World championship status for the GTE from 2017

Long desired, FIA world championship status will be awarded to the GTE category in WEC from next season, as confirmed by the World Motor Sport Council in Vienna this Wednesday.

With the confirmed arrival of BMW in 2018, and the expected arrival of Lamborghini, the creation of the Drivers' and Manufacturers' world titles has been integrated to increase the brands' involvement in the championship.

The freezing of regulations in the hybrid LM P1 category until the end of 2019, announced by the WEC organizers after the Bahrain final, has also been recorded.

In terms of the calendar, and as previously announced, the Prologue of the season will no longer take place at Paul-Ricard in Var, but in the temple of speed in Monza in Italy, at the end of March.

Note that the clash of dates between the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the European Grand Prix in Baku (Azerbaijan) will not take place. On the other hand, the weekend of July 15 and 16 will still see a conflict of dates between the WEC and the round of Formula e from New York.

WEC 2017 Calendar

March 24/25 – Prologue, Monza (Italy)

April 16 – 6 Hours of Silverstone (Great Britain) 

May 6 – 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) 

June 17/18 – 24 Hours of Le Mans (France) 

July 16 – 6 Hours of the Nürburgring (Germany) 

September 3 – 6 Hours of Mexico (Mexico) 

September 16 – 6 Hours of the Circuit of the Americas (Texas / USA) 

October 15 – 6 Hours of Fuji (Japan) 

November 5 – 6 Hours of Shanghai (China) 

November 18 – 6 Hours of Bahrain (Bahrain)