Ligier JS P217 LMP2 Unveiled at Spa
Over the ELMS 4 Hours of Spa weekend Ligier (Onroak Automotive) unveiled there 2017 LMP2 contender which has been built for the new for 2017 LMP2 regulations. This is the first of 4 cars that are to be made, the others LMP2 chassis will be by Oreca, Dallara and Riley Tech/Multimatic. The Ligier JS P217 has all ready been shaken down and undergone initial testing at Magny Cours with plenty of miles been put on the car and the new British made Gibson V8 Spec Engine. Ligier (Onroak Automotive) are to now move on and undertake a series of tests with the new car before chassis are sent out to customers for 2017.
BMW return to GTE-Pro in 2018
BMW Motorsport have confirmed that they will indeed be returning to the GT category at Le Mans and in the WEC with a full factory effort in 2018, this was just a rumor up until a few days ago. They have not confirmed what car they will develop into there GTE racer but a solid guess is the next generation M6. BMW coming back into GTE makes sense as eventually you can see them selling the car on a customer base like there GT3 racer and the up coming GT4 racer. All I can say is it will be nice seeing BMW back on the grid in 6 hour races.
FIA WEC 2017 Calender
The FIA and the ACO have released the 2017 WEC calendar for those interested. No new tracks have been added except the pre-season test will be at Monza over Paul Ricard
24/25 March The WEC Prologue, Monza (Italy)
16 April 6 Hours of Silverstone (UK)
06 May WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium)
17/18 June Le Mans 24 Hours (France)
16 July 6 Hours of Nürburgring (Germany)
03 September 6 Hours of Mexico (Mexico)
16 September 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas (USA)
15 October 6 Hours of Fuji (Japan)
05 November 6 Hours of Shanghai (China)
18 November 6 Hours of Bahrain (Bahrain)
ELMS 2017 Calender
Last but by no means least, the ACO also unveiled the provisional ELMS calendar for 2017 with the only big change been the final race is now at Portimao over Estoril.
28/29 March ELMS official test at Monza (Italy)
15 April 4 Hours of Silverstone (UK)
14 May 4 Hours of Monza (Italy)
23 July 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring (Austria)
27 August 4 Hours of Le Castellet (France)
24 September 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium)
22 October 4 Hours of Portimão (Portugal)
