With a new class of car, a rivalry, and the greatest number of racers ever in two categories, the 2021 World Endurance Championship will begin next week with the first testing (or prologue) at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium with the six-hour race to start on Saturday, May 1.
For starters, the top category for so long of a time, the LMP 1 division, now has been replaced with a Hypercar category, with six cars entered this season. Toyota Gazoo Racing has not changed much at all as far as the driver line-up is concerned, which includes two Japanese pilots, Kamui Nakajima and Kaz Nakajima, along with Mike Conway and Juan Maria Lopez returning.
Formally being in LMP 2 for quite a while, French team Alpine, which also has an entry in Formula 1, moves up to challenge the Japanese giant. However, there is only one car entered, and it carries a non-hybrid engine.
The United States is entered in this category with James Glickenhaus producing two cars with Ferrari engines. Unfortunately, the team will miss the opener in Belgium as the team continues to test the car. Hopefully, it will be ready when the next round begins in June in Portugal.
The LMP2 division will remain on the calendar and has 11 cars entered. It’s probably the most competitive group in the championship with nine different nations involved. The European Lemans series is the all-female team of Richard Mille Racing with Tatiana Calderon, Sophia Florsch, and Beitske Visser. There are also many former popular drivers involved as Indy car, And Formula 1 former pilot Juan Pablo Montoya, along with LMP2 returnee Anthony Davidson, a former F1 driver, reigning formula E champion Antonio Felix da Costa, four-time Lemans category winner Jan Magnussen, reigning LMP 2 and ELMS champion Filipe Albuquerque, and Phil Hanson also return to this category.
The LMGTE Pro division returns, and it’s the smallest category with only four cars.
With Aston Martin devoting most of their time to Formula 1, the category will be an old fashion fight between two major and popular manufacturers, Porsche and Ferrari.
The Italian giant has the most championships in this category with six. The only change is the replacement of Dane Michael Christensen with Swiss Neel Jani in the sister 92 Porsche car.
Finally, the least known category, the LMGTE am, is the highest contested division with 13 entered. Five Ferraris, along with five Porsches and three Aston Martin customer cars, will head this huge line-up. D’ Station Racing, an all-rooked team, will run with an Aston Martin engine.
Another all-rookie team is the Iron Lynx entry, which will race with an all-female cast of Rahel Frey, Manuela Gostner, and Michelle Gating.
Lynx will be equipped with a Ferrari engine. Italian team Cetilar Racing will transition from LMP 2 to this division. Gulf Racing will become GR Racing with returnees AF Corse, Dempsey-Proton Racing, and TF Sport, which will remain with a custom Aston Martin engine.
The WEC seems to have an exciting future, but for even more in the Hypercar category, which will include Peugeot next season. Porsche and their sister car, Audi, are expected to enter the following season.
