8 Little Things That Irritate Me About The FIA WEC
1. Lack of LM GTE coverage
One thing I have noticed while watching the FIA WEC races for a long period of time is that LMP1 and LMP2 get much more airtime compared to the LM GTE categories. While it’s obvious that LMP1 includes the biggest manufacturers and teams, the battles in the GT classes are often missed.
2. Quiet calendar
It’s such a big series and with a huge following, so it’s disappointing that there are only nine rounds this season. We want more! Yes, we get six (or on one occasion, 24) hours of action but the racing is really exciting and it would be awesome to see more locations and tracks on the calendar.
3. Dull liveries
I really liked what Porsche did at Le Mans in 2015, with the three cars each having different coloured liveries. It would be great to see more creativity in some of the designs, especially in LMP1 where there is so much bodywork to cover. There is too much white and they all look quite similar. At least in LMP2 there are is a diverse range of colours and styles.
As a WEC and F1 fan, it frustrates me that the Le Mans 24 Hours and the European Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan, will clash. Qualifying for the F1 will start just as the action begins at the Circuit de la Sarthe in France and the famous endurance race will end just as the European GP begins. WHY YOU DO THIS?!
5. Driver ratings
As if endurance racing wasn’t categorised enough, with different classes and multiple drivers per car. Add to that the driver ratings system and it all gets a bit confusing. There are four categories, Platinum and Gold for pro drivers and Silver and Bronze for non-pros.
This all seems okay but biased judgement and odd choices have meant some drivers find themselves demoted in rank, when they really shouldn’t be. While it makes it easier to sort out cars that require a certain number of pro and non-pro drivers, the four categories are a cruel way to rate drivers and quite unfair.
6. Following the action
Particularly at the Le Mans 24 Hours, it can be quite tricky to pick out the positions cars are in during the night. While the number panels are lit up and there is a light system for the top three, I’d much prefer panels on the side of the car showing the position and other vital information like the number of laps completely. It’s just a little thing but it could help spectators. Maybe it’s just my poor eyesight?
7. Easy passes
While I really like the fact that each LMP1 car has its strengths and weaknesses, it was a little tiring to see the Porsche 919 Hybrids powering past the Audis on the straights. It would be really exciting to see cars being more closely matched in all areas and hopefully we will see more of that in 2016.
8. Drivers left out
I think the current qualifying format is pretty neat, with two drivers per car setting their fastest laps and the average being worked out to decide the grid. But it annoys me that not every driver is getting involved in qualifying, which is a hugely exciting time, pushing the cars to the limit. The LMP1 machines have three drivers each and this means some are left out.
While these small things may annoy me about WEC, I’m still a massive fan of the series and the 2015 season was mega. See why it was better than last year’s F1 here.
Comments
I really enjoyed watching the 12 Hours of Bathurst yesterday.
It was one hell of an enjoyable race, but not part of the WEC.
Races like the Bathurst 1000 and Nurburgring 24H are better than the WEC if you ask me, because there’s such a diverse range of cars. From high-powered GT3 cars with professional drivers and spec classes like the M235i Cup to V8-swapped Ford Focuses and Mazda3s and of course the odd Opel Corsa with a rag hanging out the window. You just have to love these kind of races.
#1: totally agree
#2: It has been considered (or maybe still is for 2017), but you have to think about the expenses for those races. In F1, teams have plenty of money to go to races, but I don’t think some small GTE-Am team will have the means to travel around the world so often. But maybe if F1 keeps on sucking, WEC will become even more popular and therefore increasing sponsorship money.
#3: Pretty much agree on this as well. I don’t understand why both Porsche and Audi have to mainly use a black and red on white livery.
#4: Simple solution: Screw F1, enjoy Le Mans. Maybe watch it afterwards.
#5: Quite hard to be objective here, though. But I agree.
