The most eagerly-awaited sportscar season ever

Porsche's return, a new set of revolutionary regulations for LMP1, fresh privateer challengers on the way and a wave of new P2 machinery coming must make this the most eagerly-anticipated season of international sportscar racing ever.

There's just so much going on in the World Endurance Championship, which kicks off at Silverstone this weekend, to excite sportscar fans.

And that's without taking into account the GTE Pro class and an ongoing battle between Ferrari, Aston Martin and Porsche that promises to be even more intense than before.

The new era won't be without its problems, witness the absentees from Silverstone, but the championship is most definitely on the up.

PORSCHE'S RETURN

Rejoice, O ye, rejoice! Porsche is back where it should be - and always used to be - at the top of the sportscar racing tree. The race debut of the 919 Hybrid LMP1 this weekend is reason enough for any motor racing fan living within 200 miles of Silverstone to make sure they can say in years to come, "I was there".

Porsche's return to high-level motorsport with a car capable of challenging Audi and Toyota for glory at the Le Mans 24 Hours is the biggest story of the 2014 WEC.

The long wait - a grand total of 15 seasons - means it has to be, radical new rules or not. We are, after all, talking about the manufacturer with 16 outright wins at Le Mans.

And just in case that wasn't news enough, the German manufacturer is bringing a Formula 1 star of almost the highest magnitude to the party. Mark Webber's inclusion in its driver line-up is good for Porsche, but it is also good for the WEC and its growing profile.

A RADICAL RULE BOOK FOR LMP1

The new LMP1 regulations, jointly crafted by the FIA and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest at Le Mans in conjunction with the manufacturers, place an emphasis on efficiency. Each car is given a quantity of fuel it can use each lap - and an amount of hybrid power it can return to the track - and has to get on with it.

The new rules, in theory at least, bring an end to the long-running equivalency debate over the merits of diesel and petrol. The so-called Equivalency of Technology is based on science and the fuel allocations have been set in stone for the first three races, up to including Le Mans, so the politicking and sandbagging of past seasons should - that's a hopeful should - be a thing of the past.

Audi has already questioned late changes to the fuel allocations for petrol and diesel cars published last week, but the reality is that there is nothing it can do about it.

STOP-GO PENALTIES

That's the prospect facing the manufacturers if they exceed their fuel allowance or the amount of hybrid energy they use.

There's a range of sanctions, starting with a drive-through and ending with draconian stop-goes for repeat offences.

The system, of course, supposes that energy useage can be correctly measured. The confidence of the FIA and the ACO in the accuracy and reliability of the Gill flow sensor also used in F1 isn't matched by the manufacturers.

If the Gill sensor isn't up the job, it could get messy.

WILL IT BE RACING?

The FIA and the ACO insist that the answer is yes. And the manufacturers are most definitely singing from the same song book on this one.

The fact that there is a strict amount of fuel that can be used per lap is the crucial difference between the new rules and the old Group C fuel-formula of the 1980s. There can be no saving of fuel to be used later in the race.

If you don't use it, you lose it, so there will be none of the slowing of cars in the final stages of a race to get back on their fuel schedule that plagued the Group C era.

But speak privately to some of the drivers, and they're not quite so sure. New rules demand a new style of driving, a fuel-efficient style that could make for less frenetic racing. We will have the first chance to see what effect this has on the racing at Silverstone.

AUDI'S VOLTE FACE

Audi did something out of character earlier this year. It shocked us by revealing that it wouldn't be racing one element of the technological package announced for its new R18 e-tron quattro back in December.

It dropped the exhaust-driven energy-retrieval system, which was akin to an F1 Motor Generator Unit - Heat, and will race with just one hybrid mechanism, running as before off the front axle. What's more, it will run in the lowest of the four sub-classes of allowed hybrid power.

That means the new R18 will be recuperating less power than its predecessor and just one third of the amount of Toyota and Porsche. The rules incentivise bigger hybrid systems, which suggest that its rivals will have an advantage. As, of course, does Audi's initial plan to run a second system.

WHAT CAN THE P1 PRIVATEERS DO?

