Set to be confirmed officially this weekend the 2022 FIA WEC and ELMS will see a further contribution made to the cost reduction process for LMP2, to the class ‘stratification’ process and to the contributions made to enhanced sustainability across the paddock with the removal from the tyre choices available to teams of a defined ‘Intermediate’ option.
DSC sources have confirmed that the decision is based on a variety of factors linked to the three issues listed above and that teams have been consulted about the change. It would be fair to say that conditions in Session 1 of the Prologue on Sunday morning were not appropriate for intermediates anyway!
Confirmed yesterday by Algarve Pro’s Steven Thomas was the fact that an effort to field an LMP2 entry for Le Mans under the Ben Keating Motorsport banner went some way towards fruition, based on Keating’s auto invitation earned through IMSA competition.
The entry was withdrawn at a fairly late stage to be replaced on the full entry DSC understands, by WeatherTech Racing, who sources suggest were initially the first reserve!
A student of the history of the sport, Jim Glickenhaus is sporting a unique piece of its history this weekend with a wristwatch that was presented to Juan Manuel Fangio by Fidel Castro after the Cuban revolutionary and his men kidnapped the multiple world Champion in February 1958 as a propaganda move against the then Cuban government.
Whilst the FIA WEC paddock is fully occupied (it’s there – in the distance – see second pic below!) there are significant spaces awaiting the arrival of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge teams early next week.
Already on-site and with track sessions over the weekend are the cars from Porsche Sprint Challenge North America whose GT3 Cup and Cayman teams race on Sunday after which they will vacate the paddock to be replaced by the IMSA teams.
One significant change in the on-site arrangements from the inaugural Super Sebring event in 2019 is that the media contingent are now housed in the ‘Hall of Legends’ which has been equipped for an incoming contingent of c.400 media and PR personnel, a welcome change from the marquee that did service in 2019 which offered excellent space and facilities and near zero sound suppression, a noise meter wielded by our friend and colleague Marshall Pruett revealed an average reading of 98 decibels across each day (including the brief lulls between sessions!).
