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FIA Approves “General Principles” of Convergence

LMH, LMDh to be aligned on same performance, aero and weight parameters…

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

The FIA has approved the “general principles” of prototype convergence between the World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship that’s set to take effect beginning in 2021.

Confirmed in Friday’s World Motor Sport Council meeting in Geneva, the FIA has rubber stamped plans for the Le Mans Hypercar platform and newly announced LMDh formula to race together under a “single and unique” top category in the WEC.

“The platform will maintain the existing FIA WEC Technical Regulations, including the Le Mans Hypercar,” a statement from the FIA read.

“The Le Mans Hypercar and LMDh cars would be brought together under a single and unique FIA WEC top category.

“The LMDh cars would be based on a new chassis, common to both WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship top class.”

The FIA stated that parameters such as power, aero and weight will be aligned for the two platforms in order ensure both cars will operate in the same performance window.

The alignment could potentially result in slight changes to the LMH technical regulations, which are due to debut in September’s 2020-21 WEC season-opener at Silverstone.

WEC CEO Gerard Neveu declined to comment on such claims when asked by Sportscar365 last month at Circuit of The Americas.

No word has been given if the production-based LMH platform, which Aston Martin was set to utilize for its canceled Valkyrie LMH project, has been dropped.

The ACO and IMSA are scheduled to present further technical details on LMDh during the ‘Super Sebring’ event later this month.

It comes after what Sportscar365 understands to have been a “successful” technical working group meeting at IMSA’s headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla, following the WEC COTA event last month.

2020-21 WEC Schedule Confirmed

The WSMC has also formally approved the 2020-21 WEC schedule, which sees no changes from the provisional calendar released by the WEC at Bahrain in December.

There will again be a total of eight rounds for next season, featuring new events at Monza and Kyalami. 

2020-21 FIA WEC Schedule:
Sept. 5 – 6H Silverstone
Oct. 4 – 6H Monza
Nov. 1 – 6H Fuji
Dec. 5 – 8H Bahrain
Feb. 6 – 6H Kyalami
March 19 – 1000 Miles of Sebring
April 24 – 6H Spa
Jun. 12-13 – 24H Le Mans

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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