We won't find out at Silverstone, unfortunately. Neither the all-new chassis built by ORECA for Rebellion Racing (above), the top prototype privateer in Le Mans-rules racing this side of the Atlantic, nor the German Lotus LMP squad's AER-engined T129 are ready. Debuts for both at Spa look possible rather than certain.

Both teams have been encouraged by the new regulations to build their new cars. The rules in the LMP1-L (L for light) class reserved for privateers won't give them an advantage, but the idea is that a well-run privateer P1 will be close enough to exploit any mishaps on the part of the manufacturer teams, something that wasn't the case in previous seasons.

The shame is that the delays in both programmes means they are going to be behind the game for the first half of the season up to and including Le Mans in June. Rebellion, though, will be at Silverstone, having dusted down its old Lola coupes.

WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS FOR LMP2?

In the short-term, pretty dire. But in the long-term it's much, much better.

The P2 entry was already slightly down from last year to just seven and now three of those will be absent from Silverstone: the British Strakka team has withdrawn its new Strakka Dome S103 from the WEC opener and round two at Spa next month after hitting technical problems in its belated first pre-season test; and Millennium Racing, run by Delta-ADR, has had to withdraw its two ORECAs from Silverstone with financial problems that it insists will be solved in time for the Belgian event.

The future also looks precarious for Russian entrant SMP Racing, which fields a pair of ORECAs to be run by AF Corse. It has warned that sanctions against Russian companies resulting from the Ukraine situation could have a negative impact on its racing programmes across the sportscar and junior single-seater arenas.

That's the bad news. The good news is the wave of new cars on its way to the category - some this year and some next. The Strakka Dome and the Ligier JSP2, which is due to make its race debut at Le Mans in June, are the first of a new breed of coupes coming to P2.

Teething problems or no, they have the potential - along with new closed-top cars from ORECA and HPD due next year - to move the goal-posts in the category. What's more, they look the part.

EVEN CLOSER COMPETITION IN GTE

The GTE Pro category produced some of the best action out on the track in last year's WEC. Aston Martin and Ferrari went at it hammer and tongs, though Porsche wasn't quite there except for the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The new version of the 997-shape 911 RSR that came on stream at the Bahrain finale should change all that.

The Porsche has already notched up a pair of victories in the United SportsCar Championship enduros at Daytona and Sebring in the USA this year and was quickest at the official WEC test at Paul Ricard last month.

That suggests it will be in the mix with the Ferrari 458 Italia and Aston Vantage GTE, which again should be evenly matched courtesy of a specification freeze for 2014.

Follow all the action from round one of the 2014 World Endurance Championship at Silverstone on AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live, with updates throughout the race from 11.30am on Sunday April 20

ENTRY LIST

LMP1
Audi Sport Team Joest - Audi R18 e-tron quattro
#1 Tom Kristensen (DK)/Loic Duval (F)/Lucas di Grassi (BR)
#2 Andre Lotterer (D)/Benoit Treluyer (F)/Marcel Fassler (CH)
#3 Oliver Jarvis (GB)/Marco Bonanomi (I)/Filipe Albuquerque (P) *[1]
Toyota Racing - Toyota TS040 HYBRID
#7 Alex Wurz (A)/Stephane Sarrazin (F)/Kazuki Nakajima (J)
#8 Anthony Davidson (GB)/Nicolas Lapierre (F)/Sebastien Buemi (CH)
Porsche Team - Porsche 919 Hybrid
#14 Romain Dumas (F)/Neel Jani (CH)/Marc Lieb (D)
#20 Timo Bernhard (D)/Mark Webber (AUS)/Brendon Hartley (NZ)
Lotus LMP - Lotus-AER T129 *[2]
#9 Christijan Albers (NL)/Pierre Kaffer (D)/Christophe Bouchut (F) *[4]
Rebellion Racing - Rebellion-Toyota R-One *[4]
#12 Nick Heidfeld (D)/Nicolas Prost (F)/Mathias Beche (CH)
#13 Andrea Belicchi (I)/Fabio Leimer (CH)/Dominik Kraihamer (A)

