The World Endurance Championship (WEC) has formally confirmed McLaren’s entry to endurance racing.
Confirmed:
- 2024 will see 14 manufacturers and a record number of hypercars
- Newcomers in the hypercar category include Alpine, BMW, Lamborghini and Isotta Fraschini
- McLaren enters new LMGT3 class with United Autosports
Context:
The 2024 season is set to be the biggest yet for WEC, with an expanded calendar including a return to South America. The series is also set to benefit from wider visibility thanks to drivers like Mick Schumacher and MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi joining up for full-time drives.
Comment:
Frédéric Lequien, chief executive of WEC, said: “The sheer number of entries across both Hypercar and LMGT3 underlines the continued growth of FIA WEC and I'd like to take this moment to thank all our manufacturers and teams for putting their trust in us.
“To have an entry list featuring 19 Hypercars plus 18 LMGT3 entries representing 14 different manufacturers truly reflects the golden era of endurance racing that we are experiencing right now. The battles on track next season are going to be extraordinary and what's even more exciting is that we are expanding our calendar to eight races so that even more fans can enjoy the action.”
Coming next:
When the 2024 WEC season gets underway in Qatar for the first time, it will do so without the longstanding LMP2 class. A minimum of 15 slots on the grid will be reserved for the LMP2 category for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but outside of that WEC will be reduced to two categories.