The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the most special motorsport. The magnificence of the event is worthy of its history, but has even grown in recent years under the umbrella of a well organized Global Resistance. Since the creation of the WEC in 2012 under the mandates of the ACO, both the test at La Sarthe as the rest of the appointments of the championship, have gained in importance. In fact, since the creation of the WEC, the 24 Hours of Le Mans had not overlapped with the F1. The last time that happened was in 2011.
it is therefore not surprising the match of the European GP in Baku F1 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 according to the calendars posted on the World Council of the Motor. The test in Azerbaijan is a newcomer in the World of Formula 1 and it is a country without apparent automotive tradition. That is why it is more bleeding, the fact of having transgressed the covenant not written between the FIA, the ACO and to some extent the FOM in order to respect the weekend of the 24 hours of Le Mans.
In the bosom of the WEC has not sat at all well and Gerard Neveu, as maximum responsible, has not had problems in the criticism of this decision: “Is a clear attack on us, and on this race. Ecclestone never do anything with indifference and the FIA should have protected better. It’s a shame because this nullifies the possibility of seeing the stars of F1 in one of the most important races of the world”. In the same line is expressed Pierre Fillon, President of the ACO: “I’m Not worried about Le Mans, but I’m disappointed by the fans. I think they like to see the F1 drivers at Le Mans, like in the old times”.
Reason does not lack any of the two and more if we take into account that a total of five tests of the WEC match up with grand prix F1. Obviously, this debate has centered in the person of Nico Hülkenberg. The racing for the team Sahara Force India got with the Porsche 919 Hybrid to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2015 along with Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy. Although there are still hopes in the breast of Porsche of a motion to avoid the coincidence of calendars, today Nico Hülkenberg will not be able to defend his crown at Le Mans.
But it is not the only one affected. The GP2 and GP3 accompany the F1 in Europe and that would mean a good number of low more to the tenor of the entry list of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Within the category LMP1, in addition to Nico Hülkenberg is also the case of Jann Mardenborough, pilot officer of Nissan and competes in GP3 with Carlin. We could even include in this list Simon Trummer, pilot sporadic in GP2 in 2015 but he has played a full season in the WEC with LMP1 Team ByKolles.
In the LM2 there are two other drivers of GP2 affected. We talk about Mitch Evans, pilot of Jota Sport and who competes with Russian Time in the category support of the Formula 1. With Murphy Prototypes for his part, competed Nathanael Berthön in Le Mans, a pilot who also has undertaken the adventure to compete in the Formula E this season. The same happens to Porsche, the list of official drivers in the Aston Martin would be shaken, since Marco Sorensen and Richie Stanaway are official drivers that contested the entire WEC and that they would have three tests coincide with GP2.
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