Part 3 of our celebration of the FIA WEC reaching its 100th race this weekend looks at 51-75.
51
An ever-present number in the WEC with AF Corse, and likely its most successful with race and championship wins in GTE Pro in both the 458 and 488 eras, and a Le Mans win in the Hypercar era with the 499P.
52
The number of FIA WEC races before the Silverstone WEC race in 2018, notable for what happened post-race, the top two finishes, the pair of factory Toyotas were disqualified for having underfloor planks that were worn more than the permitted amount.
That left the #3 Rebellion R13 of Mathias Beche, Thomas Laurent, and Gustavo Menezes to take the win, the first race at that point in WEC history that had been won overall by a car other than the ‘big three’ LMP1 factory teams.
53
The total number of wins by Aston Martin across LMGTE Pro, LMGTE AM, and LMGT3.
And also the number of different drivers that have scored at least one podium finish in a Hypercar!
54
The number of different driver nationalities that have competed in the FIA WEC; this total does not include one-offs at Le Mans.
55
The points gap when the #33 Corvette took the title in the final year of GTE Am in 2023.
56
56 is for Garage 56.
The Garage 56 programme is for Le Mans only, and there have been multiple efforts in the WEC era, the Nissan efforts from Deltawing and the hybrid ZEOD, quad-amputee Frederic Sausset’s astonishing LMP2 effort and the subsequent academy car, and the wildly popular NASCAR Cup Series Camaro at the Centenary race in 2023.
57
#57 has adorned a trio of colourful and popular GTE Am efforts:
The first was the ‘Krohn Green for Tracy Krohn’s outfit, variously utilising Ferrari and Porsche machinery.
A Project One Porsche 911 RSR that gave Ben Keating his first WEC victory in Wynns colours.
The second came in the final year of GTE Am and saw Kessel Racing field a Ferrari 488 GTE for Takeshi Kimura in his iconic ‘highlighter yellow’ Car Guy livery.
58
Luxury Racing entered the first season with a big-budget two-car effort, the #58 in GTE AM, the #59 in Pro. It wouldn’t last, and it was all over post Le Mans, with regulatory consequences thereafter for any ‘full-season’ team that pulled out early!
59
The record points gap in the WEC LMP2 Championship came in the final year of the class, 2023, when Team WRT’s #41 Oreca edged out Inter Europol by a mere 59 points, with Louis Deletraz, Rui Andrade, and Robert Kubica being crowned the final LMP2 Champions.
60
Ginetta’s G60-LTP1 LMP1 car had two iterations. The first, in 2018, appeared at Le Mans only with Mecachrome power, the Manor-based CEFC TRSM effort falling foul of overpromised and under-delivered Chinese financing.
Ginetta’s owner, Lawrence Tomlinson, revived the project, though, with AER power, for the 2019-2020 season. But again, things faltered, the promising car struggled for ultimate reliability, and though very quick indeed, it couldn’t match the more reliable and more developed opposition. A podium on the effort’s debut at Silverstone was a high point, but it was all over after four races.
61
The number of the only Singaporean team ever to compete (and win!) in a full season of the FIA WEC, the much-missed Clearwater Racing.
62
This is the current maximum grid at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but for how much longer?
63
The number of wins by Ferrari across Hypercar, LM GTE Pro, LM GTE Am, and LM GT3.
64
The largest entry at any FIA WEC-qualifying race, the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring, the full-season FIA WEC grid was included alongside the full-season American Le Mans Series cars in an event that still gives the timing and race officials cold sweats!
65
The lowest points total for a full season WEC top class Porsche effort came in 2014 for the #20 Porsche 919, which actually scored 64.5 points for Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard, and Brendan Hartley, equal points with the sole Rebellion effort that season, which failed to score a single podium finish.
66
The arrival of the Ford GTs in GTE Pro in 2016 saw the first full-season entries from the Blue Oval.
The first Ford win came at Le Mans, for the guesting IMSA #68 Ford (see below!), but the top points scoring car for the WEC was the full-season #66, though it finished behind no fewer than three guesting IMSA cars in the class.
67
The number of wins in LMP2 by Oreca chassis, 03, 03R, 05, 07, and their Alpine derivatives is an impressive 67.
68
The oldest starting driver in an FIA WEC race outside of Le Mans is South African Jack Gerber, who was 68 years old in the 2013 season. His near full season (he missed the final round at Bahrain) included a podium at Le Mans alongside Marco Cioci and Matt Griffin!
The actual winner of Ford’s first race win in the FIA WEC was the guesting #68 Ford GT from the IMSA Championship at the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours. Joey Hand, Dirk Muller, and Sebastien Bourdais took the win in an all-IMSA podium after fighting off a titanic effort from the Risi Competizione Ferrari.
69
United Autosports’ only overall WEC podium to date came in the championship’s 69th race at Monza in 2021. Its #22 Oreca 07, crewed by Filipe Albuquerque, Phil Hanson, and Fabio Scherer, finished third overall to the #37 Toyota GR010 and #36 Alpine A480, one of only two overall podiums for a non-Hypercar in the Hypercar era.
70
Lone Star Le Mans at CoTA in 2025 was the 70th six-hour race in WEC History.
71
Porsche has scored a Championship record 71 wins this far across LMP1, Hypercar, LMGTE Pro, LMGTE AM, and LMGT3.
They are also the only marque to have secured titles in five different classes!
72
There will be 72 hours of racing in the 2025 FIA WEC across the eight rounds of the championship.
73
The #73 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R scored a first WEC event podium* at Le Mans in 2014, finishing second to the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 GT2.
*The 2012 12 Hours of Sebring saw Corvette C6.Rs finish second (and third) in the ALMS GT classification; the second-placed Corvette finished ahead of the WEC GTE Pro-winning Ferrari.
74
Since 2012, Italian powerhouse AF Corse has entered and/or supported at least 74 FIA WEC entries across every major class except LMP1.
That includes the present Hypercar and LMGT3 efforts, but also title-winning cars in LMP2 Pro-Am, LMGTE Pro, and LMGTE Am, as well as other race winners galore.
75
The oldest starter in any FIA WEC-qualifying race was Dominique Bastien, who started his second Le Mans 24 Hours at the age of 75 in 2021. He is still racing in one one-make Porsche competition.
