Breaking news
WEC
Heinemeier Hansson: 'Fake silvers' forced WEC exit
David Heinemeier Hansson says the proliferation of 'fake silvers' in the FIA World Endurance Championship's GTE Am class is behind his decision to quit the category mid-season.
Jamie Klein
Edited: Feb 19, 2020, 3:25 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Heinemeier Hansson said that his exit from the Project 1 Porsche squad at the halfway point of the 2019/20 season is because he feels he can no longer be competitive as the only full-time gentleman racer in the GTE Am category with a silver ranking.
The regulations state that a GTE Am crew must include one bronze-rated driver and a maximum of one driver rated either platinum or gold, creating a demand in the class for fast silver drivers - most of which are not amateurs but up-and-coming young drivers.
Notable examples of such drivers include Nicklas Nielsen (AF Corse), Ross Gunn (Aston Martin), Charlie Eastwood (TF Sport) and Felipe Fraga in the sister Project 1 car.
Heinemeier Hansson was sharing a car with bronze-rated Egidio Perfetti and gold-rated Porsche young professional Matteo Cairoli.
The 40-year-old Dane wrote on Twitter in response to the news of his withdrawal that having two amateur drivers in one car in GTE Am is "no longer a viable or competitive option".
He continued: "It simply made no sense to continue when you had three factory drivers racing as silvers, half the field qualifying their silvers, and the entire field, minus us, using professional/career drivers as silvers. Why waste our time and money competing on such a profoundly unfair field?
"Egidio and Matteo are awesome, fast drivers for their ratings. But as the lone gentleman driver with a silver ranking, I was the anchor on that boat. And who the hell wants to be the anchor?
"It’s deeply disappointing that WEC allowed the class to get here without revising the regulations. I’ve raced in the class many times over the years. There’d always be the odd silver that wasn’t really a gentlemen driver, but having 10 cars packed with fake silvers is new.
"Driving with Egidio and Matteo was awesome. Our lineup would have been fantastic in almost any other year of the class. The team was great, the RSR is a beast, and I would have loved to attack the Porsche Curves in a Porsche again. But better sit on the couch than play the fool."
Heinemeier Hansson will take part in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's remaining Michelin Endurance Cup rounds with the Tower Motorsport by Starworks squad, having raced for the team alongside Ryan Dalziel, John Farano and Nicolas Lapierre during last month's Rolex 24 at Daytona.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Heinemeier Hansson steps down from WEC drive
Next article Opinion: Is the WEC's hypercar dream already over?
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jamie Klein
Super Formula Fuji: Ayumu Iwasa wins as Kakunoshin Ohta misses chance to seal title
Super Formula
Super Formula
Fuji II
Super Formula Fuji: Ayumu Iwasa wins as Kakunoshin Ohta misses chance to seal title
Super Formula Fuji: Igor Fraga wins while Kakunoshin Ohta closes on title
Super Formula
Super Formula
Fuji II
Super Formula Fuji: Igor Fraga wins while Kakunoshin Ohta closes on title
More from
David Heinemeier Hansson
TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return
IMSA
IMSA
TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return
Starworks back in prototypes for 2020 IMSA season
IMSA
IMSA
Starworks back in prototypes for 2020 IMSA season
3GT Racing signs Heinemeier Hansson for 2018
IMSA
IMSA
3GT Racing signs Heinemeier Hansson for 2018
More from
Team Project 1
Leading German sportscar team Project 1 files for bankruptcy
DTM
DTM
Leading German sportscar team Project 1 files for bankruptcy
Ex-F1 driver Glock in DTM comeback talks with McLaren team
DTM
DTM
Ex-F1 driver Glock in DTM comeback talks with McLaren team
Project 1 withdraws one car from Portimao WEC race
WEC
WEC
Algarve
Project 1 withdraws one car from Portimao WEC race
Latest news
Winner and losers from MotoGP’s cancelled Australian GP weekend
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
15 min
Winner and losers from MotoGP’s cancelled Australian GP weekend
Inside COTA's Turn 1 clubhouse and its plans to build a second track
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
34 min
Inside COTA's Turn 1 clubhouse and its plans to build a second track
Max Verstappen puzzled by Q3 grip loss, but Austin shows how far Red Bull has progressed
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
Max Verstappen puzzled by Q3 grip loss, but Austin shows how far Red Bull has progressed
Carson Hocevar says Zane Smith feud is "pretty one-sided"
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
3 h
Carson Hocevar says Zane Smith feud is "pretty one-sided"
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe