Pierre Fillon: “We can’t emphasize enough how many opportunities this long-term sporting and marketing vision will open up.”
In the olden days, the World Sportscar Championship was an exciting venue for the entire season with cars racing in such championships as the 24 Hours of Daytona and the legendary 24-hour race at Lemans, France.
Last Friday, just before the start of the Daytona event, the governing bodies of America’s IMSA and the ACO (Automobile Club de la Ouest) based in France announced a deal.
As early as September of 2021 and at the famed Florida speedway in January of 2022, both types of racing will merge and compete in a joint program to the approval of all manufacturers involved.
The World Endurance Championship (WEC), which has its “super season” run through June of this year, will involve their FIA approved car to race along with the WeatherTech competitive cars. It will be known as the LMDh category that will include the WEC Hypercar, which begins this summer, and the DPi 2.0 version, which IMSA will use to match their European counterparts.
Both types of sportscar programs also will race at tracks as the 24 Hours of Lemans, the petit version at Road Atlanta in Georgia; Daytona and the Super Sebring track in Florida; and even possibly the famed European circuits as Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Silverstone in Great Britain.
More technical details of the cars will be finalized during the WEC race in Sebring in March, but the LMDh cars will consist of a new chassis common to both ACO and IMSA, using elements of the Le Mans Hypercar and LMP2 chassis, and built by the four current LMP2 manufacturers: Dallara, Ligier, Multimatic and Oreca. The chassis will also be used for the new generation LMP2. The car will use a common hybrid KERS system, like the ones used in Formula 1, on the rear axle. Its silhouette and design will be modifiable–developed according to the brand or style of the manufacturer, which will provide the engine power for the car. The future of this merger will include the LMDh systems and the Lemans Hypercar to ensure fair competition in races. This brought the approval of those involved.
Pierre Fillon (photo, Lemans.org)
Pierre Fillon, president of the ACO, put it this way: “This announcement today is the crucial starting point for a joint endurance racing future, supported by both the ACO and IMSA. The platform represents the convergence achieved by both organizations, which is a great success story for endurance racing. A manufacturer will soon be able to compete in the top category of two championships, the FIA WEC and the WeatherTech Championship. We can’t emphasize enough, as it’s exceptional, how many opportunities this long-term sporting and marketing vision will open up.”
Fillon’s counterpart, Jim France, thought of his father when he heard the news. “When my father, Bill France Sr., brought the first Daytona Continental sports car race here to Daytona International Speedway back in 1962, he wanted to bring together sports car drivers, teams and manufacturers from around the world. With the ACO, IMSA, and manufacturers aligned, today’s announcement proudly takes my father’s vision to the next level.”
Gerard Neveau, president of the WEC, agreed: “The big winner today is endurance racing as the door is now opened to many additional competitors to compete at the highest level on both sides of the Atlantic with the same car. The two sanctioning bodies should be congratulated for their vision and spirit of collaboration. Le Mans Hypercars and the new LMDh cars racing together at Le Mans or Daytona will be an incredibly exciting prospect for endurance fans across the world.”
John Doonan (photo, Motorsport.com)
Finally, like the others, IMSA President John Doonan could not be any more pleased–realizing that endurance racing could begin with a more popular audience than it already has. “On the eve of IMSA’s 51st season of competition, future race fans will regard today as one of the most significant of all time for IMSA, the ACO, and the world of sports car racing. Providing a common platform for top-level prototype racing globally has been a goal for the sanctioning bodies, our manufacturers – and most importantly, sports car racing fans everywhere – for many years, and we are proud to say the opportunity has finally arrived. We are grateful for the collaboration with our partners at the ACO and the open dialogue with our manufacturer partners that led us to today’s introduction of the LMDh platform.”
It’s just like the good old days, but with added technology.
