Fact-File: 10 Bizarre Facts About WEC

In this piece, we will give you the 10 most important facts about the World Endurance Championship to put some objective context behind your knowledge of the sport.

1. The History of WEC Can Be Traced Back Nearly 100 Years!

Long distance races between European cities were used by car manufacturers as a marketing tool to show their reliability to customers - something that still happens today. This led to the start of organised racing, with the first 24 Hours of Le Mans held in 1923, according to WEC-magazin.com.

The first ever 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1923.

Photo credits: Goodwood

2. The Biggest Winning Margin Was Nearly 350 km

According to fiacwec.com, the biggest winning margin at Le Mans between the winner and runner-up was achieved in 1927, when the winners in a Bentley won by a distance of 349.808 kilometres, ahead of its next closes rival, a Salmson.

An advert for motor lubricants after Bentley's domination at the 1927 Le Mans.

Photo credits: Smiths instruments

3. The Hall of Fame Includes Drivers Pre-WEC

As per Gary Watkins of Autosport, on the 3rd of December 2019 the FIA inducted a series of endurance drivers into the hall of fame. This covered the first iteration of the World Endurance Championship from 1981-1985 as well as from the re-born 2012 and onwards series. Inductees included Jacky Ickx, Tom Kristensen, Derek Bell and Hans Stuck. 27 of the 28 living endurance racing champions of the time were present at the ceremony.

The FIA WEC Hall of Fame members being inducted in 2019.

Photo credits: formularapida.net

4. 72 Hours of Racing

In 2016, DHL stated that there was a total of 72 hours of racing in the WEC. This took place in 9 races across the globe, 4 of which were in Europe.

The 2016 World Endurance Championship calendar.

Photo credits: FIA WEC

5. Four Classes, One Man

Bruno Senna, the nephew of the late great Ayrton Senna, is the only man to win a race in all 4 of the classes in WEC so far according to Last Lap.

A rare photo of a young Bruno Senna with his uncle, Ayrton.

Photo credits: reddit

6. DHL Shipped How Much?

In 2019, DHL transported 120 tons of freight per race for the WEC. This included 33 prototype racing cars, 2 safety cars, 2,800 tires and 50,000 litres of fuel. The WEC also used a total of 500 twenty-foot shipping containers and 14 chartered flights.

A summary of DHL's shipping figures for the WEC

Photo credits: DHL

7. Three Safety Cars

At Le Mans, 3 safety cars are needed to effectively cover the full 13.62 km of track. The FIA WEC states that "They are coordinated to be permanently equidistant and to ensure fairness when the race resumes".

At Le Mans, the track is so long that 3 safety cars are needed.

Photo credits: wec-magazin.com

8. The Champagne Shower Started At Le Mans

The champagne shower is now a permanent feature of motorsport and is seen across all categories. However, it actually started at Le Mans. In 1967, an American driver, Dan Gurney "recreated the scene from the previous year when the cork accidentally shot out and sprayed the crowd", as per the FIA WEC.

Dan Gurney, the first ever champagne shower.

Photo credits: Top Gear

9. The Biggest Ever Entry

The 2019 entry to the 24 hours of Le Mans is the biggest ever entry, according to the FIA WEC. 62 teams and 186 drivers were registered to compete in the race.

62 cars raced at Le Mans in 2019 - the largest amount ever.

Photo credits: Autosport

10. Innovation and Invention

A staggering amount of innovations and inventions have been tested at in Le Mans and WEC races. According to wec-magazin.com, this includes windscreen wipers, disc breaks and headlamps. These are all now components of cars which we take for granted. Other innovations made have been in the areas of diesel efficiency and hybrid technology, the benefits of which can be seen today in Audi, Toyota and Porsche's diesel and hybrid models.

Porsche implements hybrid technology which it innovated during its time in WEC in the Hybrid Panamera, released in 2018.

Photo credits: motor1.com