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The start of something big has f inally arrived at Sebring

It’s not often that we get to do a non-Formula 1 cover at this stage of the season, but this week seemed a bit special. At last, the new era of sportscar racing is here as Ferrari, Porsche, Toyota et al prepare to go head-to-head for the first time, in the World Endurance Championship season-opener at Sebring this weekend.

In this special WEC issue, Gary Watkins reports on the Prologue test (page 4), explains how we got to this point (p16), and takes a look at each of the seven teams that will fight it out in the top Hypercar class (p24). We also explain some of the key differences – and similarities – between the LMH and LMDh categories (p22), while pointing out that there should still be some high-quality battling further down the grid in LMP2 and GTE Am (p32).

There are bound to be arguments about Balance of Performance over the months and years to come, but for now we’re happy to simply enjoy the fact that some of the sport’s biggest names are back in endurance racing as we prepare to celebrate 100 years of Le Mans.

Sauber graduated to F1 from the world of sportscars three decades ago and almost did so as the Mercedes team. Adam Cooper talks to some of the key figures and explains how Sauber was able to make such a fine start to life in F1 in 1993 (p34).

Thank you to those who chased us for our top 10 pre-war grand prix drivers list – the wait will be over when you turn to p40!

Kevin Turner Chief Editor kevin.turner@autosport.com

NEXT WEEK 23 MARCH Saudi & Sebring sensations

We report from the WEC and IMSA enduros, plus

F1 in Saudi Arabia

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Cover image 2023 FIA WEC/FocusPackMedia – Marius Hecker

PIT & PADDOCK 4 Toyota tops Sebring Prologue 6 Button to make his NASCAR bow 8 Daytona 24H winners escape exclusion 10 Record grid for GTWCE Sprint 11 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix preview 13 Opinion: Alex Kalinauckas 15 Opinion: Andrew van Leeuwen

WORLD ENDURANCE PREVIEW 16 A new golden age begins 22 LMH vs LMDh tech guide 24 Hypercar team by team 32 Last hurrah for LMP2 and GTE

FEATURES 34 Sauber’s first steps into F1 40 Top 10 pre-war grand prix drivers

RACE CENTRE 46 World of Sport: Extreme E; Australian Supercars; NASCAR Cup

CLUB AUTOSPORT 55 Marciello in British GT with Mercedes 56 Morgan and Audi R8 in Masters Historics 58 MG Trophy champ Dalgarno to Type Rs 61 Phillip Island Classic report 63 National report: Malcolm Wilson Rally 64 The rise of GT racing in the UK

FINISHING STRAIGHT 68 What’s on this week 71 What could have been: Anthony Davidson 72 From the archive: 1978 Le Mans 74 My favourite team-mate: Hurley Haywood

FREE WITH THIS ISSUE

ENGINEERING SUPPLEMENT

What are the strengths and weaknesses of hydrogen in motorsport? We take a look at the latest develpments, and recall when Dallara invaded British F3 in our latest free supplement.

16 MARCH 2023 AUTOSPORT.COM 3