#6: If you are streaming on the internet or watching on TV, then you should be fine. And if you are at the actual track, why not use one of the many apps that feature Live Timing? If have yet to attend Le Mans, but that’s the way I do it at the 24 hrs of the Nürburgring. Being there, for me at least, isn’t as much about following the outcome, but more about the general sensation: the speed, the sound and the party. But I agree, the numbers as seen in Daytona would be a nice feature.
#7: If I recall correctly, Audi is changing their energy recovery system for 2016. Might give us an improvement here.
#8: Yeah, that’s just stupid. Why not have an average of all 3 drivers?
While WEC is not flawless, I’m far more excited about the 2016 season than I am for F1.
#8 i think it is allowed to race the 6h races with only 2 drivers, so it wouldn’t be possible for some teams to let 3 drivers driving in qualifing
I’m super excited for both F1 and WEC this year, can’t wait to see what they both have in store for us
Excited for both. F1 can only get better, as more teams start to close the gap to Mercedes, and Ford is returning to WEC. But I wish BMW would enter WEC in the LMGTE class, The M6 GT3 would be perfectly suited to it.
Don’t get offended but this post is full of s*….. You just can’t admit that WEC is 10x better than F1
Firstly, thank you. And I agree right now the racing in WEC is way better, but there are still some things that annoy me about it, just like there are in F1
It’s definitely not 10x better. It’s better sure, but not that much better. Not even 2 or 3x. And by the way this same guy did an article called “17 reasons why WEC was better than F1 this year.” So take your hate elsewhere.
9: Fanboys comparing F1 and WEC all the time. Why cant we enjoy both? And the F1/ Le Mans clash thing has an easy solution. Put F1 on the TV and Le Mans on your computer. As simple as that
Oh I agree, we should just enjoy both and embrace them for what they are. But there will still be stuff that irritate you about both of them
Or if you’re me and you like to stream races, have 2 monitors to watch them on side-by-side.
Le Mans wil finish before the European GP starts.
I really liked the cars
Since #9 has been mentioned, #10: banning the rotary engine.
Yes
Possibly opening a new category for rotary cars
#11 seems like: No Hungarian coverage, even though we have wonderful commentators :(
That’s so annoying! Hopefully soon the TV broadcasters will see its potential and pick it up
1.No comment here.
2.. Not really partial. With the expenditures involved, we’re lucky to have 9. Mexico largely happened because the promoter subsidized the costs from shipping from the Nurburgring to Mexico City.
3.Blame the desire to have liveries match corporate colors. Porsche’s, Audi’s, and Toyota Gazoo’s brand colors have been the same.
4.Blame F1. Le Mans 2016 was scheduled before that.
5.The biggest issue for me there are the ex-Gold drivers who are now Silvers, like Scott Pruett and Boris Said. Other wise, I’m not fussed.
6.What are we to do about GTE-Am then? SPAA05’s leader lights system only illuminate in red, blue, and green, and GTE-Am’s class color is orange.
7.That’s what happens when you get diversity in the philosophy of the cars. It’s the same way in GT racing.
Your #3 is one of my biggest gripes in all of motorsports: identical liveries on team cars, save the color of the wing mirrors or the strip of tape at the top of the windscreen. It’s impossible to know which car you’re looking at without checking for some minute detail, which typically changes from team-to-team. Can you imagine trying to get someone new into motorsports when there’s 2-4 cars that look almost completely identical?
A: “Here comes McNish! Wow, that was a fast lap!”B: “No, that’s Lotterer”A: “But a minute ago you said that was McNish.”B: “McNish is in the other Audi”A: “How can I tell them apart?”B: “McNish’s car has the small white strip on the air intake, Lotterer’s car has the small black strip.”A: ……A: “I’m going home.”
I’m all for team unity in term of sponsors and themes, but it’s possible to make liveries that are complimentary without being identical. Look at Corvette’s “Jake the Skull” cars from Laguna Seca 2007. Look at the Pepsi Max Crew in the 2013 V8 Supercars season. Look at the John Force race team and its 100 million cars that have complimentary liveries without being carbon copies of each other. Why is this not a thing?
At least you get coverage there….