Club Arnage

No surprises in the 2014 WEC schedule announced at Austin yesterday.

Provisional 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship Calendar.

Official Test           28-29 March                         
Silverstone             18-20 April
Spa-Francorchamps       9-10 May
24 Heures du Mans Test  01 June             
24 Heures du Mans       14/15 June                                                 
Sao Paulo               29-31 August (TBC)                                       
Circuit of the Americas 19-21 September                   
Fuji                    10-12 October                                       
Shanghai                31 Oct - 1 Nov                                                   
Bahrain                 13-15 November

http://www.fiawec.com/en/news/fia-wec-2014-calendar-unveiled-building-on-solid-foundations_1386.html (http://www.fiawec.com/en/news/fia-wec-2014-calendar-unveiled-building-on-solid-foundations_1386.html)

2014 WEC Calendar Updated
 
The provisional 2014 calendar for the FIA World Endurance Championship has been modified to take into account the changes recently made to the Formula One calendar. The 6 Hour races at Spa-Francorchamps and Fuji have been moved back one week in May and October respectively, with the only other change being to the race day at the Circuit of The Americas, which will now take place on Saturday 20 September, rather than Sunday 21st as previously announced.
 
Gerard Neveu, CEO of the FIA WEC, said: “We have made these changes to the 2014 calendar to avoid any clashes with Formula One.  Half of the races will now take place on Saturday, which could mean some them finishing under night conditions, and this will allow us to plan some special entertainment such as fireworks at the finish and a concert on Saturday evening to improve the overall package on offer to the fans and to apply the Le Mans race event spirit. We will be presenting this modified calendar to the FIA World Motor Sport Council for ratification at the next meeting.”
 
Provisional 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship Calendar**
Official Test  Le Castellet  28-29 March                         
Silverstone                  18-20 April
Spa-Francorchamps            03-04 May
24 Heures du Mans Test       01 June           
24 Heures du Mans            14/15 June                                               
Sao Paulo*                   29-31 August (TBC)                                       
Circuit of the Americas      18-20 September                   
Fuji                         03-05 October                                     
Shanghai                     31 Oct - 1 November                                                 
Bahrain                      13-15 November
                                                         

Crikey - Spa's even earlier in the calendar.

Chilly for those camping: DfH, Barry, Landman, WishyWashy, etc....  :-\

Not by much though.  I can put up with the cold nights so long as the days are warm & dry.  However that's not certain is it?

As Barry pointed out to me on Monday the Silverstone round might be light on numbers as that's Easter weekend.

Spa was also first weekend of May this year.
And the weather was great ! (that probably only happens once every 15 years ... but hey, we might get lucky again ;D)

Fuji now back to original date: 12th of October.

Provisional 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship Calendar**
Official Test  Le Castellet  28-29 March                         
Silverstone                  18-20 April
Spa-Francorchamps            03-04 May
24 Heures du Mans Test       01 June           
24 Heures du Mans            14/15 June                                               
Sao Paulo*                   29-31 August (TBC)                                       
Circuit of the Americas      18-20 September                   
Fuji                         10-12 October                                     
Shanghai                     31 Oct - 1 November                                                 
Bahrain                      13-15 November

Blue in the face...
Nobody will show up at COTA for this race.  Move it to Road America, plain & simple.
The only reason people go to COTA for the F1 race is because its the F1 crowd! The sportscar crowd (which is a knowledgeable crowd) is going to spend their money at a proper racing facility, not a multi-colored painted Tilke Track.  Problem is, the bean counters in charge are trying to turn racing into a arena sport, which goes against why most of us fell in love with the sport in the first place, because its not just another kick, or hit the ball arena sport.
Fax

I have Hubbypasses for Silverstone, Spa and LM, now to start praying for reasonable weather.

WEC rules require an FIA style (no pitwall) pitlane and garages. COTA is convertible between traditional US style pits and 'Euro' style. 

Just curious, why does it matter if it has the newer FIA style, or the older type still used in the US?  I've never heard of this being a big problem at Sebring, or the Petit. I would think racing in front of actual spectators would be a higher priority, well, maybe not the FIA.
Fax

ALMS was an American series for cars built to ACO rules. As an American series run by Americans, Sebring and Road Atlanta etc were no problem. As you are no doubt aware, the WEC is an FIA international championship run by a joint venture body (based at Le Mans) that is overseen by both ACO and FIA, but de-facto dominated by the FIA. The safety rules are written for FIA F1 style circuits, so it is no surprise the WEC calendar only includes F1 venues.

So by shackling themselves to FIA F1 graded venues, they'll race in front 8,000 people at COTA, instead of the eighty or ninety thousand they'd be racing in front of at Road America.
Makes sense to me.
Fax

Sadly, the number of spectators through the gate is quite a long way down the list of priorities for the FIA/WEC. The FIA wants COTA to become the 'traditional' home of world championships in the USA. I remember listening to various howls of indignation about the choice of Road Atlanta as the home of Petit Le Mans. It is true that COTA is yet to establish a history for itself, but give it time.

I'm not as sold on COTA, I admit to being biased after the way they screwed over Kevin Schwantz, but that place has a long way to go before they can prove long term viability.  They've drawn reasonably well for the GP, but F1 fans are much like NASCAR fans.  There are a great many who only follow F1, nothing else, couldn't care less about sportscar racing, again, much the same with NASCAR fans.  Those fans will show up at COTA for the GP, but aren't going to come out for the WEC, USCC, DTM, MotoGP, whatever.  COTA hasn't exactly seen huge crowds for their other race meetings, and they'll need to draw well from those to get by, because you know damn well they're not making any money from hosting F1.
Another thing that concerns me about COTA is, its a hell of a hike to get there from anywhere but Texas. Circuits like Road America, Mid-Ohio, Road Atlanta, etc. are a few hours drive from several different states.  Austin is right smack in the middle of Texas, which isn't exactly a road racing hotbed, so to get there from anyplace else, your pretty much having to fly in, not the cheapest thing in the world to be doing.  The FIA may not have attendance as a high priority, but the place will need to make money to survive, whether the FIA wants to make it the home of WC events in the US or not.
One other thing that racing people over here don't like to bring up, is that conventional motor racing in the US is in steady decline.  TV ratings, attendance, overall interest in all forms of the sport, stock cars, single seaters, sportscars, etc have all seen declining interest.  There are many racing fans, myself included who think by the time the next generation rolls around, racing will be a club sport.  There's absolutely no interest in racing with young adults and teenagers.  You don't see them at races, and they don't watch it on TV.  They'll watch those X-Games type of events, but conventional racing has no interest to them. They live in a video game world.  Road racing has always been a niche sport over here, like I said, it'll be a club sport by the time I'm a old man. Pro road racing will be dead.
Fax

WEC moves date for Brazil.

Current and potentially definitive calender :-


Official Test     Le Castellet  FRA      28-29 March
Silverstone                     GBR      18-20 April
Spa-Francorchamps               BEL      02-03 May
24 Heures du Mans Test          FRA      01    June
24 Heures du Mans               FRA      14/15 June
Circuit of the Americas         USA      18-20 September
Fuji                            JPN      10-12 October
Shanghai                        CHN      31    October -2 November
Bahrain                         BHN      13-15 November
Sao Paulo                       BRA      28-30 November