World Endurance Championship to run winter calendar next year

The World Endurance Championship will switch to a winter schedule next season, as part of a major calendar reshuffle.

Series CEO Gerard Neveu and ACO president Pierre Fillon unveiled the new-look format ahead of this weekend's race in Mexico, which could be the last in the country in light of the announcement.

Since 2013 the WEC has run an April to November schedule, but from next season races will straddle the two calendar years.

To facilitate the transition from summer to winter programmes, next year's WEC – dubbed the 'Super Season' – will last 18 months and include the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice.

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The 2019-2020 season will be held over seven races, which the FIA and ACO hope will set the 'cruising speed' going forward in a bid to reduce costs.

Another major change to the calendar is the return of the 12 Hours of Sebring, which featured as a round in the inaugural WEC season.

The American endurance classic will be shared with the IMSA Sportscar Championship, although the two championships will run separate races on different days.

IMSA will run its event on the Saturday of the weekend from 10 am to 10 pm, while the WEC version will take place on the Sunday from 12:00 midnight to 12:00 pm.

Furthermore, there will be no British round of the championship next year with Silverstone taken off the calendar.

With its contract due to expire at the end of this year, the traditional season-opener will not run in 2018, while COTA, Mexico City, the Nurburgring and Bahrain are also missing from the proposed schedule.

Additionally, the Prologue test will move back to Paul Ricard after relocating to Monza in 2017.

2018-19 World Endurance Championship provisional calendar

Calendar awaiting validation from the World Motorsport Council