WEC: The Prologue at Sebring starts today

The highly-anticipated FIA WEC season will get underway with its pre-season test (The Prologue) this weekend at the Sebring International Raceway (11-12 March).

The 11th season of the WEC will feature nine global manufacturers highlighting the continued growth of the world’s premier international sportscar championship. The introduction of the Hypercar class has also seen multiple manufacturers (Cadillac, Ferrari, Glickenhaus, Peugeot, Porsche, Toyota and Vanwall) pledging their support to the series.

The Peugeot crew works on the #93

Saturday will mark the very first time that the aforementioned Hypercars are on track together, with a three hour test session scheduled for the morning (08:45 – 10:45 local time) followed by a second one in the afternoon (13:30 – 16:30).  Sunday will see two further test sessions (09:00 12:30 and 14:30 – 17:30).

Next week’s race action for the 1000 Miles of Sebring – round one of FIA WEC – will start with FP1 and FP2 on Wednesday (15 March). FP3 takes place on Thursday 16 March before qualifying from 18:30 local time later that day.  Friday’s race will commence at 12:00 midday local time.

Ferrari 499P

Balance of Power Set for Hypercar Class

The FIA and ACO have revealed the Balance of Performance for the opening round of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship season at Sebring next Friday.

It’s a huge moment for all concerned both in the teams and manufacturers, and the rule makers and their technical teams. The rule makers have opted to set two separate BoP tables, the first for the Sebring season-opener and the second, designed to see the WEC through the start of the European season and into the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Porsche 963, Porsche Penske Motorsport (#6), Kevin Estre (F), Andre Lotterer (D), Laurens Vanthoor (B)

The values below will be fixed both for the Prologue test this weekend and for the race proper next Friday.

Minimum Dry Weight

Cadillac – 1038 kilos (2,288 lbs)
Ferrari – 1057 kilos (2,330 lbs)
Glickenhaus – 1030 kilos (2,270 lbs)
Peugeot – 1049 kilos (2,312 lbs)
Porsche – 1048 kilos (2,310 lbs)
Toyota – 1062 kilos (2,341 lbs)
‘Vanwall’ – 1030 kilos (2,270 lbs)

Max Power Output

Cadillac – 513 kilowatts (688 hp)
Ferrari – 515 kilowatts  (690 hp)
Glickenhaus – 520 kilowatts (697 hp)
Peugeot – 518 kilowatts (695 hp)
Porsche – 517 kilowatts (693 hp)
Toyota – 517 kilowatts (693 hp)
‘Vanwall’ – 511 kilowatts (685 hp)

Maximum Stint Energy

Cadillac – 905 Mj (251 kw-hours)
Ferrari – 908 Mj (252 kw-hours)
Glickenhaus – 911 Mj (253 kw-hours)
Peugeot – 909 Mj (253 kw-hours)
Porsche – 912 Mj (253 kw-hours)
Toyota – 913 Mj (254 kw-hours)
‘Vanwall’ – 900 Mj (250 kw-hours)

The minimum hybrid deployment speed for the three four-wheel drive LMH cars is also defined with the Toyota and Ferrari cars set at 190 km/h, the Peugeot, at 150 km/h due to the French car being equipped with 31″ wide tires at the front and rear, with the Toyota and Ferrari fitted with 29″ at the front and 34 at the rear.

There are (very) minor differences too in the fuel docking times across the varying groups of cars. The non-hybrid LMHs have a base minimum fuel connection time with the two LMDh cars required to dock for an additional second and the hybrid LMHs for 1.2 seconds.

