes customers could still be attracted to running a grandfathered LMP1, he said that LNT would be open to continuing as the race program operator in the absence of a buyer.

“It would be better for a customer team because the customer team running it would be able to make it quicker than us anyway,” he explained.

“We’re not weekend warriors, but we’re the lads building the cars and not a race team. We’re enjoying it and having fun, but if necessary, we’ll probably run it again next year.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for someone like an LMP2 team that is not sure where it’s going to step up to LMP1, because the package is proven to be fast and reliable so why wouldn’t you want to have a crack at the title?

“It would probably cost somebody about as much money to do LMP2 as LMP1 with our car, there or thereabouts. The actual package isn’t that much more expensive.

“Even if you’re the slowest guy in WEC [Hypercar] you’re still going to be quicker than everybody else. We definitely want to do 2020 Le Mans and then the 2020-21 season.”

When asked about the potentially high costs of LNT running two Ginettas again in the case of a customer not coming on board, Tomlinson said: “everything is relative.”

“Some people race LMP2 and we race LMP1, but fundamentally all of the investment is already in the car, already done.

“You could argue that it would be stupid not to do it rather than expensive.”
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/gin ... n-2020-21/
Brian Redman: "Mr. Fangio, how do you come so fast?" "More throttle, less brakes...."
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