Hypercars hit the track for historic WEC season
It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for – and finally it’s here. WEC 2023 gets underway with the Sebring 1000 Miles
Big skies at last year’s Sebring 1000 Miles – but race winner Alpine will not be present for 2023
Words: ed hardy. images: toyota gazoo racing
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It’s a new era for endurance racing in 2023. For the first time in several decades there is now a level of commonality between European and North American sports car racing. This is the first season in which the Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) and Le Mans Daytona Hybrid (LMDh), will be allowed to compete together for overall victory in both the WEC and IMSA.
The reasoning for this merger is to attract more manufacturers to a new top tier of sports car racing. Consequently, the WEC Hypercar category has expanded from four teams to nine with Cadillac, Ferrari and Vanwall all joining this year, as well as Porsche, which has three entrants.
Although Alpine has dropped out, Glickenhaus, Peugeot and defending champions Toyota all remain, so it promises to be the most exciting season for quite some time. However, there is change throughout the endurance championship given the departure of LMGTE Pro, which leaves LMP2 and LMGTE Am as the only categories outside of the Hypercar class.
To kick-start it all is the Sebring 1000 Miles, part a seven-round season which is WEC’s biggest since pre-pandemic times. In Florida, drivers will race between seven to eight hours around a 3.7-mile circuit which is one of the oldest tracks in the US.
The Sebring 1000 Miles opened its WEC account four years ago in a race dominated by the Toyota of Fernando Alonso, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima who won by one lap, before Alpine took victory last season by 37.4sec (2020 and ’21 were cancelled).
Alongside new teams, this year’s event will also feature some fresh drivers. Firstly, there is the 1997 Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve who has signed for Vanwall, while fellow ex-F1 driver Antonio Giovinazzi is in at Ferrari. Reigning champions Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa and Buemi remain at Toyota. This is a huge year for the series.
Ferrari makes a long-overdue return to top-class endurance racing with its 499P Hypercar
Ferrari
Extreme E – Desert X-Prix
Saudi Arabia, March 11-12
Extreme E enters year three with Team X44 its defending champions. To begin 2023, the electric off-road series will storm through the Saudi desert, which last year was won by season one champions Rosberg X Racing. This year will also have DJ Carl Cox enter a team.
WRC – Rally Guanajuato Mexico
León, Mexico, March 16-19
Mexico will make an eagerly anticipated return to the WRC calendar, after the world stopped turning the last time it hosted: that event was shortened amid the Covid crisis. Three years on, Mexico is back with drivers facing 200 miles of gravel for the season’s third round.
Formula 1 – Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Saudi Arabia, March 17-19
This is now Saudi Arabia’s third time on the F1 calendar. Lewis Hamilton beat Max Verstappen in the exhilarating 2021 race, while the Red Bull driver pipped Charles Leclerc last year. It will be the second round of the 2023 season.
MotoGP – Portuguese grand prix
Algarve Circuit, Portugal, March 24-26
Francesco Bagnaia starts his title defence in Portugal where Fabio Quartararo, last season’s runner-up, has won for the past two years. Both drivers are gunning for their second world title amid several driver changes on the grid, while 2020 champions Suzuki has withdrawn from MotoGP.
Formula E – SÃo Paulo ePrix
Sao Paulo Street Circuit, Brazil, March 25
Brazil is one of three new countries Formula E will visit in 2023. For the season’s sixth round, drivers will race around a circuit that was on the IndyCar calendar between 2010-13. Modified since then, it’s now a 14-turn, 1.8-mile track with plenty of long straights.
More events
Mar 18 IMSA – Sebring 12 Hours, USA
Apr 2 F1 – Australian GP, Albert Park
Apr 2 IndyCar – Texas 375, USA
Apr 8-10 British GT – Oulton Park, UK