What will the two races of the 2024 WEC season bring to Imola? / FIA WEC

The World Automobile Championship (FIA WEC) will take place in Imola next weekend. 19 hypercars compete for overall victory. There are also 18 LMGT3 cars. SPEEDWEEK.com looks forward to the action in Italy.

The time has come: The second race weekend of the 2024 FIA WEC season will take place from April 19 to 21. The venue is the 4.909 km track in Imola/Italy. The current WEC has not yet been held there. IMLC’s predecessor made a guest appearance there in 2011. Peugeot won. Imola took over Italy from Monza as it is currently being rebuilt. At the top, 19 supercars battle it out for overall victory.

These days, the Balance of Performance (BoP) always determines whether you win or lose. Last year’s reigning champions Ferrari and Toyota did not fare well in Qatar – and failed to make it onto the podium either. For Imola, both are allowed to unload a lot of weight: the Toyota GR010 Hybrid 29 kg and the Ferrari 499P even 34 kg. So both will definitely qualify for victory again. Of course, this is very important for Ferrari. Because Imola is this year’s home game. The stadiums will be full.

New cars from Alpine, BMW and Lamborghini will also compete in the revised classification. In Qatar, new players in the BoP were considered very carefully – and eventually only played in midfield/back. All in all, the mentioned brands will definitely catch up with Porsche and Cadillac. An exciting (fake) race can be expected.

It will be interesting to look at the Peugeot 9X8. As is known, the French hypercar has been completely redesigned and the 2024 version now has a rear wing or wider rear tires (34cm). The first match is coming to Imola. The car will be a big step compared to its predecessor and will now have more parameters similar to the competition.

In addition to hypercars, LMGT3 cars will also participate again. Nine products, each with two cars, are at the beginning. Valentino Rossi from Italy also drives the BMW M4 LMGT3. The nine-time motorcycle world champion will provide additional interest in the stands. BoP also responds in LMGT3.

In general, the layout at Imola has uphill and downhill sections. There are also known curves like Tosa or Acque Mineral and of course some high speed areas. Therefore, the route is generally very popular with pilots. In motorsport it is rare to run counter-clockwise. The maximum speed of hypercars will probably be more than 310 km / h and about 50 percent of the lap will be in full throttle.