Amongst the visitors to the FIA WEC pit lane yesterday was Red Bull racing design guru Adrian Newey, the draw of the tech fest that is the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship evidently a more engaging proposition for one of the biggest brained men in world motorsport than another long haul weekend.
The crowd is building to what looks set to be a record for the FIA WEC, Fuji-esque queues for the autograph session are a very pleasant Easter present for the Championship organisers despite cold and windy conditions.
One person not necessarily enjoying the weather was Khalid al Qubaisi, the Proton Competition man huddled up against the breeze revealed that with rain forecast for this afternoon it would be the first time in several years that he would be racing in the wet. “I think it was Supercup in Budapest three years ago. On the upside though I got a good result then!” Every rain cloud has a silver lining!
Ram Racing Team boss Dan Shufflebottom was looking forward to the WEC racing debut for the Silverstone based team. “It is a step up from the ELMS in a number of ways,” he said, “In particular the depth of competition on the driving front. The field is all good, good teams and good drivers.” Ram is, of course, stepping up after a Championship winning year in 2013 in the ELMS.
With so much that is new and relatively untried for the opening round the phrase most often heard in the WEC paddock thus far is “We don’t know!” That relates to LMP1 pace over a stint and over 6 hours, the balance between the very different technical approaches made by the three factory teams, how well some of the new boys will adapt to sportscar racing at the top level, new teams with new car and new tyres in LMP2, new team and drivers in GTE and a GTE Am class with cars to an identical spec to their Pro class cousins.
With weather uncertainty also looking set to provide some surprises this looks set to be 6 hours of real excitement.
Graham Goodwin
Photo: SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT (SILVERSTONE, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, UK), 6 HOURS OF SILVERSTONE, PRE-RACE, SUNDAY 20 APRIL 2014. The Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy which will be awarded to the winners of the 6 Hours of Silverstone.
