When the joint IMSA and FIA World Endurance Championship race will be run at Sebring in March 2019, there will some changes to the initial announced plans.
The 12 hours of Sebring in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will continue to be run on the Saturday, like we know from the past.
When the FIA WEC race was announced back in September 2017, the news was that it would start two hours after the conclusion of the IMSA race, with 12 hours of FIA WEC to be run. That was changed to 1500 miles, which would be equivalent to about 12 hours of racing.
But today IMSA and the FIA WEC send out a press release, where they explains a few changes to this.
Photo Courtesy of IMSA / Richard Dole
The race week will start on Wednesday 13 March, with the culmination of the FIA WEC happening Friday afternoon until late night. The race will be 1000 miles or 8 hours, whichever happens first.
This will make the week much better for both fans and media. There was some critical talk when basically the 24 hours race in a row, only with a small break in the middle, was announced. That would make it almost impossible for the journalists, unless they would have double crew in all positions. Likewise for the marshals and TV-producers.
So this is a very good solution, making the FIA WEC a part of the big IMSA event, and giving both series a lot of eyes and ears.
There is a possibility for both drivers and teams to participate in both races, if they have interest to do so. But it’s most likely only to be the drivers having double duties, since the 12 Hours of Sebring normally is described as just as hard as the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The FIA WEC 2018/19 season starts on 5 May at Spa Francorchamps, before Le Mans, Silverstone, Fuji, Shanghai, Sebring, Spa Francorchamps and Le Mans will be visited, to find the World Champions in the Super Season.
