WEC review: Sun sets on Audi's glory
Audi continued its winning streak at Le Mans and won the new World Endurance Championship this season, but Toyota's form suggests there may be a shift in the balance of power in 2013. Gary Watkins reviews the WEC year
It started with the prospect of an Audi whitewash and ended with newcomer Toyota in the ascendancy.
The new FIA World Endurance Championship came alive with the Japanese manufacturer's arrival at the Le Mans 24 Hours. It came too late to have an effect on the outcome of the championship, but it was responsible for creating an intense and intriguing battle befitting a series that was the true successor to the World Sportscar Championship of old.
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Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.
Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.
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