Here's why I think so:

1: Amazing manufacturer involvement,4 new Hypercars (Alpine,BMW,Lambo and Isotta),and we also had 4 privateer entries in the Hypercar class.

2: Great calendar, returning events (COTA and Interlagos), nice new venues (Qatar and Imola), the Spa, Fuji and Bahrain classics, and of course the most important race in the world, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

3: There wasn't a single bad/boring race, Qatar was nice, Imola was great, Spa was crazy and interesting at the same time, Le Mans was a banger, Interlagos was good, COTA was also good, Fuji was great especially the last two hours and Bahrain was nice.

4: Three-way title fight in the Hypercar class which went down to the wire in Bahrain, and great storylines all down the grid.

I may be slightly biased because this was the first full WEC season i watched (and Imola was the first time i attended a WEC event), but if this isn't the best WEC season ever, it's definitely top 3.

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  • this is also because of my personal bias but i will always cherish Past Prime Estre, 80 Year Old Lotterer and Second Best Vanthoor as world champions

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    Ruthless labelling haha

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    You rate Dries over Laurens?

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    It was a joke the regular WEC announcers made

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  • Out of the "new" era of WEC, yeah probably...

    But 2016 was, and probably will forever be, peak. All 4 classes were awesome.

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    All 4 classes were awesome.

    In my mind, GTE Pro wasn't. ACO was completely screwing up BOP all year long. Le Mans' sandbagging fiasco was a fine example. Also race in Mexico where naturally aspirated Astons demolished turbocharged Ferraris and Fords was another case of BOP set up in a bad way. Thankfully all other 3 classes made the show. And GTE Pro BOP was fixed for 2017.

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  • 2016 was better

    LMP1 battles between Audi, Porsche and Toyota were insane all year long. No BOP controversies or asterisks involved there. And we had probably the most dramatic conclusion to a Le Mans race ever. Compare that to quite disappointing 2024 edition when we had 7 hours of safety car.

    Also, in 2016 we had some upset overall podiums from Rebellion LMP1 entries and for Le Mans it felt like a genuine chance for an upset podium from them too.

    LMP2 was great to follow - last year of non-limited chassis available and free engines to use.

    The weakest point of 2016 was GTE Pro with all year long BOP controversies, including the biggest one at Le Mans between Ferrari and Ford. Later on ACO was making weird BOP calls too (Mexico for example). Thankfully GTE Am was much better.

    6 Hours of Fuji 2016 is still in my opinion the best WEC race of all time.

    My opinion - 2024 while good, isn't the best WEC season ever. I would say that 2015 was a better one too.

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    Any options to watch those races now you know of? I only followed non-F1 motorsport very loooosely back then.

    Edit: NVM, the Wec yt channel has most of them either in 1 long video or a few shorter ones. Couldnt find Le Mans in it tho.

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    Le Mans races until 2016 are harder to find, definitely not through official YT channels because of broadcasting rights. Duke Video hold rights for them and officially they only put one hour highlights to be purchased/streamed. To see full Le Mans races, you have to look through non-official channels on the internet. From 2017 onwards, all Le Mans races are uploaded on official YT channels.

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    I have to agree, Audi vs Porsche was fantastic and I just can't overlook the BoP bullshit going on. God I miss old ALMS too...

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  • 2024 was great

    I think people overreacted with the Ferrari "dominance" calls. From the first race Caddy a chance at victory already

    And if you consider that the previous year Toyota won all but one race, then yeah, we had it good

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    Ye it wasn't really dominance at all, they won races by 10-15 seconds aside from quatar, not a lap like yoyota did in 2023

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  • 2016 was better in my viewing experience. Pretty much same amount of cars fighting for the win, with cartoonish levels of straight line acceleration.

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    I'm actually kinda sad I didn't get introduced to WEC only until the Hypercar class was born, I would have loved to see LMP1 cars during their prime years

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    All the races are on YouTube… but the weeks in between races, not knowing what aero package they would bring, if they had updates, genuinely not knowing who would be fastest. It was awesome. Lmp2 had some variety still with the car looks with open cockpit and closed, it was a cool time to be a fan.

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    Not all of them. If love to watch some old le mans series/ilmc races.

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    2016 is. And someone has a Google drive with literally all of them but I can’t remember where I found that drive.

    But I have all of wec up to 2021 downloaded from that.

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    Lmp1 was fantastic. The audi v Peugeot was a a great rivalry. Plus the cars were fantastic. Hypercars feel a bit "watered down" in comparison.

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    Hypercars feel a bit "watered down" in comparison.

    They don't feel a bit "watered down". They are watered down. Yes, Hypercar absolutely runs wild when it comes to manufacturers' participation, but technology and speed-wise - it's a massive step down comparing to LMP1 era. LMP2 had to be neutered heavily not to make Hypercars look bad.

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    They are super watered down. Down on power, heavier, hybrid that replaces power instead of being additive, less downforce, no drs/p2p, etc. These regs should've been AWD in my opinion, that would make up some of the difference for them being so much slower inherently.

