WEC: Audi to Leave Championship at end of 2016 Season

[Blimey]

BMW returning and Audi leaving. Too bad BMW is only coming back with GT

who said it was GT?

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

I wanted to make a joke about electric engines and pollution emissions tests, but I am not going to.

 

[Rodent]

Wouldn't that be just as applicable to Porsche though? Bah, it's a shame but hopefully it'll make someone rethink something and we all come out with better racing because of it. And I could win a million bucks and so on.

 

[Jonas Hillert]

Ohh ..... Jesus Sadest racing news this year for me. WEC needs a 3rd LMP1 manufacturer otherwise WEC is going to die a quiet and slowly death. With BMW now and the Porsche return to GTE Pro class, they going to have a very strong GT class. But WEC can´t stay alive with only a strong GT class. I think they going to reduce the expenditure next year to persuade Mazda and Peugot to enter the LMP1 class. Le Mans can remain with only 5 or 6 LMP1 cars but WEC definitely not !! Because they have with the Formel E a very huge rival nowadays.

 

[Bert Austen]

Bad news for the LMP1 Class See audi a lot of years in the 6 hours of Spa .... Not good for the wec

 

[Aidan Keranen]

Only really Porsche vs Toyota at Le Mans as well then?

 

[EpilepticToast]

a sad day for endurance racing

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

For fifteen years the lmp1 class had 2 teams most of the time

That's why this news is sad. For too long the series was weak, then recently it looked to be getting more popular and things started to improve in a big way. With the colossal amounts of money involved now compared to a recently as 5 years ago, I suspect Porsche and Toyota will be thinking very hard indeed about if they want to continue.

Its more than a bit of a worry to be honest.

 

[Blimey]

Would be a great time for Audi to leave their WEC team to Bentley and let Bentley make a comeback for a few seasons.

 

[Grand Tourist]

Time for bringing back the massive turbo engines with raw power and modern aerodynamics. This hybrid stuff is great but consuming all budgets. Also leniency of the AOC is needed. FIA too much of a factor too.

 

[Christian Moreau]

Wow, that is a crushing blow for the WEC. The LMP2 and GT categories may be in good shape, but once again, it looks like the money wars are going to ruin yet another good thing in Motorsports. Hopefully everyone else in LMP1 sticks around long enough for there to be a re-build of the LMP1 cost structure because like F1, it's becoming ridiculously expensive to compete.

 

[fortyfivekev]

Sad news for sportscar fans but understandable really. Spending hundreds of millions of Euros a year to promote a diesel based technology doesn't make much sense anymore and switching to petrol would cost a fortune and also not be very forward looking. It's a shame the ACO hasn't done more to help the privateer teams in LMP1 as the manufacturers always leave eventually.

 

[Frank]

View attachment 157623
Focus on Formula E.

Let me guess? Audi Quattro Formula E-Tron?

With a diesel generator in the pit charging the batteries.

 

[Fernando Zart]

With a diesel generator in the pit charging the batteries.

And several containers to discard the dead batteries on ocean's abyssal zones.

 

[Helmut Skrdla]

Could we get Ferrari back in return please?

That sucks, we were considering to go next year, see it live. With regulars like Aston Martin being weak in the GT class there isn't going to be a lot of competition on any level...

 

[2112]

Wouldn't that be just as applicable to Porsche though? Bah, it's a shame but hopefully it'll make someone rethink something and we all come out with better racing because of it. And I could win a million bucks and so on.

You kinda hit the nail on the head, in an inadvertent manner. Two things (feel free to correct or dispute me as I am going on memory)

First - Porsche Automobili Holding SE owns Volkswagen who, in turn, own all the other companies including Porsche AG and Porsche SE. Audi, of course, is under the PAH SE holdings. VW is "taking the hit" monetarily for the diesel scandal, but it is PAH SE that is really taking the hit.

Yesterday I heard that VW agreed to pay nearly 15 BILLION dollars to owners of their diesel vehicles in the US. That money will take a significant amount of capital from the company that, if it were smaller, may have forced it to close it's doors.

Second - I heard, about a week ago, that Porsche was developing a competing LMP 900 car to battle with Audi in the late 90's/early 00's. They stopped development to put money into the development, marketing and manufacturing of the Cayenne.

They also, at that time, made an agreement with Audi that they would not re-enter LMP1-type competition for ten years.

Ten years was up in 2014 and Porsche came roaring back.

Conclusion: Porsche will take the same hit as Audi would but Porsche has decided that Audi has had enough glory. Audi steps away from LMP1 competition so Porsche can still race and the reduced amount of available funding is not split between two makes under the same umbrella.

Maybe Audi comes back in 10 years.

Or maybe the diesel scandal becomes too expensive and Porsche drops out, or VW ceases to exist as it does today. Maybe the whole conglomerate breaks apart and then no one has enough money to race LMP1.

Dunno.

 

[Keith Joyce]

nvm

 

[Frodesa]

Maybe the Lmp 1 class will die out like the GT 1 class did. Lmp 2 would then be the only lmp class left.

 

[Deleted member 130869]

ACO doing their best to pull a mid-90's FIA.


Edit: and succeeding

 

[k_badam]

With the colossal amounts of money involved now compared to a recently as 5 years ago

the fact that there is more money means it makes it more competitive meaning it costs more for a team, this must be one of the reasons audi are leaving the sport due to the blow in budget VW Group took because of diesel gate that means VW can only afford one LMP1 car in WEC, so, they picked the one that has had the most success in recent years.