Key Changes To The 2018 FIA WEC Regulations Outlined

GTE Pro Aston Martin

Dailysportscar picked out some of the major changes for the general FIA WEC Sporting and technical regulatory changes for the coming 2018/ 19 season.

GTE Pro entries:

Competitors / manufacturers are now limited to 2 cars maximum per race (Le Mans excepted of course)

Wind Tunnel Testing:

LMP2 competitors are no longer allowed to test in the wind tunnel.

. Wind tunnel testing regs were only impacting LMP1 cars up until 17. On the other end, LMP1 wind tunnel testing regs have disappeared… makes sense with all the new manufacturers joining the WEC.

LMP testing days reduced:

For LMP1s: Down from 7 to 3 days of closed private testing for 2018 and 12 days for open private testing (used to be anywhere between 10 and 23 days in 17’)

For LMP2s: open private testing limited to 5 (used to be 8 including Le Mans test day and Prologue)

LMP2 Performance Balancing:

Should it be necessary to apply this (presumably if one or more of the four chassis fall outside a performance envelope, necessarily defined by the unchanged Oreca 07), the Endurance committee could increase a car’s weight by up to 30kg, change fuel tank capacity and/or impose aero restrictions. The latter (aero) measure did not feature in last season’s rule book.

Minimum/Maximum driving times for Sebring:

LMP1/LMGTE Pro: minimum of 1.5H per driver – maximum 8 Hours (capped to 4h mx per 6h period)

LMP2: minimum driving time per driver of 3.5 Hours – max of 8 Hours (capped to 4h mx per 6h period)

GTEAm: minimum driving time per driver of 3.5 Hours – max of 8 Hours (capped to 4h mx per 6h period) for Bronze and Silver drivers. 1.5 hours minimum / 6h max for Gold and Platinum drivers.

Tires and points for Sebring:

Tire Allowances will be twice what teams would get for a ‘regular’ WEC 6 hour race for the 1500 Miles of Sebring

Scale of points for Sebring: 32/23/19/15/13/10/8/5/3/2/1
Scale of points for Le Mans: 38/27/23/18/15/12/9/6/3/2/1
(a conventional WEC race would be 25/18/15/12/10/8/6/4/2/1)

Introduction of a point penalty system for drivers:

Each driver will have a reserve of 12 points.

In addition to any penalty imposed on a competitor sanctioning the behavior of a driver during the activities, the Stewards may order the withdrawal of points, up to a maximum of 6 points by Event.

As soon as the reserve of 12 points has been expended, the driver concerned will be automatically suspended for the next event of the Championship, and will regain the reserve of points at the end of the suspension period. Decision to withdraw points is not subject to appeal.

Team Trophies:

Two FIA WEC seasonal Championships have ceased to exist for 2018/19 both the Private LMP1 team Endurance Trophy and the LM GTE Pro team Endurance Trophy are no longer. Dailysportscar.com