FIA World Endurance Championship

The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercontinental Le Mans Cup which began in 2010, and is the first endurance series of world championship status since the demise of the World Sportscar Championship at the end of 1992. The World Endurance Championship name was previously used by the FIA from 1981 to 1985.

For the FIA World Endurance Championship contested from 1981 to 1985, see World Sportscar Championship.
Not to be confused with FIM Endurance World Championship or World Enduro Championship.
FIA World Endurance Championship
CategoryEndurance racing
RegionInternational
Inaugural season2012
Prototype ClassesLMP1, LMP2
GT ClassesLMGTE Pro, LMGTE Am
Teams22
Tyre suppliersMichelin, Goodyear
Drivers' champion
Teams' champion
Makes' champion
Official websitefiawec.com
Current season

The series features multiple classes of cars competing in endurance races, with sports prototypes competing in the Le Mans Prototype categories, and production-based grand tourers competing in the LM GTE categories. World champion titles are awarded to the top scoring manufacturers and drivers over the season,[1][2] while other cups and trophies will be awarded for drivers and private teams.[3]

Format

The World Endurance Championship was first run in 2012 as a replacement for the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.[4]

The World Endurance Championship follows much of the format of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and features nine endurance races across the world, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with all races being at least four hours in duration.[2] The calendar includes four races in Europe, two in the Americas, two in Asia and one in the Middle East,[5] with a possible future expansion.[6] There are four categories: LMP1 and LMP2 prototypes and the GTE category, divided into GTE Pro for teams with professional driver line-ups, and GTE Am for teams featuring a mixture of amateur drivers.

Eight titles are awarded each season based on total point tally, with four being deemed world championships: World Endurance LMP1 Championship, World Endurance GTE Manufacturers' Championship, World Endurance LMP Drivers' Championship and World Endurance GTE Drivers' Championship. The points system is similar to that used in the FIA's other world championships, awarding points to the top ten finishers on a sliding point margin scale from first to tenth. Cars finishing the race but classified eleventh or further are awarded a half point. For the 24 Hours of Le Mans points are worth roughly 1.5x as much (i.e. 25 points for a win is worth 38 points at Le Mans).[7]

Future

Faced with declining manufacturer interest, the FIA commissioned a study into the future regulations of the category. Known as "Le Mans Hypercar", the proposal called for move away from Le Mans Prototype entries and less reliance on hybrid technologies. The proposal was designed to make the championship more appealing to car manufacturers and cited flagship models such as the Aston Martin Vulcan and McLaren Senna GTR as examples of the cars the category was hoping to attract.[8][9]

Races

Current races
Race Circuit
4 Hours of Silverstone Silverstone Circuit
6 Hours of Fuji Fuji Speedway
4 Hours of Shanghai Shanghai International Circuit
8 Hours of Bahrain Bahrain International Circuit
Lone Star Le Mans Circuit of the Americas
1000 Miles of Sebring Sebring International Raceway
WEC 6 Heures de Spa-Francorchamps Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
24 Heures du Mans Circuit de la Sarthe

Former races
Race Circuit Seasons
12 Hours of Sebring Sebring International Raceway Only 2012
6 Hours of São Paulo Autódromo José Carlos Pace 2012 to 2014
6 Hours of Nürburgring Nürburgring 2015 to 2017
6 Hours of Mexico Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez 2016 & 2017

Champions
Main article: List of FIA World Endurance champions

See also

References
  1. "2012 FIA World Endurance Championship". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2011-06-03. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2011-06-04.
  2. "World Motor Sport Council". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2011-06-03. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2011-06-04.
  3. "The FIA World Endurance Championship is unveiled!". lemans.org. Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2011-06-09. Archived from the original on 2011-06-16. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
  4. ten Caat, Marcel (3 June 2011). "FIA announces World Endurance Championship". Planetlemans.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  5. "Calendar, FIA World Endurance Championship". Archived from the original on 2017-03-22. Retrieved 2014-02-12.
  6. Marcel ten Caat (2011-06-09). "Le Mans Press Conference: 2012 and further". planetlemans.com. Planet Le Mans. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
  7. "Points – FIA World Endurance Championship". www.fiawec.com (in French). Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  8. Watkins, Gary (7 June 2018). "FIA gives green light to WEC's 'hypercar' LMP1 prototype successor". autosport.com. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  9. Coch, Mat (8 June 2018). "FIA announces 'hypercar' rules for 2020/21 WEC season". speedcafe.com. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
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