Porsche: WEC Rookie Should Be in Le Mans-Winning Hypercar

Photo: MPS Agency

Porsche factory LMDh director Urs Kuratle has suggested the FIA World Endurance Championship’s selected Hypercar rookie driver should be placed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning car in future editions of the Bahrain rookie test instead of the season title-winning entry.

It comes in the wake of this year’s nominated driver Reshad de Gerus having had to prepare, to varying degrees, with three different Hypercar manufacturers, which all hold mathematical chances of the world championship in this weekend’s season-ending 8 Hours of Bahrain.

The 23-year-old Frenchman was nominated in September to test the car that wins the Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship, which won’t be decided until the evening prior to Sunday’s rookie test.

Porsche currently holds a ten-point advantage over Toyota, with Ferrari having an outside chance of the title in third.

Speaking with Sportscar365, Kuratle noted the complexities of the LMH and LMDh-based hybrid prototypes and the level of time needed to prepare as the primary reasons for organizers to potentially consider a switch of the nomination to the Le Mans-winning car in the future.

“That would be better, and I’m not criticizing the rules,” he said. “That’s probably a better thing for everybody involved because that’s a story for the WEC as well.

“If it’s the Le Mans-winning team, you could drive the Le Mans-winning car; that’s a good story to tell, for the person who is awarded would have much more preparation time.

“They could come to several races to watch and to get with the team and get the connection with the team. That would be a positive for everybody involved.”

De Gerus has prepared for his test outing with all three manufacturers, which Kuratle suggested has come at a compromise to all involved.

“We don’t have to do it but we did give him as much as an insight as possible,” he said.

“It’s a bit of a time problem, especially for [Reshad], because ideally he would go to the simulator, he would do a lot of training with the drivers’ manual, etc.

“But then, the poor kid would have to do it with three manufacturers and he wouldn’t know what’s left or what’s right afterwards.

“First of all, like anybody else, we have to win the championship first, then we will make as much as possible to give him an inside, also during the Bahrain weekend ahead of time.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director David Floury admitted this year’s situation is unique given that the manufacturers’ world championship hasn’t already been decided entering the season finale.

“It’s a bit of an odd situation, different from previous years,” he said. “But we understand what the ACO and FIA are trying to set up. We have prepared the test with Reshad in the same way we have prepared it with Esteban [Masson, Toyota’s selected rookie].”

Floury, who said they’ve already made a seat for de Gerus and have taken things “very seriously” for the possibility of the outing, admitted that it would be a bit of a waste if the Japanese manufacturer doesn’t win the title.

“Somehow yes,” he said. “But we support the FIA and ACO with this rookie test concept. We will have lost a bit of time [if he doesn’t drive for us], but it’s not that big a problem.”

Jamie Klein contributed to this report

John Dagys

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