Why endurance racing is the winning formula

Traditionally, endurance racing has always been the cauldron of competition that has forged the future of road car technology. The gruelling struggle against both fellow competitors and the cruel mistress of reliability that is round the clock racing breeds performance – but performance that lasts.

For example, dual-clutch gearboxes, disc brakes and direct injection petrol engines are just a few technological innovations pioneered through endurance racing.

So as manufacturers look to reign in spending on motorsport programmes and the cash needed to compete in a full calendar of F1 racing – and just to watch one event as a spectator – continuing to rise unchecked, endurance racing looks appealing to both parties.

With a direct link from racetrack to road there’s real benefit for the manufacturer with the old adage of race on Sunday, sell on Monday, and for the fans there’s a chance to see a great spectacle while not spending a small fortune on doing so.

Fans make motorsport what it is, so with ticket prices for a GP now ludicrously expensive, but a full week’s ticket for five days worth of action, including a full 24 hours at the twice-round-the-clock French classic in Le Mans coming in at around 65 Euros, endurance racing could steal F1’s crown for both action and price, drawing plenty of fans as a result.

How could it rival it for action? Well, with exotic metal from the likes of BMW, Lamborghini, Corvette, Aston Martin, Porsche, Ferrari, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Audi, Peugeot, Ford – and other bespoke racecar manufacturers like Oreca and Zytek – sitting on the grid for the new 2012 World Endurance Championship, the result of a collaboration between the ACO (the organisers of the Le Mans 24 hours) and the FIA, glorious sounding metal such as the above lapping within tenths of a second of each other would surely draw crowds.

Close racing makes a good spectacle, not the team with the biggest budget sponsored by a certain famous energy drink clearing off into the distance at an unchecked rate. With sportscar racing you get that.

Take the 2011 24 hours Le Mans. After a full 24 hours racing and the best part of 2,500 miles, less than 13 seconds separated the eventual winner and the second place car – now that’s close racing.

While F1 might be the most single minded and ultimately focussed form of circuit-based motorsport, you don’t get big capacity V8 Corvettes rumbling by, blurring your vision they’re that loud, and sonorous Aston Martin V12s thrashing past with their piercing engine notes – like chalk and cheese then – both lapping within tenths of a second of each other.

The new WEC looks set to attract more fans, which means more money and therefore more manufacturers interested in joining the series, creating a self-perpetuating cycle – not to mention the scope for extreme on track action.