LMP2
Strakka Racing — Strakka Dome-Nissan S103 *[5]
#21 Danny Watts (GB)/Jonny Kane (GB)/Nick Leventis (GB)
Millennium Racing - ORECA-Nissan 03 *[6]
#22 John Martin (AUS)/Oliver Turvey (GB)/Fabien Giroix (F)
#23 Mike Conway (GB)/Shinji Nakano (J)/Stefan Johansson (S)
G-Drive Racing (OAK) - Morgan-Nissan LMP2 *[7]
#26 Olivier Pla (F)/Roman Rusinov (RU)/Julien Canal (F)
SMP Racing (AF Corse) - ORECA-Nissan 03
#27 Nicolas Minassian (F)/Sergey Zlobin (RU)/Maurizio Mediani (I)
#37 Kirill Ladygin (RU)/Anton Ladygin (RU)/Viktor Shaitar (RU)
KCMG - ORECA-Nissan 03
#47 Richard Bradley (GB)/Matt Howson (GB)/
Alex Imperatori (CH) & Tsugio Matsuda (J) *[8]

GTE PRO
AF Corse — Ferrari 458 Italia
#51 Gianmaria Bruni (I)/Toni Vilander (FIN)
#71 James Calado (GB)/Davide Rigon (I)
Porsche Team - Manthey Porsche 911 RSR
#91 Patrick Pilet (F)/Jorg Bergmeister (D)/Nick Tandy (GB) *[9]
#92 Frederic Makowiecki (F)/Marco Holzer (D)/Richard Lietz (A) *[10]
Aston Martin Racing - Aston Martin Vantage GTE
#97 Darren Turner (GB)/Stefan Mucke (D)
#99 Darryl O'Young (PRC)/Alex MacDowall (GB)/Fernando Rees (BR)
Ram Racing - Ferrari 458 Italia
#62 Matt Griffin (IRL)/Alvaro Parente (P)

GTE AM
Ram Racing - Ferrari 458 Italia
#53 Johnny Mowlem (GB)/Ben Collins (GB/Mark Patterson USA) *[11]
AF Corse - Ferrari 458 Italia
#61 Marco Cioci (I)/Luis Perez Companc (RA)/Mirko Venturi (I)
#81 Michele Rugolo (I)/Steve Wyatt (AUS)/
Sam Bird (GB) & Andrea Bertolini (I) *[12]
ProSpeed Competition - Porsche 911 GT3-RSR
#75 Emmanual Collard (F)/Francois Perrodo (F)/Matthieu Vaxiviere (F)
Proton Competition - Porsche 911 RSR
#88 Klaus Bachler (A)/Christian Ried (D)/Khaled Al Qubaisi (UAE)
8Star Motorsports (AF Corse) - Ferrari 458 Italia
#90 Enzo Potolicchio (VN)/Paolo Ruberti (I)/Gianluca Roda (I)
Aston Martin Racing - Aston Martin Vantage GTE
#95 Kristian Poulsen (DK)/David Heinemeier Hansson (DK)/
Richie Stanaway (NZ) & Nicki Thiim (DK) *[13]
#98 Paul Dalla Lana (CDN)/Pedro Lamy (P)/Christoffer Nygaard (DK)

NOTES
[1] Extra car for Spa and Le Mans only
[2] Not present at Silverstone
[3] Kaffer and Bouchut to be confirmed
[4] Runs Lola-Toyota B12/60s at Silverstone
[5] Not present at Silverstone or Spa
[6] Not present at Silverstone
[7] Due to swap to Ligier-Nissan JSP2 after Le Mans
[8] Matsuda drives at Silverstone
[9] Tandy drives at Silverstone and Le Mans only
[10] Lietz drives at Silverstone and Le Mans only
[11] Patterson contests four races only
[12] Bird drives at Silverstone and Le Mans only
[13] Thiim drives at Silverstone and Le Mans only

CALENDAR

April 20      6 Hours of Silverstone
May 3         6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
June 14-15    Le Mans 24 Hours
September 20  6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas
October 12    6 Hours of Fuji
November 2    6 Hours of Shanghai
November 15   6 Hours of Bahrain