The FIA has confirmed its Hypercar class will swell to 19 entries for the 2024 World Endurance Championship season.
Despite the withdrawal of Vanwall, the entry for next season has risen from the 13 announced at the beginning of this year. The increase in numbers has come about due to the arrival of manufacturers BMW, Lamborghini, Alpine, each fielding two cars, plus a solo entry from Isotta Fraschini.Ferrari, which returned to top-flight sportscar racing in the series this year, will expand its entry to three cars. The third will be entered solely by AF Corse and its driver roster will feature 2008 Canadian Grand Prix winner Robert Kubica.
Toyota’s championship-winning trio Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi will remain together for a third consecutive season. However the team which dominated the 2023 season, winning every race bar the Le Mans 24 Hours, has made a change to the other car’s squad, F1 exile Nyck de Vries replacing Jose Maria Lopez.
Two classes will compete in WEC rounds next year instead of three. The 19 Hypercars will share the track with 18 entries in the new LMGT3 class, which replaces the LMP2 and LMGTE Am categories.
The full line-up of drivers for the 2024 season is yet to be confirmed. Some drivers who have previously been announced do not appear on the official entry list, including Romain Grosjean at Lamborghini and Mick Schumacher at Alpine.
The championship will begin at the Losail International Circuit on March 2nd.
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2024 World Endurance Championship entry list
| Number | Team | Car | Driver 1 | Driver2 | Driver 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Cadillac Racing | Cadillac V-Series.R | Earl Bamber | Alex Lynn | TBC |
| 5 | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Porsche 963 | Matt Campbell | Michael Christensen | Frederic Makowiecki |
| 6 | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Porsche 963 | Kevin Estre | Andre Lotterer | Laurens Vanthoor |
| 7 | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota GR010 – Hybrid | Mike Conway | Kamui Kobayashi | Nyck de Vries |
| 8 | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota GR010 – Hybrid | Sebashtien Buemi | Brendon Hartley | Ryo Hirakawa |
| 11 | Isotta Fraschini | Isotta Fraschini Tipo6-C | TBC | Alejandro Garcia | Jean-Karl Vernay |
| 12 | Team Jota | Porsche 963 | Will Stevens | TBC | TBC |
| 15 | BMW M Team WRT | BMW M Hybrid V8 | Dries Vanthoor | TBC | TBC |
| 20 | BMW M Team WRT | BMW M Hybrid V8 | Sheldon Van Der Linde | TBC | TBC |
| 35 | Alpine Endurance Team | Alpine A424 | Matthieu Vaxiviere | TBC | TBC |
| 36 | Alpine Endurance Team | Alpine A424 | Nicolas Lapierre | TBC | TBC |
| 38 | Hertz Team Jota | Porsche 963 | Oliver Rasmussen | TBC | TBC |
| 50 | Ferrari Af Corse | Ferrari 499P | Antonio Fuoco | TBC | TBC |
| 51 | Ferrari Af Corse | Ferrari 499P | Alessandro Pier Guidi | TBC | TBC |
| 63 | Lamborghini Iron Lynx | Lamborghini SC63 | Mirko Bortolotti | TBC | TBC |
| 83 | AF Corse | Ferrari 499P | Robert Kubica | TBC | TBC |
| 93 | Peugeot | Peugeot 9X8 | Paul di Resta | TBC | TBC |
| 94 | Peugeot | Peugeot 9X8 | Loic Duval | TBC | TBC |
| 99 | Proton Competition | Porsche 963 | Harry Tincknell | TBC | TBC |
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World Endurance Championship
- Toyota’s Kobayashi keeps his nerve to deny Porsche Penske Imola win
- Ferrari lock out top three grid positions for home round at Imola
- How to watch the Chinese GP, IndyCar at Long Beach and WEC at Imola
- Fifth-placed Cadillac disqualified 26 days after WEC’s season-opening race
- Vettel completes Porsche Hypercar test at Aragon
FlyingLobster27
27th November 2023, 12:24
I was a huge WEC fan in the mid-2010s, but the heavy use of team orders, then several decisions by the organisers that I did not agree with, progressively turned me away from it, to the point of not bothering to follow Le Mans at all in 2022 and 2023. I just found better things to do.
