The winter break is over, testing and preparations are complete, and season three of the FIA World Endurance Championship is ready to start in style with the 6 Hours of Silverstone which takes place at the home of British motorsport in Northamptonshire on Sunday, 20th April.
Twenty seven cars representing the world’s finest automotive manufacturers and endurance racing teams will be assembled on the grid for Round One of the 2014 season and a great battle is in store throughout all four categories. The WEC’s 2013 World Champions feature among some of the finest racing talents in the world including, but far from limited to, former F1 names such as Anthony Davidson, Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld, Le Mans 24 hour legend Tom Kristensen, and GTE maestros such as Gianmaria Bruni, Darren Turner and Fred Makowiecki.
The entry list of 83 drivers features a number of new names to the WEC including the top three drivers from the 2013 GP2 series and six Russian drivers. Twelve British drivers will be determined to thrill their home crowd, together with several others such as Porsche’s Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley who live in the UK.
In LMP1 the three manufacturers Audi, Porsche and Toyota go head-to-head for the first time in a competitive situation, all three fielding two entries each in the hybrid-powered LMP1-H category. The technology is extremely hi-tech and complex, but the aim of each team remains simple: to spend the least amount of time in the pits, to use 30% less fuel than this time last year thanks to the new hybrid Energy Recovery Systems (ERS), and to use the talents of each of the three drivers in each car to lap as fast as possible on the way to overall victory. Will Audi’s R18 e-tron quattros and Toyota’s TS040 Hybrids be able to use their previous WEC experience to better effect than the Porsche 919 Hybrids which are making their debut? We won’t know until Sunday at 6:00pm!
With the recent withdrawal of the Lotus LMP team due to a delay in the preparation for their 2014 season, Rebellion Racing’s two LMP1-L entries are uncontested for the 6 Hours of Silverstone. The British-based Swiss team will be fielding its two Toyota-engined Lola B12/60s for this opening round of the season as the timing of this race did not quite coincide with the readiness for competition of the new Rebellion R-One LMP1.
Only two different chassis manufacturers are represented in the LMP2 category following the late withdrawal of the new Strakka Dome S103 and the two Millennium Racing entries from the United Arab Emirates. Multiple race winner in 2013, G-Drive Racing, must be considered as one of the favourites for title honours in 2014, the team fielding a Morgan chassis for its Russian-French crew. Three teams will be using the ORECA 03 – two from the Russian SMP Racing team and one from KCMG, the Hong Kong team making its full-season entry in the WEC. All the LMP2 entries use Nissan’s VK45 4.5-litre V8 powerplant.
LMGTE Pro once again promises to be one of the most closely contested and unpredictable classes in terms of results as there is a feast of driving talent at the wheel of the seven entries. These include 2013 LMGTE World Champions AF Corse which fields two Ferrari 458 Italias and has got a great mix of youth and experience available in its driving roster. ELMS LMGTE champions Ram Racing join the series with one Ferrari 458 in each of the LMGTE categories, and the British team’s Pro entry looks more than capable of challenging the factory-led teams. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year is Aston Martin Racing and the British team is determined to turn the tables on its Italian rival who pipped it to the title last year. Its two Vantage V8s will be driven by a hugely experienced duo and a new British-Chinese-Brazilian combination which is sure to excite. Joining the Pro class for another season is Porsche Team Manthey, its 911 RSRs in the hands of an impressive line-up of Porsche factory drivers.
The LMGTE Am class has the largest number of entries at eight, four of which are Ferrari 458 Italias. Two of these will be run by AF Corse, one by Ram Racing and one by 2013 GTE Am Team Champion 8Star Motorsports. Two Aston Martin Vantage V8s – one crewed wholly by Danes and the other by a Canadian-Portuguese-Danish combination of drivers – will be taking the fight to the Ferraris, as will the two Porsche entries. Proton Competition returns to the fray with a 911 RSR and the Belgian Prospeed Competition team moves up from ELMS with its Porsche 911 GT3 RSR for a 100% French line up which includes the youngest driver on the full season entry list.
Action, star names, thrills and maybe even some spills are all around the corner at the 6 Hours of Silverstone. Practice begins on Friday 18th April with qualifying on Saturday 19th and the race itself on Easter Sunday. Fans will be treated to a full timetable of activities both on and off track, with the European Le Mans Series and the FIA F3 European Championship also racing at Silverstone.
The full entry list can be found HERE
Fiona Miller
