After maintaining a stable Balance of Performance for the first three rounds of the championship, the FIA and ACO have decided to correct the weight and energy parameters on the eve of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Although initially there were rumors of a simple adjustment between the Hypercar and LMDh platforms, the organizers opted to act on individual cars. In the meantime, Michelin has revised the pressure and camber parameters for the premier class.
BoP Hypercar
The changes to the Balance of Performance certainly contain the superiority shown by Toyota and Ferrari in the first part of the season. Japanese Hypercars in particular are discounted a weight gain of 37 kg, just over the 24 kg excess allotted to the 499P. Then Cadillac and Porsche follow, respectively with an increase of 11 and 3 kg. As a consequence of the weight increase, the same cars were also granted higher energy consumption at each stint, including fuel and energy from the hybrid system.
The changes could give the impression from the outside that the organizers have tried to recalibrate the Balance of Performance based on the results of recent races to emphasize the show. FIA and ACO however have released an official noteexplaining how the corrections were evaluated based on the data collected: “The first races of the WEC 2023 showed greater differences between the various LMHs in the Hypercar class than initially anticipated. Considering these factors e following an in-depth analysis of the available datathe WEC commission decided that the objective of ensuring a balanced grid in the Hypercar class would best be achieved by implementing a correction between, as well as within, the LMH and LMDh platforms.”
The other changes
FIA and ACO have revised the rule, modified on the occasion of Spa, which regulated the shift procedure to avoid all-wheel-drive Hypercars benefiting from the front-end hybrid system to keep pushing the car while shifting gears. Before the 6 Hours of Belgium it had been specified that the average power recorded on the front axle during shifting operations should be between +3 kW and -3 kW. On the eve of Le Mans, however, the regulation was corrected again, specifying that during the gear change the electric motor must not deliver more than 10 kW and less than -10 kW to the front axle.
Finally, the requirements for tires change. Michelin opted for a very cautious approach, raising the static and stabilized pressures and reducing the maximum camber angles. On the one hand, there is an obvious need to ensure the reliability of the product in a race with a very long duration and extremely variable conditions. However, the reintroduction of the heaters to preheat the tires should not be overlooked, which certainly has an impact on tire management.
BoP GTE
The Centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will also be the last edition for the GTE class. As per tradition, the Balance of Performance for the French marathon is profoundly different from that of the other WEC events. Porsche suffers the greatest consequences, whose minimum weight rises by more than 30 kilos. Not even Corvette smiles, in full race for the title, weighed down by another 24 kilos compared to the 6 hours of Spa.
As far as Ferrari is concerned, the weight is almost identical to the Belgian race, while the turbo pressure drops. Conversely, Aston Martin discounts an increase in the minimum weight of 17 kg, but also 0.5 bar more from the turbocharger. Furthermore, for Le Mans, the other parameters of the BoP are added the minimum incidences of the rear wing to control straight line speed. Ferrari was guaranteed greater freedom, with the possibility of traveling even at negative incidence. Finally, as always, the Success Ballast mechanism is suspended for the tender in France.
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