zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
Ferrari Faces WEC And GT World Challenge Season Finale Clash
Ferrari Faces WEC And GT World Challenge Season Finale Clash-May 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:03

Image for article titled Ferrari Faces WEC And GT World Challenge Season Finale Clash

It was bound to happen eventually: as racing schedules around the world were reshuffled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it stood to reason that, at some point, a team or manufacturer would face a clash between events from different disciplines. Now, Ferrari’s WEC and GT World Challenge Europe teams are facing a season finale clash on November 14-15, 2020.

WEC brought its 8 Hours of Bahrain race forward a week after Formula One announced its revamped schedule that included races at Bahrain on November 27-29 and December 4-6, . Had WEC kept its original date, there may have been overlap between race series in the paddock as WEC moved out and F1 moved in.

Unfortunately, though, the WEC racenow clashes with both IMSA’s 12 Hours of Sebring and, more importantly, GTWC Europe Endurance Cup’s Paul Ricard 1000. All three events are the finales for their respective series, but it’s WEC and GTWC that are having the driver clash.

Five of Ferrari’s six pro-class GTWC drivers are impacted: Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Nicklas Nielsen (drivers of the No. 51 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020), and Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina (SMP Racing drivers).

There are, of course, other teams whose drivers compete in both series, but the problem isn’t as extensive as that at Ferrari, which also has race engineers who work in both series.

Right now, there is no sensible solution. Because the races are on different days, a driver could theoretically put in the first stint in Bahrain, then fly out to France for, say, the last stint, but anyone who’s travelled thousands of miles knows that’s a terrible idea. It’s exhausting, and no one is going to be performing at their best.

It’s still possible to change the race date, but it’s not likely an entire series will reschedule a race for the benefit of a handful of drivers—especially since the Ferrari teams impacted are not leading the championship.

With most racing series adopting a solidified schedule by this point, it isn’t likely we’ll see many more clashes like this one, but it certainly is frustrating for drivers and crew members who have been giving their all in two disciplines only to be asked to choose one or the other.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
NASCAR Driver Wrecks Into A Spin And Then Gets Wrecked Back Out Of It
NASCAR Driver Wrecks Into A Spin And Then Gets Wrecked Back Out Of It
When a NASCAR driver goes into a spin, especially at a race track as short as Martinsville Speedway, there usually isn’t much that can be done about it—the vehicle is either going to hit a wall or another vehicle. But when Chase Briscoe went around on Saturday, another driver actually...
May 27, 2026
Watch A Formula E Car Pop A Wheelie On Impact
Watch A Formula E Car Pop A Wheelie On Impact
Today’s Formula E Mexico City ePrix lost all semblance of chill towards the end of the race. One of several attempts to fight for position didn’t end well for the two Mahindra cars, littering the turn in Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez’s old baseball stadium with debris with two laps to go....
May 27, 2026
The Formula E Driver Who Never Gets A FanBoost Is The One Who Deserves It The Most
The Formula E Driver Who Never Gets A FanBoost Is The One Who Deserves It The Most
FanBoost—where fans vote to give a driver an additional boost of power to use during an FIA Formula E Championship race—sets off no small amount of rage from purists who feel as if it’s a gimmick. However, drivers I’ve spoken with at this weekend’s Formula E race don’t seem to...
May 27, 2026
We're So Glad They Don't Bleep French On Television [Update: Or English, Either]
We're So Glad They Don't Bleep French On Television [Update: Or English, Either]
Renault e.dams Formula E driver Sébastien Buemi had a miserable race today. After having the first three Formula E races in a row, he wasn’t anywhere near the lead of the Mexico City ePrix. Apparently this was, to translate directly from the French “merde” spoken on Buemi’s team radio: “shit.”...
May 27, 2026
Formula One Will Give Us The Louder Engines We Demanded
Formula One Will Give Us The Louder Engines We Demanded
The Americans are in control of Formula One now, and so the powers-that-be heard y’all think F1 engines are . The fact (yes, fact) that internal combustion racing engines should be God’s gift to eardrums might as well be in the fine print of our own Bill of Rights, and...
May 27, 2026
Here’s Some More Exhausting Bullshit About Women In Racing
Here’s Some More Exhausting Bullshit About Women In Racing
I’ll be honest, it took me a few days after this video on the Monster Energy girls published to actually write this. My hands were shaking too much out of anger to do anything for a while. But there’s something we need to talk about—!—and it’s glorifying the objectification of...
May 27, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved