FIA WEC Calendar 2017

[challenger24]

2017 FIA World Endurance Championship Calendar

Ferrari in 2017 in GT Pro and GT Am with the 488 GTE

http://www.cascar.at/fchgt/wp-content/u ... 7982_o.jpg

[woody]

The #51 AF CORSE team will have a tough time winning the title this year after the heartbreak at Spa and the very uncharacteristically bad showing at LeMans. After 2 straight P2 finishes at Mexico and at COTA behind the #95 Aston, they are down a bit in points. Still, there are 3 races left and Bruni is the winningest driver in WEC history regardless of class with 15 wins. I thought after the drive and speed the #51 showed at Silverstone to open the season, the title hopes were looking very good for Bruni to get his 4th WEC drivers championship...I actually talk with Gianmaria before each race for a few minutes. The engineers are still coming to terms with the heat generated by the twin turbos of the 488, which has been the cause of most of the issues thus far...meaning electrical components getting overheated...Ferrari might have gone with a supercharger if the rules would have allowed it, a supercharger generates far less heat...

[challenger24]

Hello woody, yes but dont forget always the BOP and the strong Astons.

What you think about GT AM? AF Corse will win the Championship?

[woody]

The #83 is looking pretty good and consistent, may be the one champion for AF CORSE this season. I'm sure the FIA will cut down the Aston's restrictor again prior to Fuji...The shorter tighter tracks do not suit the 488, and the long front straight at Fuji just might be enough for the 488 to stay ahead of the Astons. I would have though tire wear would have come more into play this year, but hasnt been much of a factor...

The Risi #62 has had a run of bad luck like I've never seen, it was only until Lime Rock this season they had ANY shot of a podium finish let alone ny chance to win since at VIR in 2014. Its amazing how IMSA screwed over the Ferrari for nearly two full years. James Calado will be driving with Risi for the season ending 10 hour Peitite LeMans...

[challenger24]

Thanks woody, I agree and cross my fingers for #83 in AM.

Risi did verry well in LeMans this year with 2. in class, fantastic race

[challenger24]

WEC: the 2017 calendar, which has been recently revealed by the FIA, again will feature nine races, the same of this season; the only change will be the move of the Prologue from Paul Ricard to Monza. It is to be underlined that the 6 Hours of Silverstone will be held together with the ELMS, while the same can’t be said for the 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas and the IWSC. In fact IMSA has already decided to run at the Texan track in May instead of September. Furthermore there will be a clash with the FIA Formula E Championship, the 6 Hours of Nurburgring, which will force many factory drivers to choose between the two series, including Ferrari’s Sam Bird.

IWSC: James Calado will join Toni Vilander and Giancarlo Fisichella at the wheel of the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE at the Petit Le Mans next weekend. The last event of the year also will see the return of the No. 68 Scuderia Corsa sister car, which will be in the hands of Daniel Serra, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Andrea Bertolini, who is leading the ELMS GTE Drivers’ Classification in the JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia GTC. The third drivers of the No. 66 and No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GTs will be Sebastien Bourdais and Scott Dixon respectively. On the BMW Team RLL front Augusto Farfus will team up with Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner in the No. 25 BMW M6 GTE and Kuno Wittmer will take the reins of the No. 100 together with John Edwards and Lucas Luhr. The No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 991 GT3 RSR should remain with a two-driver line-up, while the 2015 WEC GT Champion Richard Lietz will co-drive Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy in the No. 911 Porsche North America sister car. In the GTD ranks the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 will be driven by Alessandro Balzan, Christina Nielsen and Jeff Segal. The squad as well as Balzan and Nielsen will have to complete at least three hours of the competition to be crowned as the 2016 GTD Team and Drivers’ Champions. Among the GTD Manufacturers Audi is first with 308 points, 11 and 12 ahead of Porsche and Ferrari. No additional entries will participate in the Petit Le Mans in GTD.

ELMS: announced by the ACO at Spa-Francorchamps, the 2017 calendar will continue to be structured in six 4-hour rounds. The differences compared to the 2016 season will be the move of the Prologue from Paul Ricard to Monza, as happed with the WEC, and the replacements of Imola and Estoril with Monza and Portimao. Silverstone, Red Bull Ring, Paul Ricard and Spa-Francorchamps have all been confirmed.

GT Asia Series: the last race of the year will not take place at Zhejiang, as initially planned, due to delays in the final stages of construction of the circuit. Thus the organizers have decided that Shanghai will once more play host to the Championship in October.

[woody]

That idiot Eccelstone will also have a conflict next season with F1 and LeMans...which is just fine with me because even more people will leave from F1 as a fan. The WEC will just gain a few thousand more fans...I actually wish F1 would just die off and go away. Ever since the start of the 2009 F1 season, which was the first season the incredible performance had been taken from the cars and the day I stopped watching F1, it's lost all of its mystique, all of its prestige. Kimi Raikkonnen was right, the speed and danger needs to be put back into F1 if is to survive. As I said if F1 stays in its current form I hope it does die. On the other hand I don't want the WEC or IMSA to be over regulated and turned into an out and out spec series like F1 is today. I think the WEC needs to do just one thing to really take off and get a massive number of fans, and that's to put about 6 more races on the schedule for a season of 15 races and the next race after LeMans needs to be at Magny Cours 3 weeks later, so the WEC can keep that excitement going for the fans that LeMans does for the fans. The WEC needs to capitalize on that excitement, and having a race just 3 weeks after and close to LeMans to make it easier on the teams...

[challenger24]

I agree with you woody - A1.

The WEC will grow and grow, 2018 BMW join the GT Pro Class, Lambo is thinking to do it, so they are on a good way.

Question is if the GT2 cars will be longer the big class, is not a GT3 better? Then we could see McLaren, Mercedes etc., also on the track.

[challenger24]

BMW to enter WEC in 2018

One of the world’s most recognisable automotive companies, BMW, has announced that it will be joining the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2018.

As part of its global motorsport strategy, BMW will enter the LMGTE category alongside current prestigious manufacturers such as Aston Martin, Ferrari, Ford, and Porsche. Its entry in the world championship will also mark a return to the cornerstone of the WEC, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, for the first time since 2011.

BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt commented: “Starting with the 2018 season, we want to further expand our activities in GT racing and compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship... This obviously also includes our return to Le Mans, which we are particularly looking forward to. The way the WEC has developed so well makes us confident that there is a big future for GT racing.”

Further details about the programme will be announced at a future date.

[challenger24]

The AF Corse #83 GT AM 458 GTE is the cover car in Fuji for the 6H race