Sporting Regulations

The WEC sporting regulations specify that points are awarded at the end of each race. All cars not part of the WEC’s season entry list (guest entries) are classified in the final results, but are invisible in terms of points and therefore have no influence on the WEC titles.

If drivers or teams have an equal number of points at the end of the season, the number of first places achieved within the season will be used as a tie-breaker. An additional point is also awarded for pole position in each class. Drivers in the LMH (Hypercar) and LMGTE-Pro classes do not receive points if the minimum driving time is not achieved.

Should the race be interrupted by the race control, full points will only be awarded if the lead car has covered more than 75% of this distance without a safety car, full-course yellow phase or slow zone at the end of the race time. In a six-hour race, this corresponds to a minimum “green” time of 04:31:00. The time spent in the pit lane is not counted.

Should the lead car not be able to meet this minimum requirement, all cars will be credited with half the points when crossing the finish line. If the lead car did not manage to complete at least two laps without a safety car, this race will be dropped from the points classification of the WEC season. For a race with more than 70% of the race time covered, the following distribution key applies, separately for the race distances of 6 hours, 8 – 10 hours as well as for 24 hours.

Each team must have successfully passed technical scrutineering in order to participate in the practice. A car must participate in one of the free practice sessions or qualifying in order to start the race. The Race Director may exclude a participant from the rest of the race weekend for safety reasons at the end of free practice.

During one of the free practice sessions, each driver must have a time that is at least 110% of the best time of the fastest car in his category in order to be allowed to participate in qualifying.

For races run in full darkness or during twilight, at least five laps must be completed by each driver in free practice or qualifying to be eligible to start the race. Drivers are not permitted to change cars. Changing car numbers is also not permitted.

During qualifying, a car may not be pushed into the pits, only stopped briefly on the pit apron. If a car enters the garage, it is not permitted to participate any further in the qualifying session. From this point on, parc ferme conditions apply to the car concerned until it is released by race control.

LMH: Each car must have a minimum of two drivers but may have no more than three. None of the drivers may be a bronze-rated driver.

LMP2: Each car must have a minimum of two drivers but may have no more than three. Each car must contain at least one bronze or silver driver.

LMGTE Am: Each car must have a minimum of two drivers but may have no more than three. Each car must contain at least one bronze and one additional bronze or silver driver.

Drivers intending to compete in the WEC must be given a classification by the FIA Endurance Committee. Without such classification, they are not able to take part in WEC races.

PLATINUM: Platinum drivers must be under the age of 50 and meet at least one of the following criteria:

• The driver has held a Super Licence (for Formula One).
• The driver has won the Le Mans 24 Hours in a professional category.
• The driver has won the FIA World Endurance Championship in a professional category.
• The driver has been a Factory Driver, paid by a car manufacturer, with results to match.
• The driver has finished in the top 5 in the general classification in the FIA International F3000, CART/Champcar, IRL, IndyCar or GP2; all FIA World Championships and FIA World Cups; Grand-Am Rolex series (DP only); and FIA Formula E Championship.
• The driver has finished in the top 3 in the general classification of an F3 international series (FIA F3, British/EuroF3 until 2011) or major international single-seater championship (such as F2, Nissan World Series, Formula Renault 3.5, etc.).
• The driver has won the International V8 Supercars Championship, the Porsche Supercup or the American Le Mans Series (P1 or GT only).
• The driver satisfies 3 or more Gold criteria (including repetition of the same criteria).

A driver may still be rated Platinum by the FIA Endurance Committee due to his or her performances and achievements despite not fulfilling any of the criteria above.

