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Season 11  

 

2023 really saw the WEC Hyperclass truly come of age.  It marked the return of both Ferrari and Porsche to the top class of endurance racing and the WEC had record-breaking crowds at Spa-Francorchamps, Monza, Fuji and the 24 Hours of Le Mans – the latter attracting more than 325,000 fans.  

 

The overall World Championship title went to Toyota but they faced still competition from several teams. There were five different manufacturers finish on the podium including Toyota, Ferrari, Porsche, Peugeot and Cadillac – which is testament to the close racing and battles witnessed on track. In LMP2, Team WRT took the title while Corvette Racing dominated the LMGTE Am category.

 

The 2023 season will also go down in history as a monumental moment in the history of females in sportscar racing. Lilou Wadoux entered the record books after winning the LMGTE Am race alongside her team-mates at Spa-Francorchamps, This was followed by the first all-female crew to claim a race victory in the WEC as the Iron Dames won in Bahrain.  

 

Finally, the season will be remembered with a twinge of sadness as it marked the final year for the LMP2 and LMGTE Am categories – with both classes having been a part of the WEC since its inception back in 2012.  There have been some wonderful battles in these categories over the years but as one chapter closes, another new and very exciting one opens…

 

Season 10

Season 10 started with a win for Alpine Elf Team at the season-opening 1000 Miles of Sebring.  Next up was the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps which provided plenty of drama across the classes, with the weather again throwing quite a few challenges as Toyota took their first Hypercar win of the year. 

Toyota followed up with another victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in front of massive crowds. The 6 Hours of Monza in July saw Peugeot make their Hypercar debut and a defining moment for the LMGTE Am class-leading TF Sport Aston as the wheel-to-wheel action intensified, especially in the LMGTE Pro and Hypercar categories. 

The 6 Hours of Fuji saw uncharacteristically glorious weather to celebrate WEC’s return to Japan and a fast and furious race ensued.

Everything came down to the season finale for the Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain and the day into night race did not disappoint. It was the final outing for LMGTE Pro with Ferrari taking the overall title. Toyota claimed the Hypercar title, with JOTA clinching the LMP2 Trophy. The LMGTE Am title went to TF Sport.

SEASON 8 : 2019-2020

Season 8 was a season like no other with the COVID-19 pandemic and which ended up being 443 days long!  It opened with the 4 Hours of Silverstone (UK) in September 2019 and culminated with the 8 Hours of Bahrain in November 2020.  Following Silverstone, the WEC visited Asia for two races staged at Fuji (Japan) and Shanghai (China).  An 8-hour race in Bahrain followed in December 2019 before a trans-Atlantic journey to the Circuit of The Americas in Texas, USA, for round 5 of WEC Season 8 in February 2020.  Due to COVID-19, round 6 at Sebring (USA) was cancelled in March and the subsequent races at Spa-Francorchamps and Le Mans were rescheduled, both taking place behind closed doors.  The TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps was moved from April to a new date in August, while the 24 Hours of Le Mans swapped its traditional date in June to a new mid-September date. The final round of the re-scheduled Season 8 calendar in Bahrain saw the new World Champions crowned with drivers having had their skills and resilience tested both on and off the track in this very unique period. 

The 2018-2019 Super Season, was unique for many reasons, and it was super in every sense!  Stretching over 14 months in order to welcome in the cross-calendar year format, the season featured two visits to Spa and Le Mans, a hugely successful return to Sebring in the USA for a joint event with IMSA, 86 hours of racing, two former F1 World Champions on the entry list, incredible competition across all categories and a Super Finale which featured no fewer than 17 LMGTE Pro entries fighting nose to tail for victory. Toyota, Porsche, Signatech Alpine and Team Project 1 celebrated well-deserved championship titles following hard-fought battles, and the WEC is moving forward to its eighth season with great optimism and confidence.

The 2017 WEC season will be remembered for great competition on track, thanks to some outstanding performances from its competitors, notably at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but also for being the end of an era with the announcement from Porsche mid-season that it would be withdrawing from the LMP1 hybrid class.  But, as one era comes to a close another dawns, and the end of the sixth season not only brought championship celebrations for Porsche, Ferrari, Rebellion and Aston Martin, but also great optimism and confidence for the future of the WEC.

The WEC continued to grow in stature on the world motorsport stage, thanks to the quality and performances of its competitors plus the stability of its calendar and FIA/ACO combined regulatory body.  Mexico City made a successful debut as host of the 6 Hours of Mexico, and spectator numbers continued to rise at venues across the globe, but for many the 2016 season will be remembered with some sentimentality, with heartbreak for some and fond farewells to others

2015 was undoubtedly the finest WEC season to date, the year it truly came of age. The closeness of competition throughout the classes underlined the true spirit of endurance racing and connected with fans, new and old, the world over.
Porsche won the World Championship comprehensively, with six victories including a superb 1-2 at Le Mans and the top step at the inaugural 6 Hours of Nürburgring on home soil.  The German marque also claimed its first World GT Manufacturers’ crown after an incredibly close battle with Ferrari.  

The third season of the World Endurance Championship witnessed Porsche’s return to top level endurance racing for the first time in 16 years and Audi’s 13th win in the last 15 years at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The year, however, belonged to Toyota Racing – the Japanese team joyfully winning the Manufacturers World Championship at the final round of the season. Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi lifted the 2014 Drivers’ title after taking their No.8 Toyota TS040 Hybrid to the top step of the podium on four occasions, with their team mates in the No.7 entry also winning in Bahrain

The second season of the FIA World Endurance Championship proved to be an even bigger success than 2012 with more cars and seven of the championships not being settled until the last round in Bahrain.
Audi once again proved to be the benchmark for the rest of the grid, the German manufacturer securing a second world title. This year it was the drivers of the No.2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro, Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Loïc Duval, who became the FIA World Endurance Drivers Champions after a fantastic season that saw them lift the 24 Hours of Le Mans trophy and also the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy at the start of the season at Silverstone.

When the 30 FIA World Endurance Championship cars took to the historic Sebring track in Florida in March 2012, it signalled the dawning of a new era in international sportscar racing. 

Sanctioned by the FIA, manufacturers, teams and drivers were now able to truly fight for World Championships and the level of entries reflected this fact. Racing together with entrants from the American Le Mans Series for this season-opener, an incredible 64 cars raced flat out for 12 hours, with Audi, Starworks, AF Corse and Team Felbermayr becoming the first race winners of the new WEC.