What is this nonsense? What is this rubbish? FIA and ACO, you have some 'splainin' to do, as Desi would tell Lucy. This is with respect to your inane rules and ideas about GT3 cars entering your championship, the FIA World Endurance Championship beginning next year in 2024. You stipulated that only manufacturers that have dedicated Le Mans Hypercar and/or LMDh entries, may enter the LMGT3 class. This is ridiculous, especially to two of the bosses of the top brands looking to enter the championship. Stefan Wendl from Mercedes Benz, and Chris Reinke, from Audi, both think so. Wendl mentioned that there were Mercedes-AMG teams signed up and ready for entries into the European Le Mans Series for next year, and for possible Le Mans invites should they be granted.
There are Mercedes-AMG teams signed up for the Asian Le Mans Series that begins in a few short weeks and runs off and on in December and in February of next year for their five-race calendar. Yet, Mercedes-AMG are understandably concerned that they will not have any representation at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a race that has been a star-crossed part of their history. Mercedes have won overall only twice, in 1952 with Mercedes Benz AG under team boss Alfred Neubauer under Daimler Benz A.G. in the 3-liter Sports Prototype class with German factory drivers Herman Lang and Fritz Riess, and near the end of the Group C era in the late 1980's, specifically in 1989, with Peter Sauber, the Swiss race car designer and his factory run Sauber C9/88 Mercedes Benz, listed as Team Sauber Mercedes with drivers Stanley Dickens of Sweden, and German co-drivers Manuel Reuter and Jochen Mass.
In 1998, with the CLK GTR, Mercedes tried everything to win, but alas, they came up short after running into mechanical and reliability issues. 1999 was even worse, after the fateful backflips of the vaunted Mercedes CLRs of Mark Webber in practice, and with Peter Dumbreck in the race itself, the garage doors were lowered, and for 25 years, we never, ever thought Mercedes would be back at Le Mans again. Now, they will have a chance to come back in a customer capacity, but it is complicated. Audi is one of the most decorated brands at Le Mans, even in the fairly recent past, in the last two decades, with their gasoline and diesel-powered prototype rocket ships from the LMP900 and LMP1 Hybrid classes amassing a total of 13 wins among 15 drivers, second total, all-time, only to Porsche's 19 wins among 36 drivers.
Balance of Performance, those dreaded three words in the realm of sports car racing, Wendl says, is an understandable reason for not having a brand show up for a one-shot deal like the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mercedes did not know that even if they were racing in the European and Asian Le Man Series (also sanctioned by ACO rules racing), that they could not race Le Mans and WEC because they do not have a race legal Hypercar to go off of. Mercedes, I believe they build a road going Hypercar, but they don't have a racing version. Whereas other brands in Hypercar such as Porsche and Ferrari have supercars and hypercars on the market, while certainly Cadillac and GM don't, but GM has an ace in the hole with their new GT3 spec customer Corvette's.
Wendl clearly states that the teams partnering with the Three-Pointed Star aim to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMGT3 and if they are unable to do so via a rule's technicality, that is problematic. As the Sportscar365 article states, there are nine brands that are currently eligible for GT3 and three of them do not have a Hypercar currently racing and those include Ford, McLaren, and Aston Martin. Well, Mercedes is in the same boat. We may see Aston Martin bring the Valkyrie into the picture in 2025 but as for the other two, Ford and McLaren have no plans to build a Hypercar to race Le Mans or the WEC.
We could see a grid increase for full-season entries for the FIA World Endurance Championship beyond the capped 37 cars eligible for next year, in 2025 which gives Mercedes a glimmer of hope that they could field full-time GT3 efforts. Audi is even more determined. The brand of the four rings, and chef d'equipe Chris Reinke say they will keep fighting and that their whole idea with the R8 road car that evolved into the successful GT3 race car was the success of the R8 LMP prototype race car that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times in the span of six years between 2000 and 2005. The only times they lost, was 20 years ago, to their sister Volkswagen Audi Group brand, Bentley, 20 years ago, in 2003, and to Peugeot's lion, who ran the diesel powered 908 HDI FAP LMP1 car, in 2009, almost 15 years ago.
Reinke and the Ingolstadt brand are determined to get back to their former glory, albeit in a GT racing capacity. Reinke says he "fully trusts that the ACO will make the right decisions on this situation", to paraphrase his words. Reinke understands the limitations if there are any. Now, in my book, as a sports car racing observer, I believe as much competition as possible is good for the sport and as we have seen in GT3 since it was introduced by the SRO in 2010 and up to now, in the nearly 15 years of it's existence, it has been highly successful. Yours truly believes every brand should be represented and that full and open competition and clean racing should be the emphasis, just the same as it is on the prototypes side of the equation.
Therefore, in summary, I think it is utterly ridiculous, hence the title of the editorial, that only Hypercar aligned brands can enter the WEC frame for the production car classes. This makes the grids less healthy and discourages new teams and new drivers from entering the fold. We have seen the GT3 formula work globally in several championships. SRO, IMSA, Euro and Asian Le Mans Series, Nurburgring Endurance Series, and others. Why can't it work for the FIA and the ACO to match the Hypercars and the GT3 cars and have as wide a berth for manufacturer involvement as possible? It will benefit the championship. It will benefit the teams and the drivers and benefit the fans. It is a win-win, a positive boost, for everyone. ACO, please consider this. Use your heads on this one and do not leave out those brands that wish to put forth their cars and their teams and drivers and put emphasis not on silly rules technicalities and complications, but instead on what sports car racing is all about which means speed, endurance, teamwork, and courage.
Wendl and Reinke are both correct. Extend the olive branch. Open the tent. Don't just reserve places in your little club for the existing companies that have made commitments. Let other brands make commitments to the GT3 championship that they already have spent years, decades, making. Please stop with the politicization of sport and let these brands race cleanly and fairly in competition and prove themselves in your events including the gold standard that is the Le Mans 24 Hour race.
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