WEC ponders opening LMP2 to all-pro driver line-ups for 2015
Allowing all-professional driver line-ups in LMP2 in the World Endurance Championship is one of the options under consideration for next season as part of a review of the category
WEC promoter the Automobile Club de l'Ouest instigated the review of what is presently a pro-am class after only four P2 cars were present for the opening round of the series at Silverstone last month.
ACO sporting manager Vincent Beaumesnil said: "It is clear that we have to do something, because we do not have enough cars at the moment.
"We could imagine a situation where LMP2 becomes all-pro or maybe all-silver [for silver-rated or amateur drivers]; we will look at every possibility."
Beaumesnil explained that allowing all-pro driver line-ups could help attract drivers from GP2 and Formula Renault 3.5.
"We would like them to understand that LMP2 can open doors to factory drivers as it has done for Brendon Hartley [via the European Le Mans Series] and Mike Conway.
"But at the moment there is a problem because many GP2 and FR3.5 drivers do not want to race with a silver [of which there must be one in each line-up]."
Other options believed to be under discussion are trying to get full world championship status for the P2 division. The winning drivers in the class presently compete for the FIA Endurance Trophy title.
Seven full-time entries were received in P2 for this year's WEC, but the withdrawal of the two Millennium Racing ORECA-Nissan 03s run by Delta-ADR and Strakka Racing with the new Dome S103 resulted in the four-car entry at Silverstone.
Those cars were bolstered by the ELMS regular Jota Sport at Spa last weekend.
Strakka is due to return for the Le Mans 24 Hours next month, while it remains unclear if the Millennium programme will begin in the second half of the season.
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| Series | WEC |
| Author | Gary Watkins |
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