Robert Kubica has said that team principals in the FIA World Endurance Championship should investigate two-driver car lineups, after a number of Hypercar teams have opted for this approach at this weekend’s 6 Hours of Spa.
“If I were team principal, I would investigate it,” said Kubica, in response to a question asked in the pre-race press conference by MotorsportWeek.com on whether more teams may consider two-driver lineups in the future.
“I think there some advantages and disadvantages. Nothing comes for free. It also depends on the lineup and things like this,” said the Pole.
Peugeot and Proton Competition will use two drivers in each car, over the regular three, for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. This joins Cadillac who are already using two-drivers for many of the ‘shorter’ 6 hour races this year.
They will have a range of drivers joining them for the longer races; in Qatar, where they were joined by veteran Sebastien Bourdais, and at Le Mans next month IndyCar champion Alex Palou will join them.
In the press conference, Alex Lynn, one of two Cadillac WEC drivers, alongside Earl Bamber, said it’s not changed much for him.
“Actually, I don’t really notice that much difference other than you drive more in the race, but also in practise I guess.
“You get up to the lap time pretty quickly anyway, whether you’re a two driver or a three driver crew. So actually I haven’t noticed that much difference yet. And then obviously for the next time we go back to three. So actually it’s been pretty seamless so far.”
In the case of Peugeot and Proton, these teams have been subject to clashes from other race series. Two of Peugeot’s regular drivers, Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Eric Vergne, also compete in Formula E. This means both the #93 and #94 cars will have just two drivers this weekend.
Proton, meanwhile, will have Julien Andlauer and Neel Jani in the car, as Harry Tincknell honours his factory Ford contract to race in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.
One of Peugeot’s remaining drivers, Loic Duval, echoed Lynn’s comments when MotorsportWeek.com spoke to the Frenchman.
“It’s a six hour race. It’s not so hard, so I don’t think that physically, it’s going to be an issue. Mentally it could have been tough, if you go here in band conditions, because it’s challenging mentally to be focused intensely for three hours in the car.
“But looking at the conditions I think it’s the best we could have — not so hard, dry. For sure to prepare the race. It’s always easier when you’re only two because at the end it’s not so much time in the sessions.”
Historically in sportscar racing, shorter races used to have two drivers, with an extra added for the long endurance events. This changed with the introduction of the WEC, a tradition that has stayed in the top class. Maybe now, though, this could change.
