Expect to see heightened competition in 2023 and 2024.
The World Endurance Championship’s tenth season ended this past weekend in Bahrain. While the future is bright, there was a bit of sadness, too, because the famed GTE PRO category will be omitted from the program going forward.
Toyota Gazoo Racing once again took top honors in the hypercar category, but it was not as easy as some analysts and fans thought it would be at the season’s start. Jose Maria Lopez’s accident at the opening race in Sebring, Florida, ruined the team’s chances to get a victory, which was a big upset. The French Alpine Elf team of Andre Negrao, Nicholas Lapierre, and Matthieu Vaxiviere took the win. But Toyota took the rest of the early-season races, including a 1-2 at the 24 Hours of Lemans. That outcome reverted in mid-July when Alpine won again because Toyota received a drive-through penalty.
Toyota recovered to win their home race in Fuji, Japan and then finished with a 1-2 in the final event in Bahrain. Toyota copped the Manufacturer’s title, and Drivers’ honors went to Sebastian Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Rio Hirakawa.
Alpine wasn’t the only team to challenge Toyota this season. Glickenhaus grabbed the pole in Monza but ran out of funding and didn’t participate in the final two races of the year. Alpine’s French compatriot, Peugeot, joined the championship at Monza in July, but reliability problems kept the team from being a factor. Research and development in the off-season may lead to a different storyline in 2023.
The LMP 2 class is always exciting, and this year was no exception. The steadiness of the JOTA team of Antonio Felix de Costa, Roberto Gonzalez, and Will Stevens delivered the team’s first title despite finishing a disappointing fourth in Bahrain.
As for the future, questions abound regarding which teams will compete in the LMP2 class in 2023, but it appears a good bet to see Alpine move down to this category for one year before returning to the hypercar class division in 2024 with not one but two cars.
The final hurrah of the GTE PRO class was a season-long battle between Porsche and Ferrari. It might not have been as fiercely competed as it was in the 1970s, but the title did come down to the season’s final race. Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado gave Ferrari their second consecutive title.
For the GTE AM class, Ben Keating finally achieved his championship with teammate Marco Sorensen in their TF Sport Aston Martin. Keating will be promoted to the Corvette Racing Team for 2023, his first season racing as a professional. It remains to be seen whether he’ll compete in the LMDh series or the WEC.
Looking forward, 2023 and 2024 look to be momentous years for the World Endurance Championship. Here are four reasons why.
–Porsche and Ferrari will participate in the hypercar series to take on Toyota and the others, retaining most of the drivers that participated in the GTE PRO series.
–2023 will be the GTE AM division’s final season before it becomes GT 3 in 2024 with cost-capped machinery.
–Two Porsche teams, which Penske Racing and a second sponsor own, will be added, along with an American Cadillac squad.
–Alpine and Lamborghini will follow in 2024, which will make, along with the return of Glickenhaus, eight teams competing in 2024.
Overall, I believe the WEC has a bright future because of better racing categories, which could attract more sports fans.
