42 terms
Glossary
Endurance racing speaks its own language. This glossary explains the WEC's terms the way they actually work on a race weekend, from Hyperpole to slow zones to what those lights on the side of the cars mean, with links into the archive wherever the data has more to say.
Classes and machinery
Hypercar
The WEC's top class since 2021, open to two rule platforms (LMH and LMDh) balanced against each other.
LMH (Le Mans Hypercar)
The bespoke Hypercar platform: constructors design the whole car, hybrid front axle optional.
LMDh
The cost-capped Hypercar platform: spec chassis from one of four suppliers, spec hybrid, manufacturer engine and styling.
LMP1
The WEC's original top class (2012-2020): the fastest endurance prototypes ever built.
LMP2
The cost-capped prototype class with a spec engine; in today's WEC it appears only at Le Mans.
LMGT3
The WEC's GT class since 2024: GT3 machinery with endurance-specific tweaks and Pro-Am crews.
GTE (Pro and Am)
The WEC's GT formula until 2023, split into all-professional Pro and amateur-anchored Am divisions.
Garage 56
The ACO's invitational grid slot at Le Mans for experimental cars racing outside the classes.
Balance of Performance (BoP)
The adjustment system (weight, power, energy) that keeps different car designs raceable against each other.
Qualifying and sessions
Hyperpole
The WEC's two-stage qualifying shootout: the fastest cars from each class advance to a short pole decider.
Free practice (FP1-FP3)
The untimed-for-points track sessions before qualifying, used for setup, tyre and traffic homework.
Prologue
The championship's official pre-season test, days of collective running at one circuit.
Le Mans Test Day
The mandatory test at La Sarthe the weekend before race week, the only running on the full circuit before the event.
Super Season
The 2018-19 bridge season that ran across two calendar years and included two 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Rolling start
WEC races begin at speed behind a formation, not from a standing grid.
Race procedure
Full Course Yellow (FCY)
A neutralisation that slows the whole field to 80 km/h in place, without bunching it behind a safety car.
Slow zone
A localised 80 km/h speed-limit section, used on very long circuits so the rest of the lap stays green.
Safety car
Full neutralisation behind pace cars; at Le Mans several safety cars run simultaneously around the long lap.
Wave-by
Cars trapped between the safety car and their class leader are released past to un-lap themselves before a restart.
Red flag
A full session stoppage; in a 24-hour race the clock keeps running while the field waits.
Track limits
The painted edges of the racetrack; exceeding them repeatedly brings deleted laps and penalties.
Stop-and-go penalty
The car stops stationary in its pit box for a set time; no work may be done.
Drive-through penalty
The car must drive the length of the pit lane at the speed limit without stopping.
Classified finisher
Finishing isn't enough: a car must cover a minimum share of the winner's distance to appear in the results.
Endurance craft
Stint
One continuous run between pit stops, endurance racing's basic strategic unit.
Double and triple stints
Running the same tyres (or driver) through consecutive stints to save pit time.
Driver change
The mid-stop swap of drivers, practiced to cost nothing beyond the stop's other work.
Lift and coast
Lifting off the throttle early before braking zones to save energy at a small lap-time cost.
Driver categorisation (Bronze to Platinum)
The FIA's grading of drivers by achievement and age, used to compose Pro-Am crews.
Minimum and maximum drive time
Sporting rules bound each driver's time at the wheel, from minimum shares to Le Mans' 14-hour cap.
Pit stop rules
Refuelling before tyres, limited crew and equipment: WEC stops are deliberately sequential.
Traffic
The permanent presence of slower and faster classes on the same track, and the craft of passing through it.
Timing, scoring and tech
Sector times
The lap split into timed sections, the basic tool for locating where pace lives.
Leader lights
LED position panels on the bodywork showing whether a car runs first, second or third in class.
Class number colours
Each class carries its own number-panel colour so the classes can be told apart at speed.
Equivalence of Technology (EoT)
The LMP1-era formula that tried to balance hybrid factory cars against non-hybrid privateers.
Success handicap
The 2019-20 LMP1 system that slowed cars in proportion to their championship success.
Torque sensors
Driveshaft sensors that measure real deployed power, the enforcement layer under Balance of Performance.
Virtual energy
The per-stint energy allocation, in megajoules, that replaces simple fuel limits in the Hypercar class.
Organisations and series
ACO (Automobile Club de l'Ouest)
The French club that created and still runs Le Mans, and co-organises the WEC with the FIA.
ELMS (European Le Mans Series)
The ACO's continental series in Europe, prototype racing's main ladder into the WEC.
IMSA (WeatherTech SportsCar Championship)
North America's top endurance series; its GTP class shares the LMDh platform with the WEC's Hypercar.