Endurance agreement

The long-running battle between FISA and the American IMSA organisation is over, and the terms of the agreement allow the IMSA endurance cars to run in Europe this year without any major changes, except for the need to install 100-litre fuel tanks (rather than 120) and to run to last year’s fuel ration. Even though all the IMSA classes are now admitted to the World Endurance Championship, it is not clear that the European WEC teams can race in America due to the ruling about the positioning of the foot pedals. The Americans say these must be behind the axis of the front wheels, as a safety measure, but the FISA regulations do not insist on this. All the Porsche 956s, and there will be as many as 15 in circulation this year, have the pedals ahead of the front wheel axis.

The major feature of the rules is the relaxation of the fuel consumption quota. Constructors were prepared for a 15 per cent reduction this year on last year’s fuel ration of 600 litres for a 1,000-kilometre race, but the reduction will not be enforced. In 1985 there will be no restriction at all on the amount of fuel that can be used, though tankage will still be limited to 100 litres. The new regulations appear to favour the C2 (Junior) cars, which may also have 100-litre tanks instead of 70 litres previously. Their chassis may be as light as 700 kg and there is no restriction on engine size or power, so presumably Lancia and Porsche will consider running in that category instead.