Photo: Javier Jimenez/DPPI

Executives from hypercar manufacturers Porsche, BMW and Peugeot have spoken out against a proposal that would require all FIA World Endurance Championship races to be run by three-driver teams from next year.

ACO president Pierre Fillon has previously stated that the WEC is “considering” introducing a rule that would ban two-driver line-ups in shorter WEC rounds.

The use of two-man crews has become increasingly common this season, with the likes of Chip Ganassi Racing, Proton Competition, Hertz Team JOTA and Peugeot all using them at different stages of the year.

Porsche’s LMDh director Urs Kuratle was one of a number of paddock figures to say the decision on the number of drivers in a car should be left to the teams, rather than being dictated by the regulations.

“I think, and I say this personally but also as Porsche, that we should be in the hands of the OEMs or the teams, regardless of whether there are two or three drivers,” Kuratle told Sportscar365.

“This shouldn’t be something that should be mandated by regulations.

“The way it is now, you can do whatever you want. It’s not a safety issue if you’re doing it with two people. We’re talking about six-hour races, not 10-hour races or 24-hour races, but for any duration, it should be up to the team.

“I think driving limits are the only thing that makes sense in the regulations. There shouldn’t be anything else in the regulations for drivers.”

Sportscar365 understands the proposal will be discussed at a working group meeting later this week.

Kuratle’s comments were echoed by BMW M Motorsport director Andreas Roos, who said that “it should definitely be left to the teams to choose” and noted that a three-driver mandate would make it harder for manufacturers and teams to resolve conflicts.

The WEC calendar currently clashes with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship twice, including in the GTP class, while the Formula E round in Berlin falls on the same weekend as the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo in July.

“Particularly in the circumstances we will have to find ourselves in next year, when the race calendars of IMSA and WEC, as well as WEC and Formula E, will clash with each other,” said Roos.

“We know that some teams share drivers between the major endurance championships, as well as between Formula E and the WEC programme.

“As long as there are collisions, it will be difficult for teams and manufacturers to employ additional drivers just because there are collisions.

“So in the end, I totally agree that teams should be free to choose whether they want to have two or three drivers.”

Peugeot was one of the manufacturers to reduce their field to two drivers per car at this year’s 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps when Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne were unable to take part in the race due to a Formula E collision.

Technical director Olivier Jansonnie described the solution as “quite clever” and a “good compromise”, adding that he would like to see it remain an option in the future.

“Our solution is to try to keep the regulations as they are,” he said.

“That is what we are trying to do and we are not the only team that does it. There are other teams that have a problem with Formula E drivers driving for them.

“The solution we used in Spa was very clever for us, it was a good compromise and we would like to keep the same regulations.

“When you have three drivers in a normal competition and something happens to one of them, you always start with two drivers, except for (COTA).”

Janson added that he “does not see any point in changing the regulations”, predicting that the consent of a majority of manufacturers would be needed to implement the changes.

Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director David Floury admitted he had “no strong opinion” on the proposal when asked about it.

“There are pros and cons,” he said. “When the race is six hours long and it’s not very hot, it’s probably better to race with just two drivers.

“But in Qatar, Bahrain (COTA) and Le Mans, you need three drivers, so changing every other race (is not good). And to prepare for Le Mans, it’s good to have stability.”

John Dagys and Jamie Klein contributed to this article

Davey Euwema is the European editor of Sportscar365. Based in the Netherlands, Euwema covers the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship, the European Le Mans Series and the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, as well as other series.