Last season had a very good entry list, but of 7 models present, 5 scored a podium (with 2 only once), 4 finished a race on the lead lap (2 only once), and 2 won a race (1 only once after heavy BoP revisions because the ACO realised they weren’t going to have a competitive race for the Centenary if they stuck to their guns). Currently, I feel that’s not worth me investing the large amount of time WEC races demand, so I’m not swayed back to WEC yet.
Not to mention LMGT3 is Pro-Am and limited in manufacturers, so GT World Challenge Europe should still have the most interesting GT3 product, and, overall, IMSA still has the best prototype/GT package on paper: an actual BoP which saw all four GTP manufacturers regularly on the pace and making visits to the podium, and an increased GTD Pro category. IMSA’s officiating can be dodgy at times, but it’s actual fun to watch.
WEC can be given some form of pass for last year because some cars were still young, but Hype-car has given itself a lot to live up to, Truly The Next Golden Age Of Endurance Racing no less, and 2024 is the year it will have to deliver consistently.
MichaelN
27th November 2023, 15:20
I agree, the FIA/WEC is not doing a good enough job on the BoP. Le Mans was on the money, but it is a very particular track with a lot of very long full throttle parts and also a much larger field which means traffic is inevitable.
The whining from Toyota after Le Mans was also very off putting, particularly because they messed up their own race with numerous errors and were dominating the season, just as they were again after the big race.
The strong hints that Peugeot is going to heavily revise their car also shows the performance targets that were meant to encourage a diverse looking grid are not doing their job. Hypercar won’t live up to its intent if all the cars end up looking like LMP2 cars with a bigger hybrid PU… and Toyota still dominates. That sportscar renaissance could end up being very short lived if they don’t sort it out.
Also, safety cars in an endurance race should be an absolute last resort. Freitas has tilted the scales of far too many races already.
FlyingLobster27
27th November 2023, 17:21
About safety cars, that’s one of the factors that can explain how much closer competition in IMSA is. I don’t know how I feel about it philosophically, but I can accept it, it’s an American culture thing. The GTP/LMDh formula is also more tightly controlled than LMH at large, and most IMSA races are much shorter, at 2 hrs 40 min. It’s easier to justify spending my time on it, even if the time zone difference makes following all the races difficult.
I’ll see how the first WEC races go from a distance. A real sign of progress will be one part of the fanbase stopping saying “be patient, it will be better next year”. We’ve had 6 years of waiting for next year.
anon
28th November 2023, 7:48
MichaelN, seems that the ACO will be criticised whatever they do with the BoP regulations.
If they heavily use the BoP regulations, then people complain that other teams only win because of the BoP and that the ACO is interfering excessively to ‘penalise success’. If they do not, then we have people complaining that the ACO should be using the BoP regulations to mix up the grid more because one team is being too successful.
Algebra
27th November 2023, 12:43
Finally Kubica in a Ferrari
Dane
27th November 2023, 14:26
I know, it almost brings a tear to my eye. If I remember correctly he had an offer to race for them in F1 before his injury.
Mark Reville (@myrrve)
27th November 2023, 22:25
To be pedantic about it though, it’s not the main Scuderia Ferrari team he’ll be driving for, is it ? Amato Ferrari (no relation to Enzo, just a namesake) is a privateer using the Ferrari powertrain just like Haas and Sauber do in F1.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
27th November 2023, 15:21
Great to see the third Ferrari as I thought it would never happen. Another Jota Porsche is very welcome too.
I just wish they’d stop messing with car weights and ballast every race – it’s not touring cars – and sort out their numbering system, it’s a right mess!