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  • Yes 2024 was absolute peak. I'm fearing that it'll all go downhill from there but let's see what the future brings. Hypercar interest doesnt seem to slow down any time soon.

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  • 2016 will be unbeatable imo. The battles between Porsche and Audi were legendary

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  • 2016 was the peak to me

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  • And then we got the 2025 shitshow. It had good moments, but I just cant get over the shock of the first half

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  • Your single points are understandable but that title is a lot to say for someone that started with 2024 season to talk about "best season in WECs history". Lucky you are not getting the usual reddit hate.

    Nothing beats 2016 season, yet.

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  • 2024 was let down by a dreadful Le Mans with another controversial ending

    Spa was entertaining but a bit of a farce again

    Having been here since the beginning, I’d still argue 2015 through 2016 was the best era, but a bit incomparable to the present

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    I watched most of the 2016 season for the first time on YouTube last year, and it was fantastic. The battles between Toyota, Audi, and Porsche were so exciting to watch.

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    I still don’t understand how the Spa debacle was allowed to happen. Complete disregard for the rulebook and sporting integrity.

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    Was absolutely shameful. Freitas made up new rules as he went along.

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    This!

    Unfortunately, Fretias' officiating has taken a nosedive in the last two years. Spa 2024 was the beginning. This year he overused race extending after a red flag way too much. ELMS Silverstone round was the lowest point and probably his worst gig in years. Imagine starting the race one hour earlier due to weather concerns, then have a red flag after a "dentist" moment, red flag, extension and funny enough - having to red flag the extended race due to earlier forecasted heavy rainfall and wind...

    What's worse, he is inconsistent. WEC race at COTA this year. Somehow he didn't bother to extend the race after a red flag due to rain. And even funnier, weather conditions later on were worse than those which brought out that red flag.

    I always defended Freitas, praised his work as race director at ACO, but since 2024 he has gone full entertainment. He is doing a poor job at the moment.

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    I don’t know how he gets such a pass tbh

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    2024 was let down by a dreadful Le Mans with another controversial ending you are referring to the contact between Pier Guidi and the #7 Toyota?

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    Especially frustrating as an LMP2 car with an open door was called in immediately.

    Not calling the Ferrari in allowed it to complete its planned stint length and refuel as planned.

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    Or allowing the 50 to drive with its door open for half a stint

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    Or allowing Kubica to intentionally wreck a competitor.

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    Did people really forget how nasty the BMW was, actively blocking the race leader with blue flags and intentionally cutting the chicane to unlap itself? Even without the incident the BMW should've gotten a 3min hold.

    Also he wasn't "allowed" he literally got a penalty for it. Maybe not big enough but stop inventing.

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    He dared to try and unlap himself? Straight to the Shadow Realm!

    In most other race series, intentionally wrecking an opponent would be an immediate black flag and possibly subsequent race suspensions, not a 30s stop and go.

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    lmao you point to "other series" but in what other series can you intentionally block the race leader under a dozen blue flags? in what other series can you straight up cut the track to unlap yourself? "trying to unlap" is pure framing for straight up cutting the track

    the BMW was driving like a maniac, Kubica definitely should have gotten more but the whitewashing of the atrocious actions before the crash is insane but I guess at this point anything is fair game if it's against Ferrari or Toyota

    wasn't even contorversial after the race if you read through the threads, everyone agreed the BMW was out of control leading up to the incident, but apparently we ignore that now

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    None of what you described deserves being sent into the barriers at one of the fastest parts of the track. That was one of the most appalling things I've seen in 30 odd years of racing. And a 30s penalty is getting away with it no matter how you look at it. He should have been chucked out of the race on the spot.

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    Or giving a laughably small penalty to #51 (5 seconds) for punting out Toyota #8 from a potential win at Le Mans. #51 still finished third, while #8 was down to fifth.

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    The 50 drove one lap with the door open

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  • I hate to be on the contrary train, but 2016 was fkn incredible. This year has been amazing. It was a promise fulfilled of the new WEC structure. The excitement and intrigue of endurance racing had been restored.

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  • Of the four years so far. That was a damn good one. Which also made the subsequent year feel that much more trash.

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  • Yes! My first endurance experience.

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  • I agree, 2024 was such an amazing season. I couldn't wait for 2025, and was severely disappointed this year with how the whole season went. I'm hoping 2026 will bring some better competition and I'll be able to find more excitement for the races. It'll be hard though without Porsche also participating. That was gutting. Hated seeing Iron Dames leave also.

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  • 2014 imo and as others said also 2016

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  • Its great to have lots of manufacturers, and nice to have Ferrari back, but THIS is what we used to have. As a Toyota fan, I don't recall anything about 2016.

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  • 2024 was the peak - so far. I am hoping the saner approach to BoP in 2026 will lead to a much closer season and a year that surpasses 2024.

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  • And because 2024 was so good, what was done for the 2025 season with regard to BOP made this year so damn frustrating to watch as fans.

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