Production Cars to be Included in 2020 ‘Hypercar’ Regs

The FIA World Endurance Championship has adjusted its criteria for the upcoming set of 2020 top-level prototype regulations, with manufacturers now permitted to enter race cars based from road-going hypercars.

Confirmed in Thursday’s FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Geneva, the decision opens up the possibility to both road car-styled and road car-based machinery competing in the category that is set to replace LMP1.

Details on the expanded regulations, or how the two platforms will be regulated, have not been released.

The original mission of the rulebook issued last December was for manufacturers to take styling cues from their hypercar road cars, however some manufacturers including Ferrari have expressed interest in a close alignment between their production and race activities.

An FIA statement on this latest move said that there will be an “expansion of the 2020 LMP technical regulations concept to allow a ‘hypercar’ developed from the road cars sold by the manufacturer to enter.”

It added that opening up the grid to production cars “is designed to enable additional manufacturers to enter the championship.”

Aston Martin has been among the manufacturers leading a push towards a production-based set of regulations in recent weeks, although Toyota has remained firm behind the original set of approved draft regulations.

So far, no major manufacturer has committed to the new class, which is scheduled to debut for the 2020-21 WEC season.