P1racenews AI automatic summary:
WEC drivers saddened by demise of prototype-like GTE cars
The decision to remove the GTE class from the WEC and European Le Mans Series next year was marked by the Bahrain 8 Hours event last month. GTE has been a prominent category since the rebirth of the world sportscar championship in 2012, attracting manufacturers like Porsche, Ferrari, Ford, BMW, and Corvette. The decline of the GTE Pro category had already begun before the introduction of the Hypercar division in 2021. GTE Pro and GTE Am classes have been phased out, making way for a new category running GT3 cars next year. While the performance difference between GTE and GT3 cars is not significant, GTE cars were favored by professional drivers due to their thoroughbred racing design. With the switch to GT3, the driving enjoyment and pleasure will not be the same. The GTE class was highly competitive, even more so than LMP1 at its peak, according to Nicky Catsburg, who raced in both IMSA and WEC. Richard Westbrook, who achieved success in GT cars, also expressed his disappointment in seeing GTE go, but acknowledged the excitement and opportunities that the GT3 category will bring.
