WEC teams celebrate 2023 success at award ceremonies
The weekend saw two glittering awards ceremonies – Autosport Awards and Porsche’s “Night of Champions” – celebrate the success of FIA WEC teams in 2023.
At the prestigious Autosport Awards which is held in London each year, Ferrari AF Corse was awarded Autosport's “Moment of the Year” for Ferrari's emphatic victory at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. Britain's James Calado and team boss Antonello Coletta were there to collect the prize.
On winning the award, Coletta commented: "We won the most important edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, leading for more or less 23 hours of the race and then we had a technical problem, and everyone had a heart attack, but we made it to the end to win. To win Le Mans was always a dream of our founder Enzo Ferrari."
The 2023 #AutosportAwards Moment of the Year is Ferrari's victory on their return to #LeMans24
— Autosport (@autosport) December 3, 2023
A moment we'll never forget, @ferrarihypercar #AutosportAwards pic.twitter.com/9s0nQMzn1P
Elsewhere in Europe, Porsche hosted its annual “Night of Champions” in Weissach which included celebrating the achievements of Porsche drivers in this year's FIA WEC such as the Porsche Penske and Iron Dames crew.
It was also confirmed that American Dane Cameron and Australian Matt Campbell will swap cockpits, with Cameron returning to IMSA full-time in 2024. Meanwhile, Campbell will drive the No. 5 Porsche 963 alongside Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowiecki in next year's WEC.
“We've made a logical change in our driver squad,” explained Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “Our goal continues to be to optimize the overall package for contesting the two major championships. This applies to the vehicle and the team processes as well as the cockpit crews. Last season we fought for the title in the IMSA series until the last race. Our expectations for 2024 are high: we want to lead the way in North America, Le Mans and the FIA WEC.”
