The FIA World Endurance Championship has made its way back to Autodromo Nazionale Monza for the first time in three years, stepping in as a stand-in venue for the season-ending Bahrain 8 Hours due to ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. This marks the WEC’s fourth appearance at Monza, a circuit that has featured on the calendar from 2021 through 2023 and also hosted the pre-season Prologue in 2017.
In the recent Monza history, the No. 7 Toyota driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez has emerged victorious on two of the three occasions, with the 2022 race going to the ORECA-chassied Alpine-badged LMP1 car piloted by Nico Lapierre, Andre Negrão and Matthieu Vaxivière.
Having already clinched the Hypercar manufacturers’ world title in Barcelona, Toyota entered Monza with only the No. 7 and No. 8 Toyota TR010 Hybrids still in contention for the drivers’ championship. The No. 8 car, led by Brendan Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa, held a 17-point advantage over their teammates Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries.
A team official explained that there would be no team orders between the two factory Toyotas. The policy was straightforward: with both cars still fighting for the drivers’ crown, there would be no deliberate interference. If one car were out of contention while the other remained in the fight, strategists could push to maximize chances, but under the current circumstances, the teams sought to provide fair conditions for both entries.
This weekend also marked a farewell of sorts for Mike Conway, who was presented with a specially commissioned painting titled “Thank You Mike,” signed by all personnel in Toyota Racing, in recognition of his impending retirement from top-level racing this weekend at Monza.
Competing at Monza for the first time in the LMGT3 category, the event also signified the final appearance of the current Goodyear Racing Eagle slick and wet tires. The tire maker plans to roll out a new specification next year that will be composed of 66 percent renewable material, in both the World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series.
LMGT3 teams had already begun testing the new Goodyear tires following the 6 Hours of Barcelona, according to Stephen Bickley, head of Goodyear’s Endurance program. He described Monza as a demanding challenge that should help round out a competitive WEC season, especially given the anticipated cooler conditions. The quick tire warm-up characteristics of the Goodyear Eagle Medium were highlighted as crucial for driver confidence at the start of each stint.
Michelin has supplied both Soft and Medium compounds from the Pilot Sport Endurance line for the Hypercar class, with the Soft compound expected to be the preferred choice during the weekend. Endurance program manager Pierre Alves indicated that triple-stints could be possible depending on ambient temperatures and track conditions. He noted Monza’s unique profile—combining very high speeds with relatively modest tire energy demands—and stressed that front tires would bear heavy loading in braking while rear tires would need to deliver strong traction on acceleration.
Another notable change since WEC’s last visit to Monza is the circuit’s resurfacing in 2024, which is anticipated to yield substantially faster lap times, potentially by as much as 2 to 2.5 seconds.
Peugeot returned to the ground where the 9X8 debuted in 2022, a year that culminated in the car’s first podium in 2023 with drivers Mikkel Jensen, Paul di Resta and Jean-Eric Vergne. A heavily updated LMH-based model is expected to be unveiled next year, driven by a new clause in the technical regulations that allows the FIA and ACO to permit additional Evo upgrades for a manufacturer demonstrating a significant performance shortfall. Peugeot used up most of its available five Jokers last season.
There were several other milestones on the horizon for Monza: Richard Lietz was set to reach his 100th WEC start, coming one race after Sebastien Buemi became the first driver to achieve the milestone. Porsche was poised to record its 500th combined start across all 911 GT variants since the championship began in 2012 (not counting top-class starts).
Monza would also mark Corvette’s 80th WEC appearance, a marque that had celebrated its first series-class victory outside Le Mans in 2022 in the GTE-Pro class with Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy. A year later, Pratt Miller Motorsports would clinch the GTE-Am title with Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone.
The two TF Sport-entered Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs remained poised in LMGT3 title contention, with the No. 33 entry, crewed by Jonny Edgar, effectively holding an 18-point advantage over the No. 91 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo trio of Lietz, Riccardo Pera and Yasser Shahin. Racing Team Turkey by TF’s crew of Charlie Eastwood, Salih Yoluc and Peter Dempsey trailed in third, four points behind.
A potential title shift depended on the No. 33 Corvette, as Edgar, Catsburg and Keating would secure the LMGT3 crown if they finished fifth or better, regardless of where the Manthey car ended up. If the No. 91 Porsche finished second, the Corvette would only need a top-ten finish.
Andrea Hidalgo, Corvette Racing’s program manager, commented on the situation, expressing excitement that two Corvettes remained in title contention and praising both crews for their consistency and performance throughout the season. He looked forward to seeing how the final chapters of the campaign played out.
The only other major LMGT3 contender still in mathematical contention was the No. 69 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo, driven by Dan Harper, Parker Thompson and Anthony McIntosh. The team carried an eighth and final liver y for the season and trailed by 26 points, with a theoretical maximum possible score that weekend requiring several favorable outcomes for the other title contenders, including pole position and a Corvette finishing outside points.
Away from the track, Jack Aitken revealed that his partner was approaching her delivery date for their first child, complicating plans should a dash to the UK prove necessary. Aitken, who clinched this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the GTP class, stated that he had contingency plans and would make every effort to participate if feasible, but was prepared to travel home if required and to race the weekend as scheduled if possible.
In other news, Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon had both been named Red Bull Athletes following an announcement at the Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix. Juncadella was confirmed to return to Genesis Magma Racing with an unchanged driver lineup, while Gounon indicated his primary focus would shift back to GT3 competition as a Mercedes-AMG factory driver after Alpine’s departure from the world championship.
Renault’s Alpine displayed a photo shoot featuring the Renault Alpine A442B, the car that won the 1978 Le Mans 24 Hours, alongside its A424 LMDh-based prototypes. These cars are set to make their final WEC appearances this weekend, with Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg, Gounon and Victor Martins among the drivers.
A tree-planting ceremony at Viale Mirabello drew participation from ACO President Pierre Fillon, WEC CEO Frederic Lequien, Monza track president Giuseppe Redaelli, and Peugeot drivers Theo Pourchaire and Nick Cassidy. The event was organized as part of a joint effort between WEC’s corporate social responsibility program and the circuit.
Ben Keating, who is closing out a full season of sports car racing, ruled out competing in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona in a dual-drive role. He described the combination of IMSA’s revised drive-time regulations and the burden of a potential 10-hour race as unreasonable, preferring to spend time with friends rather than prolonging the endurance challenge.
The sport also mourned the passing of 1980 Formula 1 champion Alan Jones, who died at the age of 80. Jones had sporadic appearances in the World Sportscar Championship and two Le Mans starts, including a sixth-place finish in 1984 alongside Vern Schuppan and Jean-Pierre Jarier in a Kremer Racing Porsche 956B.
Track action for the weekend was scheduled to begin on Friday with Free Practice sessions from 10:30 to 12:00 CET (4:30 to 6:00 a.m. ET) and 14:30 to 16:00 CET (8:30 to 10:00 a.m. ET).
