WEC 2019 Sebring race to be 1,500-mile event

Monday, 18 September 2017


By Graham Goodwin / Image by Michael Levitt/LAT


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The FIA World Endurance Championship is set to announce that its 2019 race at Sebring International Raceway, set to follow on directly after the 12 Hours of Sebring, will be run as the "1500 Miles of Sebring."
Multiple sources have now confirmed that the WEC race, part of the championship's transitional 2018/2019 "Super Season" as the series shifts to a winter-based calendar, will still begin at midnight, as originally announced, with just a two-hour gap after the checkered flag for the IMSA event.
FIA WEC CEO Gerard Neveu has also confirmed that a "spectacular entertainment program" will bridge the gap between races as the pitlane and circuit are prepared for the WEC race start.
"The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring is the 12 Hours of Sebring. The WEC initially said a 12-hour race, to see what the reaction would be be," Wayne Estes, president and general manager of Sebring International Raceway told RACER at COTA this past weekend for the WEC's Lone Star Le Mans. "But we need to keep the identity of the 12 Hours of Sebring. So I think they're going to go with a distance or timed race."
Sources have now confirmed that the plan is for a 1,500-mile event for the WEC, with the race likely to last through to around midday.