FIA tightens Hypercar eligibility requirements
The World Motor Sport Council has decided that FIA WEC competitors "must enter a homologated car under the name of an automotive brand" in the forthcoming Hypercar category from the 2020/21 season onwards. The news comes after privateer LMP1 outfit Rebellion Racing announced that it has partnered with Peugeot for its 2022 Hypercar program.
This decision was made during the fourth and final meeting of the World Motor Sport Council of the year, during the Annual General Assembly in Paris. The meeting was hosted by FIA President Jean Todt and FIA Deputy President for Sport, Graham Stoker.
As a result of the ruling, the status of both ByKolles' and Glickenhaus' planned Hypercar programs are now unclear.
It is not yet known whether Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, which is an American boutique car manufacturer, is eligible to enter its own car under these new rules. The most recent renderings of the non-hybrid car it plans to enter from earlier this year appeared to feature nods to Alfa Romeo, though the engine supplier has not yet been named.
Former LMP1 team ByKolles, meanwhile, is not currently linked to a manufacturer publicly. The last time ByKolles is known to have run a car was back in August, when it tested ENSO CLM P1/01 Gibson at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic.
Before it backed out of the FIA WEC at the end of last season, ByKolles stated publicly that its LMP1 car will continue to be updated and developed ahead of being entered in the WEC in 2020/21 together with the team’s planned Hypercar.
In addition to the mandate which prohibits the use of private chassis in the Hypercar class, a personnel limitation has also been introduced for the teams. A maximum of 40 operational staff is permitted, or 43 for competitors entering a car homologated with an ERS.
The nomenclature of world championship titles from next season has been agreed too. The four are as follows:
- FIA World Endurance Drivers’ Champion (Hypercar)
- FIA World Endurance Manufacturers’ Champion (Hypercar)
- FIA World Endurance Drivers’ Champion (LMGTE)
- FIA World Endurance Manufacturers’ Champion (LMGTE)
Stephen Kilbey
UK-based Stephen Kilbey is RACER.com's FIA World Endurance Championship correspondent, and is also Deputy Editor of Dailysportscar.com He has a first-class honours degree in Sports Journalism and is a previous winner of the UK Guild of Motoring Writers Sir William Lyons Award.
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