The season prologue will take place in Qatar on Monday and Tuesday, with the season’s initial race held there on Friday, March 2.
The numbers are quite different. There were four WEC categories at one time, then three. Now, for the first time in quite some years, the 2024 World Endurance Championship will have two new categories–one upgraded and the other new.
More manufacturers will be introduced for the Hypercar division as some drivers come from Formula 1, including one former world champion, Jenson Button. For this season, a record 19 cars will contest the hypercar category, and they will challenge the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team, who won every race last season except the Lemans 24 Hour Event, which, in its centenary, was taken by Ferrari.
Graphic courtesy FIAWEC
Along with the two already mentioned, Alpine will return following a two-year hiatus after competing before in the now-defunct LMP 2 class. Joining them will be the German giant BMW and two Italian teams, Isotta Franshini and Lamborghini, who will have two former Formula 1 drivers in Dani Kvyat and Frenchman Romain Grosjeabe Cadillac, Porsche, and Peug will be returning.
What makes this season different from the other years in this division is the installment of the LMH and LMDH technical regulations, which have a greater variety of technical approaches in addition to the aesthetics of the cars, cost-effectiveness, and sporting equality.
While the hypercar class has its own regulations, the newly installed GT3 platform replaces the outgoing GTE Pro and GTE AM classes. It will have an added feature with luminescent number panels and leader lights. The manufacturers that will head this class are expected to focus on gentleman drivers and private teams, including Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Lexus, Lamborghini, McLaren, and Porsche.
The season has nine races, including two in Qatar, a prologue, and a relief, which begins on March 2. However, a delay in the prologue because of shipping difficulties has moved the event to Monday and Tuesday, February 26 and 27.
Several races return on the schedule, but new circuits are at Imola in Italy, Sao Paulo in Brazil at the famous Interlagos circuit, and the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, in the United States.
It is a highly anticipated season that should be competitive for the teams and exciting for fans.
