F1 Fanatic

The provisional World Endurance Championship calendar for 2013 includes a race at the Circuit of the Americas but finds no space for classic American races like the Sebring 12 Hours (which was on the 2012 calendar) or the Petit Le Mans (which wasn’t).

That aside the calendar is little-changed from this year aside from some reshuffling of the order which sees Silverstone open the season:

1. 14th April – 6 Hours of Silverstone, Britain
2. 4th May – WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
3. 22nd/23rd June – Le Mans 24 Hours, France
4. 24th August – 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, Brazil
5. 22nd September – 6 Hours of Austin, USA*
6. 20th October – 6 Hours of Fuji, Japan
7. 10th November – 6 Hours of Shanghai, China*
8. 30th November – Round 8 – 6 Hours of Bahrain, Bahrain

*TBC

Audi will show up at Sebring and Road Atlanta regardless of them being WEC races or not, hopefully Toyota will show up to challenge them. Petit Le Mans was fantastic last year with Audi vs Pug.

Was there a specific reason for them not being WEC races? It’s a shame because with those 2 races the calendar would be perfect and all we’d need then is maybe one more manufacturer.

I wonder if WEC will try to work with the merge of the ALMS/GrandAM and get Sebring & Daytona24hrs back into World Sports Car racing where they belong and not just part of an American racing series.

It would be nice to see someone else join the LMP1 battle next year, Toyota look quick this year with limited racing, and Audi will stick it out till Porsche rejoins the fray in 2014 (and stay??) Another Manufacturer team would be fantastic.

Does Austin clash with Singapore? The night race has usually been on the closest weekend to the 20th Sept. I only notice because it’s always near my birthday.