The 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship season was the fifth edition of the FIA World Endurance Championship auto racing series co-organised by the

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...

(FIA) and the

Automobile Club de l'Ouest The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (English: Automobile Club of the West), sometimes abbreviated to ACO, is the largest automotive group in France. It was founded in 1906 by car building and racing enthusiasts, and is most famous for being the orga ...

(ACO). The series was open to

Le Mans Prototype A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were crea ...

s and

grand tourer A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engine, rear-wh ...

-style racing cars meeting four ACO categories. The season began at the Silverstone Circuit in April and ended at the

Bahrain International Circuit The Bahrain International Circuit ( ar, حلبة البحرين الدولية, Ḥalba al-Baḥrayn ad-Dawliyya) is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2), and the annual Formula One Bahrain ...

in November, and included the 84th running of the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

. This season was also the last WEC season for

Audi Sport Team Joest Joest Racing is a sports car racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest. Their headquarters are in Wald-Michelbach, Germany. Early years As a combined driver/team owner, Reinhold Joest first began t ...

as they decided not to race in the

2017 FIA World Endurance Championship The 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship was the sixth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series co-organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). T ...

Season.

Schedule

The ACO announced a provisional calendar during the

2015 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas The 2015 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas was an endurance sports car racing event held at the Circuit of the Americas, Austin, US, on 17–19 September 2015, and served as the fifth round of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season. P ...

in September 2015. The calendar retains the eight rounds from 2015, but adds the 6 Hours of Mexico City at the

Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is a motorsport race track in Mexico City, Mexico, named after the racing drivers Ricardo (1942–1962) and Pedro Rodríguez (1940–1971). The circuit got its name shortly after it opened when Ricardo Rodr ...

. The

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and ...

previously visited Mexico City in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

. The Nürburgring round has been moved a month forward to July to close the gap after Le Mans. A test session was held prior to the start of the season at

Circuit Paul Ricard The Circuit Paul Ricard () is a French motorsport race track built in 1969 at Le Castellet, Var, near Marseille, with finance from pastis magnate Paul Ricard. Ricard wanted to experience the challenge of building a racetrack. The circuit has h ...

in March, while the mandatory test for the 24 Hours of Le Mans was held in the first week of June.

Entries

The FIA unveiled an entry of 32 cars for the 2016 season on 5 February, divided into four categories:

1 (LMP1) and 2 (LMP2), and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Professional (LMGTE Pro) and Amateur (LMGTE Am).

LMP1

LMP2

LMGTE Pro

LMGTE Am

Technical changes

The FIA have introduced a number of changes to the LMP1 cars for 2016 to reduce their speed. This is due to the 2015 cars being significantly faster than 2014 with most track records broken in 2015. The pace of development of the hybrid powertrains has resulted in cars racing with more than 1000 hp.

Results and standings

Race results

The highest finishing competitor entered in the World Endurance Championship is listed below. Invitational entries may have finished ahead of WEC competitors in individual races. Entries were required to complete the timed race as well as to complete 70% of the overall winning car's race distance in order to earn championship points. A single bonus point was awarded to the team and all drivers of the pole position car for each category in qualifying. For the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the race result points allocation was doubled. Furthermore, a race must complete three laps under green flag conditions in order for championship points to be awarded.

Driver championships

Five titles were offered to drivers in the 2016 season. The World Championship was reserved for LMP1 and LMP2 drivers, while the World Cup for GT Drivers was available for drivers in the LMGTE categories. Further, three FIA Endurance Trophies were also awarded to drivers in the LMP2 and LMGTE Am categories, and privateers in the LMP1 category.

World Endurance Drivers' Championship

World Endurance Cup for GT Drivers

FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP1 Private Team Drivers

FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers

FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Am Drivers

Manufacturer championships

Two manufacturers' titles were contested, one for LMPs and one for LMGTEs. The World Endurance Championship for Manufacturers is only open to manufacturer entries in the LMP1 category, while the World Endurance Cup for GT Manufacturers allows all entries from registered manufacturers in LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am to participate. The top two finishing cars from each manufacturer earn points toward their total.

World Endurance Manufacturers' Championship

World Endurance Cup for GT Manufacturers

Team championships

All categories award a team trophy for each individual entry, although LMP1 is limited to entries not from a manufacturer.

FIA Endurance Trophy for Private LMP1 Teams

FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams

FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Pro Teams

FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Am Teams

References

External links

* {{World championships in 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship seasons

World Endurance Championship World Endurance Championship may refer to: * FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series held since 2012 * World Sportscar Championship, an auto racing series which used the title World Endurance Championship from 1981 to 1985 * Endura ...