Penske "would love to see" WEC at Indy

Penske has outlined a desire to host a six-hour WEC race on the same weekend as the IMSA SportsCar Championship round at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which he bought along with the IndyCar Series in November 2019.

The idea was discussed with the WEC for 2024 as the series looked for a replacement for Sebring as the venue for its US round, but it wasn’t possible for scheduling reasons.

But Penske has insisted that the aspirations first raised in May 2022 for the WEC to race on the 2.60-mile road course at Indy, home of the US Grand Prix from 2000-07, remain current.

“We want to use that track for big events, international events - this is what the WEC would bring to us,” said Penske.

“We certainly would love to see it at Indianapolis and it would be great to have them [IMSA and WEC] on the same weekend.”

Penske revealed that Pierre Fillon, president of WEC promoter the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, and series boss Frederic Lequien travelled to Indianapolis after this year’s Sebring 1000 Miles season-opener in March.

“They saw what we had and we had some good discussions,” he said.

“We were down the road, but because IMSA was already committed to their dates and TV [it couldn’t happen].”

Austin will replace Sebring as America's WEC host next season - but could Indy get a look in after that?

Photo by: Paul Foster

The new-for-2023 Indianapolis IMSA fixture, known as the Battle of the Bricks, has been slotted into the calendar on 17 September.

Penske’s comments presuppose the IMSA race, which is scheduled to become a proper enduro in year two, will be on the corresponding weekend in 2024, when the WEC will return to Austin on 1 September.

That event falls two weeks before the long-standing Fuji fixture in Japan on 15 September, meaning it is likely to be a direct clash with the Indy IMSA round.

Lequien wouldn’t discuss the prospects of Indianapolis joining the WEC in 2025, though it is understood that Austin’s contract is for one year only.

“We need to concentrate on 2024 and build a great event, and then we will see for the future,” he told Autosport.

A new venue was sought by the WEC for its all-important US fixture after the end of a five-year deal to race on the bill of the Sebring 12 Hours IMSA round.

The inaugural running of the Sebring 1000 Miles was in 2019 before the COVID pandemic forced its cancellation in 2020 and ’21.

Austin hosted the US round from 2013 to ’17 and again in 2019/20 when it was a late replacement for a cancelled race at Interlagos.