1000 Miles of Sebring entry list.

HYPERCAR

NAT

T

CARS

MISC

DRIVER 1

DRIVER 2

DRIVER 3

11

2

CADILLAC RACING

USA

M

Cadillac V-Series.R

Hybrid

Earl Bamber (NZL)

P

Alex Lynn (GBR)

P

Richard Westbrook (GBR)

P

4

FLOYD VANWALL RACING TEAM*

AUT

M

Vanwall Vandervell 680

Tom Dillmann (FRA)

G

Esteban Guerrieri (ARG)°

P

Jacques Villeneuve (CAN)

P

5

PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT

DEU

M

Porsche 963

Hybrid

Dane Cameron (USA)

P

Michael Christensen (DNK)

P

Frédéric Makowiecki (FRA)

P

6

PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT

DEU

M

Porsche 963

Hybrid

Kévin Estre (FRA)

P

André Lotterer (DEU)

P

Laurens Vanthoor (BEL)

P

7

TOYOTA GAZOO RACING

JPN

M

Toyota GR010 – Hybrid

Hybrid

Mike Conway (GBR)

P

Kamui Kobayashi (JPN)

P

Jose Maria Lopez (ARG)

P

8

TOYOTA GAZOO RACING

JPN

M

Toyota GR010 – Hybrid

Hybrid

Sébastien Buemi (CHE)

P

Brendon Hartley (NZL)

P

Ryo Hirakawa (JPN)

P

50

FERRARI AF CORSE*

ITA

M

Ferrari 499P

Hybrid

Antonio Fuoco (ITA)

P

Miguel Molina (ESP)

P

Nicklas Nielsen (DNK)

P

51

FERRARI AF CORSE*

ITA

M

Ferrari 499P

Hybrid

Alessandro Pier Guidi (ITA)

P

James Calado (GBR)

P

Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA)

P

93

PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES

FRA

M

Peugeot 9X8

Hybrid

Paul Di Resta (GBR)

P

Mikkel Jensen (DNK)

P

Jean-Éric Vergne (FRA)

P

94

PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES

FRA

M

Peugeot 9X8

Hybrid

Loic Duval (FRA)

P

Gustavo Menezes (USA)

P

Nico Müller (CHE)

P

708

GLICKENHAUS RACING

USA

M

Glickenhaus 007

Romain Dumas (FRA)

P

Ryan Briscoe (AUS)

P

Olivier Pla (FRA)

P

LMP2

NAT

T

CARS

MISC

DRIVER 1

DRIVER 2

DRIVER 3

12

9

PREMA RACING

ITA

G

Oreca 07 – Gibson

Filip Ugran (ROU)

S

Bent Viscaal (NLD)

G

Andrea Caldarelli (ITA)

P

10

VECTOR SPORT

GBR

G

Oreca 07 – Gibson

Ryan Cullen (GBR)°

S

Matthias Kaiser (LIE)

S

Gabriel Aubry (FRA)°

G

22

UNITED AUTOSPORTS

GBR

G

Oreca 07 – Gibson

Frederick Lubin (GBR)

S

Philip Hanson GBR)

G

Filipe Albuquerque (PRT)

P

23

UNITED AUTOSPORTS

GBR

G

Oreca 07 – Gibson

Joshua Pierson (USA)

S

Tom Blomqvist (GBR)

P

Oliver Jarvis (GBR)

P

28

JOTA

GBR

G

Oreca 07 – Gibson

David Heinemeier Hansson (DNK)

S

Pietro Fittipaldi (BRA)

G

Oliver Rasmussen (DNK)

G

31

TEAM WRT

BEL

G

Oreca 07 – Gibson

Sean Gelael (IDN)

S

Ferdinand Habsburg-Lothringen (AUT)

G

Robin Frijns (NLD)

P

34

INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION

POL

G

Oreca 07 – Gibson

Jakub Smiechowski (POL)

S

Fabio Scherer (CHE)

G

Albert Costa (ESP)

P

35

ALPINE ELF TEAM

FRA

G

Oreca 07 – Gibson

André Negrão (BRA)

G

Memo Rojas (MEX)

S

Oliver Caldwell (GBR)

