The planned move up from the 36 cars accepted for this year’s series is a reaction to a significant increase in entries in the Hypercar class and a desire to find room for multiple manufacturers in the new LMGT3 category that replaces GTE Am for next season.
There looks certain to be in excess of 20 cars in Hypercar with the arrival of BMW, Alpine, Lamborghini and Isotta Fraschini in the series, as well as potentially an extra car from Cadillac and two from Porsche via its customers.
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The Automobile Club de l’Ouest and the FIA, which jointly administer the series, appear to need a minimum of 16 grid slots in LMGT3 for eight manufacturers each running two cars.
ACO president Pierre Fillon described the attempts to accommodate more than the 36 cars accepted this year as “a work in progress”
“We are limited by the number of garages we have at some tracks,” he said.
“So we are working to see what we can do, but we could have 40 cars.”
Asked if the ACO and FIA were considering asking LMGT3 teams to run their two cars from a single pit, Fillon replied: “We are looking at all solutions - the devil will be in the detail.”
Fillon revealed that the plans could be firmed up this week at a meeting of the FIA’s Endurance Commission.
“At the moment we are trying to understand what it means,” said Tom Ferrier, whose TF Sport squad will run Chevrolet’s new Corvette Z06 GT3.R in the WEC next year.
“For example, does it mean the two cars sharing a fuel rig or having one each?
“We would obviously prefer not to do it, but we understand why it is being discussed and would have to accept something being done for the good of the championship.”
Source: Autosport