Mat Fernandez has sported several other aspects to the 2017 draft FIA WEC regulations that have, until now, either not featured as permanent regs, or were as yet undefined.

They cover a variety of purposes from efficiency, cost reduction, and in one case…. visibility!

Visibility of the car in the garage:

From 1 hour before the first session until 1 hour after the last session of each day, or at a minimum from 10 a.m until 7 p.m:

Visibility towards the inside of the garage and the race car must remain free of any obstruction whatsoever (bodywork parts, covers, piles of tyres, ets).

Any bodywork element stored in front of the car will be considered to be an obstruction to the visibility towards the inside of the garage unless it is stored flat on the ground and does not totally or partially hide the race car inside the garage.

Any person standing in front of the car when it is inside the garage is considered to be an obstruction to the visibility towards the inside of the garage unless that person has to work on the car. (the picture above in part prompted this change with issues surrounding all three LMP1 factory teams at the Le Mans Test Day preventing visual access to both media and officials! – the response from the rule makers was a rapid and decisive one and those changes are now enshrined in the 2017 regulations).

A line of people in front of the car is strictly prohibited. The pit shutter (on the track side) must remain completely open.

Tyre limitations in GTE Am & Pro:

The different tyre manufacturers may declare to the FIA, for the full season, a maximum of 3 tyre specifications. or each model of car entered in LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am.

The 3 LMGTE Pro specifications can be different from the 3 LMGTE Am specifications for each model of car. These 3 specifications must be declared upon the following schedule:

2 specifications at least 15 days before the first event. 1 additional specification can be declared at least 15 days before the opening of the 24 Hours of Le Mans event.

These 3 specifications are frozen for the duration of the season unless the manufacturer changes model.

The number of tyres used for each 6H event is limited:

– GTE Pro: 3 sets of tyres in FP (instead of 4 prior year), 4 sets in Qualifying & Race (instead of 6 PY)

– GTE Am: 4 sets of tyres in FP, 6 sets in Qualifying & Race, no change vs PY

Tyre Limitations for LMP1 and LMP2 cars

No change in P2 but drastic change in LMP1 for 6H events:

3 sets of tyres in FP (instead of 4 prior year), 4 sets in Qualifying & Race (instead of 6 PY). That is a 33% reduction.

Tyre Manufacturer Change

During the season, a competitor can only change tyre manufacturer once per championship.

Wind Tunnel occupancy limitation

Again here, drastic reduction : from 1200 to 800 Hours per year for LMP1 manufacturers.