After nine years at the helm of the FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series as CEO of Le Mans Endurance Management (LMEM), Gerard Neveu will step down at the end of 2020.
The WEC moves into a period of transition next year with the introduction of the LMH Hypercars and the slow integration of regulations with IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, but now having finalised these arrangements Neveu will no longer be involved. He has said to leave his senior role at LMEM – the parent company of WEC and ELMS – to pursue new challenges in his professional career.
Neveu was brought into LMEM in 2011, poised to help launch and manage what was then the new WEC championship, starting in 2012 as the successor of the Intercontinental Le Mans Challenge. Neveu supervised the entry and success in WEC of Porsche, Audi, Toyota, Aston Martin and Ferrari throughout the near decade he ran the series.
“After nine years at the head of this superb motorsport programme, I think it is time for me to hand over the baton and allow new life to be breathed into the organisation under the leadership of Pierre Fillon,” Neveu said in his statement. “Great pages in endurance racing’s history books will open in a few months, in particular with the arrival of LMH and LMDh, and I have no doubt about the successes to come for these championships under the ACO umbrella.
“Until then, I will do my best to finish the 2020 season in the best way possible. Then it will be time for me to set off on a different personal path in 2021.”
On the announcement of Neveu leaving, Automobile Club de l’Ouest President, Pierre Fillon said: “The ACO and WEC has progressed together, and we have fought many battles to establish our championship within the world of motor racing. For all these professional and human adventures we have experienced together, I sincerely thank Gérard. I particularly salute his commitment, his involvement and his extraordinary energy.
“From here on I wish him the best in his future professional activities. From a personal point of view he will remain a member of our endurance family and, whatever his activities are, there is little doubt that future joint collaborations will emerge.”
Neveu’s replacement has not yet been announced, but is likely to be revealed after the final WEC round this year, the 8 Hours of Bahrain, in November.
