An try and prevent teams competing within the Hypercar World Endurance Championship from fielding two drivers from next season has apparently failed.
This proposal, recommend by the WRT BMW team, was not welcomed by the opposite participants and can probably be rejected.
The decisions were made by WRT boss Vincent Vosse in response to Cadillac’s decision to field just two drivers within the six-hour races this 12 months. However, Vosse admitted that the established order, which allows teams and manufacturers to choose whether to field two or three drivers, is prone to remain.
It is thought that without the unanimous support of the teams there can be no changes to the sports regulations.
“I would be surprised if there was a change,” Vosse told Motorsport.com. “It seems that most manufacturers are against imposing a new rule.”
The complications of getting to introduce a three-driver squad and the multitude of rule changes it might require explain why most look like against the change.
There are currently no driving time regulations in Hypercar and there are not any rules allowing teams to nominate a reserve driver for a race weekend, not even for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn
Photo: Andreas Beil
Porsche Penske Motorsport Managing Director Jonathan Diuguid said: “It would make the regulations far more complicated.
“We have a spare driver for some races, but not for all of them. Now, if one in every of our drivers gets sick, we could get through the weekend [with two].
“If we start enforcing three drivers, that can begin to cause problems, especially within the event of a collision of events where we will’t have a spare driver.
“Besides, these are complicated cars to drive, so we don’t wish to employ drivers who are usually not prepared.
“I don't like to use the S word, which is safety, but this is probably something that falls into that category.”
Peugeot Sport technical director Olivier Jansonnie made an identical argument for keeping the foundations of their current form, declaring that the French manufacturer only fielded two drivers in each of its cars at Spa in May when Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne were Formula E drivers in Berlin.
“The solution we found in Spa was a good compromise and we would like to keep the same regulations,” he explained.
“If you have three drivers and something happens to one, you can always do the race with just two. We are pushing for the rules to stay the same.”
#94 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, Loic Duval
Photo: JEP / Motorsports images
Batti Pregliasco, manager of the factory AF Corse team, also said the regulations “should remain as they are”.
There can be a second proposal on the table, consistent with the one regarding two and three drivers.
This would mean stopping teams and manufacturers from changing drivers through the season, which could have a serious impact on those teams whose drivers also compete within the FE World Championship.
“It’s important to keep the door open,” Pregliasco said. “We’re happy with our six drivers, but I understand that a manufacturer might want to bring in a driver for Le Mans. Or a driver might lose performance during the season.”
Vosse argued that the regulations should make clear whether a team fields two or three drivers within the shorter WEC races, as using two has a transparent advantage in most of these events.
“Two drivers give a clear advantage in terms of track time and team strategy, but we decided to field three because that is the number of drivers needed for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the most important race of the year,” he told Motorsport.com in July.
“I would like the regulations to clearly state how many drivers a car must have, whether it should be two or three.”
