WEC Season Preview - Top Storylines As We Kick Off 2025
The 2025 WEC season kicks off next week in the Middle East with the Qatar 1812km and with the new comes plenty of hype and excitement for Year 3 of the reborn (to use a phrase) WEC.
Teams have begun their roll-in to the Lusail Circuit and testing will take place for the next handful of days, which gives us just enough time to forecast the major storylines heading into the new campaign.
2024 was a cracking year across the board, highlighted by the Balances of Triumph in the Hypercar division with Toyota winning the Manufacturer's crown, the No. 6 Porsche Penske claiming the Drivers' and the No. 50 Ferrari securing the second-straight Le Mans victory for the Italians. In the first season of the new LMGT3 spec, the duo Manthey Porsche effort claimed a 1-2 finish in the standings - highlighted by four total wins and four additional podiums for a staggering seven total out of eight races.
Plenty has changed since the checkered flag waved in Bahrain last November in both the HY and LMGT3 ranks - this is Part 1 of our season preview as we highlight the major areas of focus now that our beloved series is nearly back to racing.
1. Will Ferrari, Porsche, etc. Finally Topple TGR?
Things couldn't have finished any tighter at the conclusion of last season with Toytoa Gazoo Racing beating out Porsche Penske by a measly two points (190 to 188) to capture their third-straight Manufacturer's title (excluding the LMP1 gap from 2017-2022). The No. 6 came out on top for the Drivers' title and it's easy to go back and forth with what matters more in the grand scheme of things - it depends on who you ask, truly, although the slight advantage may go to the Drivers' title. As we enter into Year 3 of this new era of the WEC, however, expect the Manufacturer's battle to again be razor-thin as Ferrari and Porsche have visions of being the best in the world when all is said and done, while the likes of Cadillac/Hertz Team Jota and BMW M Team WRT will be looking to spoil the fun and challenge for a championship on their own accord. Can Peugeot or Aston Martin even hang around long enough to fight for a title - no probably not but it's great to dream. If you're a betting man, bet against TGR at your own risk - and that's exactly what I'm going to do - I have Porsche putting it all together in 2025 to finally snap Toyota's streak and reclaim the world manufacturers' crown.
2. Welcoming the Valkyrie To the Party
The near-mythical V-12 monster that has lived in a racing fan's dream is finally a reality. Aston Martin and the Heart of Racing have worked tirelessly the last eight or so months to get the Valkyrie race-ready for its competitive worldwide debut in the WEC. AM and THOR chose to skip the Rolex 24 in order to squeeze out a few more weeks of preparation for the car, which is certainly understandable but it sure was a shame to see IMSA passed over for the car's debut on the world stage. Regardless, once we see the pair of Valkyrie's finally logging competitive lap times on track we'd have forgotten all about it. It'll be important to keep expectations in check for the No. 007 and No. 009 - we all want the car to explode out of the gate like a rocket ship but the harsh reality is that the car will go through its fair share of growing pains while AMR and THOR fine-tune things as they take on the brutal gauntlet that is endurance racing. All we're really hoping for is that the Valkyrie avoids any backbreaking issues and can speed around the block as long as possible for its debut.
3. Mercedes-AMG Finally Joins the Grid
Can it truly be a World Endurance Championship if one of the premier brands in the world doesn't participate? The wait is finally over as Mercedes-AMG and the ACO have kissed and made up, allowing the AMG GT3 to enter into the LMGT3 ranks for 2025. Aided in their efforts to join in on the big dance was the departure of Lamborghini from the GT ranks which cleared the space needed for Mercedes to swiftly jump right in and take their place. Lambo also pulled out their SC63 from the Hypercar grid, and its quite easy to draw the future of the not-so-subtly-yet-still-under- the-radar rumor that the German premier are already developing a Hypercar/LMDH prototype of their own for a likely arrival in 2027. The Iron Lynx will run the pair of AMGs in a sick new livery design, and for a machine that has competed in and won plenty of races across the globe it'll be fascinating to see if the Lynx can see immediate returns in the form of podiums and race wins right out of the gate.
4. The 9x8's Last Dance?
There is arguably no team/manufacture with more pressure on them to start this season than Peugeot. Parent company Stellantis is bleeding money like a gutted pig and their former CEO Carlos Tavares, the man who was responsible for getting a top level prototype Peugeot machine back onto the Le Mans/WEC grid, resigned in December, leaving the future of the car and program in serious doubt if those bums opt to trim the fat and cut costs to save on their steep decline of global sales. That came after Peugeot's technical director admitted that the program is looking at everything regarding the car with hopes of improving performance. Of all the brands racing in the class, Peugeot have the two-tier problem of standing on shaky financial ground and dealing with an underperforming car. Ferrari's post-race technical penalty following last year's 8 Hours of Bahrain gifted the No. 93 a P3 finish in which came after a very respectable P4 finish at Fuji - that's good! However the No. 94 had a straight up ass campaign with just one finish inside the top 10 (also at Fuji), two retirements and a measly four points scored in the standings - that's bad. We'll all be looking at the French marquee to deliver consistent race results this season, and vibes will be at an all-time low if either the 93 or 94 die out on the track like a wet fart right out the gate.
5. The End of the Golden Era Ver. 1.0?
Although this is a preview for the 2025 season, we can't help but look ahead to 2026 and what's to come for the WEC. The two-car Hypercar mandate is in place for the new year which forced Lamborghini to pull out their lone SC63 due to budget strains. There will be only two (count 'em) TWO customer-backed teams on the grid this season - the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari and the No. 99 Proton Porsche. I hate to be a pessimist but we believe the future of the Hypercar class will see all 12+ brands (remember, we're adding Hyundai and Ford for sure while McLaren and Mercedes-AMG are a near fait accompli) with a pair of cars on the grid each - creating the kind of synergy and easy-to-follow consistency that the WEC have been slowly moving towards these last few seasons - and one that mirrors the Formula 1 ranks almost exactly. With that potentially to come, privateer teams will sadly be booted from the grid due to a lack of space, resulting in some tough decisions for those teams to make if they fight to remain in the class, or they band together and split off to create an LMDh-etc. league of their own, complete with cocaine and hookers.
So there you have it - five of the top storylines going into the new 2025 WEC season. Stay tuned for Part 2 because there is still plenty to cover before the green flag waves next Friday.
(photo via Marhabaqatar.com)
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