G

36

ALPINE ELF TEAM

FRA

G

Oreca 07 – Gibson

Matthieu Vaxiviere (FRA)

G

Julien Canal (FRA)

S

Charles Milesi (FRA)

G

41

TEAM WRT

BEL

G

Oreca 07 – Gibson

Rui Andrade (PRT)

S

Robert Kubica (POL)

P

Louis Delétraz (CHE)

G

48

HERTZ TEAM JOTA

GBR

G

Oreca 07 – Gibson

David Beckmann (DEU)

S

Yifei Ye (CHN)

G

William Stevens (GBR)

P

63

PREMA RACING

ITA

G

Oreca 07 – Gibson

Doriane Pin (FRA)

S

Mirko Bortolotti (ITA)

P

Daniil Kvyat

P

LMGTE Am

NAT

T

CARS

MISC

DRIVER 1

DRIVER 2

DRIVER 3

14

21

AF CORSE

ITA

M

Ferrari 488 GTE EVO

Stefano Costantini (ITA)

B

Simon Mann (USA)

S

Ulysse de Pauw (BEL)

G

25

ORT BY TF

OMN

M

Aston Martin Vantage AMR

Ahmad Al Harthy (OMN)

B

Michael Dinan (USA)

S

Charlie Eastwood (IRL)

G

33

CORVETTE RACING

USA

M

Chevrolet Corvette C8.R

Ben Keating (USA)

B

Nicolas Varrone (ARG)

S

Nicky Catsburg (NLD)

P

54

AF CORSE

ITA

M

Ferrari 488 GTE EVO

Thomas Flohr (CHE)

B

Francesco Castellacci (ITA)

S

Davide Rigon (ITA)

P

56

PROJECT 1 – AO

DEU

M

Porsche 911 RSR – 19

PJ Hyett (USA)

B

Gunnar Jeannette (USA)

S

Matteo Cairoli (ITA)

P

57

KESSEL RACING

CHE

M

Ferrari 488 GTE EVO

Takeshi Kimura (JPN)

B

Scott Huffaker (USA)

S

Daniel Serra (BRA)

P

60

IRON LYNX

ITA

M

Porsche 911 RSR – 19

Claudio Schiavoni (ITA)

B

Matteo Cressoni (ITA)

S

Alessio Picariello (ITA)

G

77

DEMPSEY-PROTON RACING

DEU

M

Porsche 911 RSR – 19

Christian Ried (DEU)

B

Mikkel Pedersen (DNK)

S

Julien Andlauer (FRA)

G

83

RICHARD MILLE AF CORSE

ITA

M

Ferrari 488 GTE EVO

Luis Perez Companc (ARG)

B

Lilou Wadoux (FRA)

S

Alessio Rovera (ITA)

P

85

IRON DAMES

ITA

M

Porsche 911 RSR – 19

Sarah Bovy (BEL)

B

Michelle Gatting (DNK)

S

Rahel Frey (CHE)

G

86

GR RACING

GBR

M

Porsche 911 RSR – 19

Michael Wainwright (GBR)

B

Riccardo Pera (ITA)

S

Benjamin Barker (GBR)

G

88

PROTON COMPETITION

DEU

M

Porsche 911 RSR – 19

Ryan Hardwick (USA)

B

Zacharie Robichon (CAN)

S

Harry Tincknell (GBR)

P

98

NORTHWEST AMR

CAN

M

Aston Martin Vantage AMR

Paul Dalla Lana (CAN)

B

TBA

Nicki Thiim (DNK)

P

777

D’STATION RACING

JPN

M

Aston Martin Vantage AMR

Satoshi Hoshino (JPN)

B

Casper Stevenson (GBR)

S

Tomonobu Fujii (JPN)

G

37

Tires – M : MICHELIN / G : GOODYEAR
Categorization – P : PLATINUM / G : GOLD / S : SILVER / B : BRONZE
*Subject to car homologation
°Subject to the receipt of the license