WEC Adds Podium Prize for Highest-Placed Bronze Driver

The FIA World Endurance Championship has added a new prize for the best Bronze-rated LMP2 driver in each of its races next season.

The top three finishing crews will be joined on the class podium by the highest-placed Bronze competitor, but not the rest of the driver’s crew.

The move appears to reflect the fact that a crew with a Bronze driver finished on the podium only once in the 2018-19 ‘Super Season’ when Francois Perrodo helped TDS Racing to finish third in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Half of the 2019-20 LMP2 class field includes a bronze driver, with Racing Team Nederland, High Class Racing, Cool Racing and Cetilar Racing’s cars all eligible.

Frits van Eerd, Mark Patterson, Alexandre Coigny and Roberto Lacorte will compete for the race-by-race prize.

The field of four potential winners will slim to three for the 4 Hours of Shanghai because Racing Team Nederland’s van Eerd is being replaced by silver-rated Job van Uitert for that round.

LMP2 teams have the freedom to run either a Silver or Bronze driver as part of their mandatory requirement for a two or three-person lineup.