What to expect from sportscar racing's bold new Hypercar era

A slim field of three cars will be entered in the Hypercar class for the first round of the World Endurance Championship's post-LMP1 age. But there are plenty of reasons for optimism with the new wave of manufacturer entries and competing class philosophies just around the corner

Updated Apr 29, 2021, 1:01 PM

A new era starts for sportscar racing this weekend, what surely will be a golden one at that. Not that you would guess it by scanning down the entry list for Saturday’s opening round of the World Endurance Championship at Spa. There are only three cars entered in the new Hypercar class, and one of those is an old LMP1 machine.

Yet it’s who we know is coming that makes the future of top-flight prototype racing in the WEC and at the Le Mans 24 Hours such a mouthwatering prospect.

comments

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.