GOLD: Gold drivers must meet one of the following criteria:

• The driver satisfies one criterion from Platinum.
• The driver has finished in the top 3 in the general classification of a secondary international single-seater series (A1 GP, GP3, Renault V6, Superleague, Eurocup FR2.0, Firestone Indy Lights).
• The driver has won the general classification of a regional or national single-seater series (F3, FR2.0, Atlantic Championship up to and including 2009, Euro V8 Series).
• The driver has finished in the top 3 in the general classification of the Porsche Supercup / DTM / BTCC / Super GT series or won a major national Porsche Carrera Cup.
• The driver has finished in the top 3 in the general classification of the International V8 Supercars Championship.
• The driver won a major GT series (FIA GT, Blancpain GT Series (Pro), FIA GT1 World Championship, FIA GT3 European Championship, ADAC GT Masters, British GT Championship, GT Asia) or GT category of a major Sportscar series (ILMC, ELMS, ALMS, Asian Le Mans Series, LMP2 WEC, IMSA Sportscar Championship) with driver(s) of a lower or the same categorisation.

A driver may still be rated Gold by the FIA Endurance Committee due to his or her performances and achievements despite not fulfilling any of the criteria above.

SILVER: Silver drivers must meet one of the following criteria:

• The driver is aged under 30 and not satisfying the criteria of categories Platinum and Gold.
• The driver has finished in 1st place in the general classification of regional or major national championships or international series, or has won a major endurance race.
• The driver has won a non-professional drivers’ series (Ferrari Challenge, Maserati Trophy, Lamborghini Supertrophy, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge) or a regional, national or international single-make lower category series organised by a Manufacturer (not including Series which are restricted only to Bronze drivers).
• The driver has competed competitively in high-level international karting competitions.

A driver may still be rated Silver by the FIA Endurance Committee due to his or her performances and achievements despite not fulfilling any of the criteria above.

BRONZE: Amateur drivers.

• Any driver who was over 30 years old when his/her first licence was issued, and who has little or no single-seater experience.
• Any driver over 30, previously categorised as Silver, but with no significant results (titles, pole positions or race wins).
• Any driver under 30 years old with a licence issued for the first time during the year of his first categorisation.

In each WEC category, there are specifications that regulate the minimum and maximum time of a driver in a car. If these are exceeded or fallen short of, the driver will be penalised and excluded from the points for that race. If the race is interrupted, the driving time of the corresponding driver will also be interrupted for this period. Different minimum driving times apply for the different race distances. For the 24 Hours of Le Mans, individual driving times apply, which will be announced shortly before the official test day.

Race distance: 6 Hours

Race distance: 8 Hours

*Limited to a maximum of 4 hours within the first 6 hours of the race

For all tracks with a maximum length of 6.99 km, the regulations allow the use of only one Safey Car. If the course length at least is 7.0 km, a safety car must be placed at the end of each treck sector to collect the cars behind it. The safety cars have the task of maintaining the sector distances between each other when in use.

With the announcement of the Safety Car Phase the pit lane will be closed for regular pit stops in the next three laps. Any vehicle that turns into the pit lane to repair damage despite the blocking time has only five seconds to complete all work. If this period is exceeded, the car must remain in the pits until the end of these three laps and is only allowed to line up again afterwards.

During a Safety Car phase, the cars are not allowed to be more than 5 car lengths away from each other. One round before the Safety Car leaves the track, the orange lights on the roof of the vehicle go out. From this point on it is up to the leader of the race to control the speed up to the start-finish line.

If the weather conditions change and a safe race behind the safety car is no longer possible, the race control will interrupt it. This interruption may last a maximum of 4 hours and 30 minutes. If the limit is exceeded, the race is automatically stopped and half of the points are awarded according to the rules.

Each team must source its racing tyres from a certified supplier. Currently, the manufacturers Goodyear and Michelin are approved for the WEC. In LMH and LMP2, Michelin is the sole supplier. There is a free choice of tyres for the LMGTE cars. If there is dissatisfaction with the choice of tyre partner, this can be changed once per season.

The number of usable dry tyres per race weekend is limited. These are counted per set of tyres, each consisting of two front and two rear tyres. The use of intermediate or wet tyres is only permitted in practice, qualifying or race after the race director has declared the track as “wet”. These special tyres are not limited per race weekend.

