ACO and the FIA have unveiled details of the World Endurance Championship's 2020 Hypercar regulations which aims to lure manufacturers back to the series whilst slashing costs.
The championship will move away from the LMP1 prototype machinery, instead replacing the top class with concept hypercars, which will essentially be based on current road-going hypercars, such as the McLaren P1, Mercedes GT1 and Ferrari LaFerrari.
The cars must include a hybrid element, with a KERS system up front and 4WD to ensure energy efficiency, but manufacturers will have free choice over the combustion engine.
ACO and the FIA hope the move will lead to greater KERS development and will stipulate in the rules that such systems must be available for production car use at a pre-defined price.
A target Le Mans lap-time has been set at 3:20.000, which is five seconds adrift of current LMP1 machinery, but quicker than LMP2.
A major change is the cost, with expected budgets to be 1/4 of what they currently are. Therefore a roughly €30 million ($35m, £26m) budget for a two-car program.
These rules will come into effect for the 2020 season, following the conclusion of the current 2018/19 'Super Season'.
"The new regulations for the FIA World Endurance Championship, which come into effect for the 2020/21 season, are the result of hard work between members of the FIA, ACO, manufacturers and teams," commented FIA president Jean Todt. "This will provide endurance racing with a long term, stable platform, while continuing to offer a cost-effective stage to showcase future technologies."
Gérard Neveu, WEC CEO, added: "The direction for the new regulations announced today jointly by the ACO and the FIA is a supremely positive one. The 2020-24 regulations are, for competitors, both technically interesting and sustainable, with the controlled budgets being a key factor.
"We are confident that we will welcome an increased number of world-class manufacturers and international teams to the WEC and that all the elements are in place for them to be able to compete at the highest level, with the pinnacle of course being the 24 Hours of Le Mans."
Three-time Le Mans winner, Andre Lotterer, who will contest the iconic 24-hour race this weekend for Rebellion Racing, believes that the 2020 changes will attract new manufacturers to the series.
"I think it’s great for the championship. I mean Le Mans is a fantastic race and it deserves to have manufacturers and impressive cars and I think the hypercars will create relevance for the race and to the automotive industry," he told Motorsport Week.
"Hopefully it’ll attract more manufacturers and great drivers and the cars will look really cool I think so it’s very positive.”
