ACO Press Conference: key announcements
Below are they key announcements made at the Automobile Club de l’Ouest press conference held on Friday 14 June, the eve of the much-awaited 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans, round four of FIA WEC.
Read on to learn more about the points discussed.
1 - Update on LMP2 and Hypercar regulations
Following ratification by the FIA World Motor Sport Council this week, several regulatory changes to the FIA World Endurance Championship and endurance racing in general were announced at the ACO Press Conference, ahead of the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans.
- New grid requirements have been validated for the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season. To improve sporting fairness and ensure a level playing field, each manufacturer will have to enter a minimum of two cars in the Hypercar class. Two-car entries will be mandatory to score points in the FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship, while any additional cars from a given manufacturer will take part in the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams. As a result, but also to accommodate the arrival of new manufacturers, the maximum grid size has been increased to 40 cars, applicable to all WEC races except for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which will continue to host bigger grids.
- Ensuring the stability of the technical regulations as new manufacturers join the competition each year, the current homologation cycle for the Hypercar class cars has been extended until the end of 2029, with two extra development jokers (applicable for 2028 and 2029 seasons) added.
- Given the ongoing popularity of the current LMP2 package, it was decided to postpone the introduction of the next generation of the LMP2 class car to 2028 (instead of 2026). The new chassis and engine have yet to be selected, but will be based on two key principles: a downsized engine and reduced weight. LMP2 is not part of FIA WEC this season or next, but remains the premier class in the European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series.
2 - FIA WEC calendar
The 2025 World Endurance Championship will feature eight rounds. The championship gets underway in late February in Qatar with the Prologue, followed by the second Qatar 1812 Km on 28 February. The WEC will then head to Imola for a six-hour race, followed by a stopover in Belgium for the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will take place on the weekend of 14-15 June. The WEC will then embark for Brazil with a race at Interlagos on 13 July, before journeying to the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in the USA in September. To round off the championship, there will be a trip to Asia – first with the 6 Hours of Fuji and then the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain at the Sakhir circuit, bringing the curtain down on the season.
3 - Hydrogen
The Automobile Club de l’Ouest, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile and the International Motor Sports Association continue to explore hydrogen technology to achieve zero-carbon motor racing. A hydrogen prototype class will be introduced in 2028. A joint working group is drawing up the regulations required to bring this pioneering and sustainable technology into endurance racing. For optimal sporting competitiveness, the hydrogen will be stored in liquid form. The MissionH24 programme is also continuing its work on the H24EVO.
4 - CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)
The ACO’s CSR strategy was first presented in 2021 and is grounded in a number of practical actions, for example the use of 100% renewable fuel supplied by TotalEnergies since 2022. On Friday 14 June 2024, the ACO received ISO 20121 certification for its flagship event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This is a benchmark for sustainable event management and rewards the efforts made by the ACO in this area. The certification takes the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit a step closer to obtaining FIA’s three-star environmental accreditation.
The Green Ticket was introduced in 2022. It is the only ticket of its kind in the world and encourages spectators to travel to the circuit using eco-friendly means of transport. With it, over 10,000 spectators have benefited from a 10% discount on their tickets. Ferrari received the Sustainable Endurance Award by DHL at the press conference. As part of a wider approach, the Italian manufacturer has adopted a sustainable management system for its FIA WEC campaign, aimed at reducing its environmental impact while improving the associated social and economic benefits. Alpine Endurance Team was awarded the President’s Prize and Team WRT’s efforts were highly commended by the judges.
Be prepared at 16:00 tomorrow for the start of the fourth round of the FIA WEC!
Click HERE to view the full press kit.