It is also be possible to choose different tyre specifications per race weekend. Thus, two different types of dry tyres (three types for Le Mans) with different degrees of hardness, for example, may be ordered from the tyre manufacturer. For the wet tyres, two different specifications may be chosen. Furthermore, the tyre manufacturer may provide an additional specification at the race weekends, e.g. when developing new types of tyres.

The following is an overview of the usable tyre sets, separated by race distance:

FP = Number of tyre sets for the free practices
Q+R = Number of tyre sets for qualifying and races

Every car in motion must have two permanently lit front & rear lights. In rainy conditions, an additional rear light must be activated manually, which lights up brighter than the permanent rear light.

Should a collision result in a limit value (G-forces) being exceeded, a so-called medical light is automatically triggered. If this is activated, the compulsory deployment of medical personnel on the track as well as a check in hospital will be necessary to avoid consequential damage.

The so-called leading light is automatically activated as soon as a car has taken over the leading position in its class to make it easier for the spectators to keep an overview of the race. All hypercars with ERS (Energy Recovery System) are obliged to have their own ERS light on the vehicle. This lights up permanently green during the race. If it goes out or changes to red, there are technical problems with the ERS and a pit stop is mandatory on the next lap. Continuation of the race is only permitted when the light is green again.

In the Hypercar class (LMH), the exchange of the chassis as well as the power unit is prohibited during the entire season. In case of damage, the participants are obliged to repair the existing components.

In the case of the LMP2 and LMGTE cars, a single exchange of the complete car per season is possible. Should there be any damage beyond this, it must be repaired.

Additional race-ready reserve cars are not permitted. If damage occurs during the race which makes it impossible to continue the race, a change to a possible second car is not possible. The exchange of LMP2 and LMGTE cars is only possible between the sessions of a weekend.

In order to limit the costs of the Hypercar class (LMH), the number of track personnel allowed is severely limited. On any given weekend, only 40 people are allowed to be present for race operations. This includes all engineers, team managers, tyre management personnel, weather forecasting personnel, designers/technical support, IT personnel, pit radio personnel and mechanics.

Vehicles with ERS are more complex to operate, which is why the number of staff may be increased to 43. All persons who fall under the limit must be registered with the race control before each weekend. They will be given a wristband which must be worn until the end of the race.

Persons with responsibility for hospitality, catering, motor home, marketing, media, PR, sponsoring, security, truck drivers without active duties in racing operations, drivers and their medical staff are exempt from these requirements.

The Balance of Performance allows the Endurance Committee to make changes to the cars in order to maintain equal opportunities in the LMH and LMGTE classes despite different concepts. The LMP2 cars are excluded.

The exact BoP measures are determined by an automated computer system. Without human intervention, this system independently issues times and measures as a suggestion, which must be ordered by the race control. In accordance with the regulations, the following measures can be initiated to adjust the balance of power until shortly before the start of the race:

• Weight increase or decrease of the vehicles of maximum 30 kg
• Adjustment of the air flow limiter
• Change in tank volume by a maximum of 10 litres
• Rear wing adjustment
• Aerodynamic adaptations to the vehicle

The LMGTE-Am has its own BoP specification, based on success weights. This is not recorded by the automated computer system and applies to all races except the 24h Le Mans. All cars have 0 kg additional weight at the start of the season. Each winner of a race must add 15 kg of additional weight for the next two races, second place 10 kg and third place 5 kg. The top three places in the current LMGTE Am Team standings must also load up, 15, 10 and 5 kg respectively.

As this is an additional system, a car that has finished first in two consecutive races and is also at the top of the standings may, in the most extreme case, have to load 45 kg of additional weight. If a participant no longer fulfils a certain condition (e.g. no podium finish in the last two races or no longer in the top 3 of the standings), the additional weight can be unloaded again.

The current regulations specify areas where penalties must be imposed by the race control. These are, among others:

• Ignoring flags
• Unsporting behaviour
• Early start
• Exceeding the maximum speed in the box
• Perform start exercises during the formation round
• Failure to maintain the minimum distance in the formation round.
• Unauthorised overtaking in the formation lap, in the rolling start and behind the safety car
• Causing an accident or a collision