Toyota doesn't want second WEC race in US as calendar expands
Toyota is against the idea of a second World Endurance Championship round in the United States amid Roger Penske’s push to get Indianapolis on the calendar.


Earlier this year Penske revealed he had held talks with the WEC about staging a race on the Indianapolis road course, which previously hosted Formula 1 events from 2000 to 2007, saying the plan was at “the top of his list”.
The discussions precede Penske’s eponymous squad joining forces with Porsche for its LMDh programme in both the WEC and the IMSA SportsCar Championship from 2023.
The USA is already represented on the WEC schedule, with the Sebring International Raceway hosting the opening round every year as part of a joint weekend with IMSA, an event that has universally been hailed a success.
WEC boss Frederic Lequien previously mentioned that he is willing to consider expanding the series’ footprint in the US, but ruled out adding a second race in the country in the short term.
Asked for his opinion on the WEC calendar, Toyota’s technical director Pascal Vasselon said it is important for the championship to have a homogenous mix of races from different continents instead of concentrating on one particular region.
“When you have 24 races like F1 you can have several [rounds in the US],” said Vasselon, referring to F1 adding Miami and Las Vegas to its existing fixture at Austin in recent years.
“In our case, we have to be a bit more careful in distribution between continents.
“When you already have one race in the US, maybe it's better to go [to] some other races. Also, we are quite flexible on that with more races.
“We have a list of possible [options]. We could go back to Silverstone as well, so many possible places.”

Toyota would favour a return to Silverstone for the first time since 2019
The WEC had to shrink the calendar from eight events to just six rounds in both 2021 and 2022 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has since adopted a stepped approach in returning to its usual strength.
Next year, the WEC will return to Portimao in Portugal, with an eighth round expected to follow in 2024 at a yet-to-be decided location.
Vasselon admits that it is important for WEC to have a longer calendar, believing six races a year is simply too few from the perspective of teams.
“We are happy to have a bit more races [in 2023], because here at the moment we have races every two months and it's really too long between races and it's easy to lose focus,” he said.
“We believe we should go to eight races. Six is really not enough to feel the season. it's easy to lose the reason.”
Peugeot wants South America round
While the WEC has had a permanent presence in North America since the inception of the championship in 2012 via the US event, and even had a second round in Mexico in 2016 and 2017, South America has been absent from the WEC calendar since the series' last Brazilian round in 2014.
Peugeot hopes the WEC would be able to stage a race in South America in the coming years and allow the brand to take advantage of its strong market presence in that region.
The French manufacturer also wants the series to expand its TV coverage in Europe before the start of what has been touted as a new golden era of sportscar racing.
“We would love to go to South America because South America has very enthusiastic people in motorsport,” said Peugeot motorsport boss Jean-Marc Finot.

Peugeot wants to see a return to South America for the first time since Brazil's 2014 race
Photo by: Motorsport Images
“For the Peugeot brand, it's also interesting to have visibility in South America, either Brazil, Argentina or Chile. If there is any opportunity we would support it.
“Portugal is quite interesting and a great market for us. It's OK to go.
“We would also love to have a broadcast in Spain. We would like to have a better broadcast of WEC in Europe.
“While there's Eurosport in Europe, you don't have a free channel in Italy, Portugal, Spain, UK and we would love that these countries could enjoy watching WEC and our cars fighting.”

What the brave new world of LMDh really looks like on track
The sportscar champion eyeing a reset after his "toughest year" to date

Latest news
Bathurst 12 Hour: Van Gisbergen Mercedes leads after first quarter
Shane van Gisbergen’s Triple Eight Mercedes headed Matt Campbell’s Manthey Porsche after three hours of racing at Mount Panorama in the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Tanak scores first Puma win in preparation for WRC Rally Sweden
Ott Tanak claimed his first victory driving an M-Sport Ford Puma after winning the Otepaa Winter Rally in preparation for next week’s World Rally Championship round in Sweden.
Ranking the worst Formula 1 cars to win a grand prix
Cars that rarely looked like contenders for victory have occasionally slipped through the net to become winners of world championship Formula 1 races. But which was the worst of the bunch?
Schumacher radio criticism highlighted F1 privacy change for Russell
George Russell says that the way an off-the-cuff radio remark criticising Mick Schumacher last year became a big deal shows how he is more under the spotlight in Formula 1.
Why the WEC should make space for modern garagistes in 2023
OPINION: There is plenty of excitement over the glut of manufacturers tackling the Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship this season. The selection committee is set to face headaches over who it decides to admit and who gets turned away from the 2023 entry list, but history tells us that the smaller entrants have a place
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022
Is Qatar the price motorsport fans have to pay?
OPINION: Fresh from hosting a controversial 2022 football World Cup, Qatar has added its name to the 2024 World Endurance Championship calendar. Although questions may be asked about its presence on the calendar, is it simply the price to pay for having a healthy racing championship?
How Toyota defeated Alpine for the 2022 WEC title
Toyota #8 trio Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa outscored their rivals in the last season before the World Endurance Championship’s top class gets ultra-competitive. Here's how their Hypercar battle with Alpine and the remaining class tussles played out in LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am
The long road to convergence for sportscar racing's new golden age
The organisers of the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship worked together to devise the popular new LMDh rule set. But to turn it from an idea into reality, some serious compromises were involved - both from the prospective LMDh entrants and those with existing Le Mans Hypercar projects...
How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game
The 956 set the bar at the dawn of Group C 40 years ago, and that mark only rose higher through the 1980s, both in the world championship and in the US. It and its successor, the longer-wheelbase 962, were voted as Autosport's greatest sportscar in 2020 - here's why
Why BMW shouldn't be overlooked on its return to prototypes
OPINION: While the focus has been on the exciting prospect of Ferrari vs Porsche at the Le Mans 24 Hours next year, BMW’s factory return to endurance racing should not be ignored. It won't be at the French classic next year as it focuses efforts on the IMSA SportsCar Championship, but could be a dark horse in 2024 when it returns to La Sarthe with the crack WRT squad
The problem sausage kerbs continue to cause
Track limits are the problem that motorsport doesn't seem to be able to rid itself of. But the use of so-called 'sausage kerbs' as a deterrent has in several instances only served to worsen the problem, and a growing number of voices want to see action taken
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.