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The rules crisis facing the World Endurance Championship

OPINION: After floating its hypercar concept, and then changing it for a number of manufacturers that are still yet to confirm an intent to compete, the World Endurance Championship's future is in peril. It must act swiftly or face impending doom

Gary Watkins May 15, 2019, 1:20 PM

If you're not particularly enthused by the prospect of a pair of Toyotas - and realistically two Toyotas only - slugging it out at the Le Mans 24 Hours unchallenged next month, then you've probably got an eye on 2021 and a new era for the World Endurance Championship. I only wish I could tell you the shape and the form of the cars that will be vying for outright victory in the world's greatest race two years hence.

I can't tell you now, and I probably won't be able to tell you tomorrow after what what could turn out to be one of those seminal days in the sometimes tortured history of sportscar racing. Probably not next week, either. That's how uncertain these times are.

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Author Gary Watkins

Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.

Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.