FIA WEC to replace LMP1 with road car-based formula

A new set of regulations have been signed off by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council for the top of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) class for the 2020/21 season, which will see the LMP1 category superseded by a new generation of prototype racers, according to Motorsport.

Announced at a meeting in the Philippines, the target is for competing manufacturer budgets to be one quarter of the levels of expenditure currently seen in LMP1, and that there will be “freedom of design based on a hypercar concept,” the WMSC statement said.

More details are said to be forthcoming from the FIA when WEC promoter Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) holds its press conference ahead of this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, though the new set of rules – currently said to bear the working title ‘GTP’ – are understood to be aimed at giving the top-tier racers greater resemblance to the manufacturers’ road-going supercars.

2017 Ford GT '66 Heritage Edition Mustang

Present at the table during the announcement of the new rules were representatives of Toyota, McLaren, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Ford; the regulations could see cars adapted from the likes of the Senna GTR, Valkyrie, FXX K and the Ford GT for racing in this new series.

The forthcoming ACO press conference is also expected to see a plan to encourage greater participation of female drivers in the WEC, according to the report. Meanwhile, the next Sebring round of the championship which will take place next March has also been confirmed as a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) race instead of the previously announced 1,500 miles (2,400 km), the report added.

The venue will be a busy one. The WEC round has been slated to take place on March 15, which is a day before the Sebring 12 Hours IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round.

GALLERY: McLaren Senna GTR concept