Plans for new LMP2 rules for 2017 to be presented at WEC test

The FIA and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, who are jointly writing the regulations, will host the latest meeting at which the new formula will be discussed with interested parties at the Paul Ricard event.

They will present their proposals for how constructors will bid for one of the four allocated slots, which will cover the four-year lifespan of the rules up to the end of 2020.

It is understood that there is a target price of €500,000 for a rolling chassis, which is up from the present maximums of €450,000 and €370,000 for closed and open-top machinery respectively.

It is known that it is the intention for one of the four spots to be reserved for a North American constructor, because the new P2 formula is due to be adopted for the Prototype category in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship from 2017.

Honda Performance Development and Riley Technologies have both expressed interest in bidding to become one of the four constructors.

The FIA and the ACO have yet to go public on their ideas for the next set of rules for the cost-capped P2 category, but last week's World Motor Sport Council confirmed that it would be a one-make-engine formula.

A brief line in the WMSC bulletin, which caught WEC bosses by surprise, read: "A single engine will be designated with the goal to universalise the 2017 LMP2 category."

The Prototype category in the USC would remain an open formula, while manufacturers racing in the US would be able to produce their own bodykits with styling cues for the cars.

It is likely that the prerequisite for P2 engines to be production-based will be removed and that the category will remain an open tyre formula.