FREE: How the WEC plans to stop the rot
The withdrawal of Audi and Porsche has left the World Endurance Championship's LMP1 class on the brink. But WEC CEO Gerard Neveu has not given up, and believes the series' fortunes can be revived
Imagine if Formula 1 lost Mercedes, then Ferrari a year later. Sure, Renault and the likes of independents Red Bull, Williams, McLaren and Force India would be there to step into the breach; but it would doubtless be a massive blow - a little like the one dealt by Audi and then Porsche pulling out of the WEC, leaving Toyota as the sole LMP1 factory competitor (if, indeed, it decides to stay on).
The WEC still has a thriving LMP2 class and an amazing GTE Pro category with no less than five manufacturers in 2018 (supported by the Am class) to prop the championship up, but the recent P1 withdrawals have nevertheless been a huge punch to the WEC's solar plexus.
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Charles Bradley is Motorsport.com’s Global Editor in Chief. After spending five years in the aerospace industry in his native North Wales, while working weekends as a freelance writer at racetracks around the UK, Charles joined the staff of Motoring News in the heart of London. He transferred to the nascent Autosport.com team in 2000 before transitioning to the magazine, becoming its Editor between 2011 and 2014. Charles then upped sticks to work in America, as Motorsport.com’s Editor in Chief, where he created the multi-national and multi-lingual editorial team that quickly became the world’s most-read motorsport website. He was instrumental in delivering three of the biggest Global F1 Fan Surveys in sports history and is also a multiple award-winning scriptwriter. Charles is an overseas member of the Guild of Motoring Writers. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife Helen – and a cat that’s named after Serbia’s top football club.
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