The grand finale of the World Endurance season is about to be staged in Bahrain, with two consecutive marathons one week apart, marking the return of the WEC to the track after the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Everything is still up for debate in all four classes, starting with the Hypercars, where Lopez-Kobayashi-Conway are just nine points ahead of Hartley-Nakajima-Buemi. In LMP2, in the space of eight lengths, three crews are instead enclosed, while in GTE-Pro Ferrari and Porsche prepare for a showdown, represented respectively by the pairs Pier Guidi-Calado and Estre-Jani, separated by twelve points in favor of the Ferrari crew. Instead, the situation is quieter in GTE-Am, where the AF Corse Ferrari # 83 can manage 36.5 points ahead of the Aston Martin # 33 of the TF Sport and 48 points over the Ferrari # 47 of Cetilar Racing. However, with 65 points still available, anything can still happen.
The penultimate round of the World Championship will be played over a distance of 6 hours and will start at 10 local time, thus ending before sunset. The final race scheduled for the following weekend instead will see the race time extended by two hours, with the start scheduled at 12 local time and the arrival around 20, with a large part of the race therefore being held under artificial lights. Both events will be held on the same layout of the circuit also used by Formula 1, which includes numerous straights alternating with sharp braking and slow hairpin bends, on which top speeds and traction skills will therefore be fundamental. The asphalt of the Bahrain circuit is also one of the most abrasive in the world, which is why tire wear will be a central factor in the race. As per regulations, the tire sets available for qualifying and the race will be 18 for the 6-hour event, while for the 8-hour marathon the number of tire sets will increase to 24.
Porsche – Ferrari: the challenge continues
The duel for the GTE-Pro title between Pier Guidi – Calado with the Ferrari 488 EVO and Estre – Jani with the Porsche 911 RSR 19 is one of the most beautiful seen in the WEC for many years now. The two crews reached a direct confrontation in all the events of the first half of the season, with Estre – Jani victorious in Spa and Monza, while Pier Guidi – Calado triumphed in Monza and Le Mans, where however the two cars were far apart for the entire race. Compared to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in Bahrain the Corvette C8.R will be absent, a factor that led to an alteration of the previous parameters of the Balance of Performance, which traditionally are profoundly modified on the occasion of the French marathon.
In detail, the two Ferraris see the turbocharger curve lower compared to Le Mans, when in turn it had already been lowered compared to the previous round in Monza, an element that will result in a reduction in power from the engine. The cars of Maranello will also be able to travel with a low minimum weight of 14 kg compared to the trip to France, thus returning to the values in force in the 6 hours of Monza. The amount of petrol that can be loaded on board finally drops to 89 liters, 1 liter less than in Le Mans and a negative 4 liters compared to Monza. The two Porsche 911 RSR 19 also have the same BoP parameters set for the 6 Hours of Monza restored, including minimum weight, 25 kg less than the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Glickenhaus absent
The Hypercar class will see only three cars at the start, waiting for the arrival of Peugeot in 2022 to return to enrich the ranks of the premier category. The Glickenhaus team in fact decided not to bring the two 007 LMHs to Bahrain, preferring to manage the economic resources to compete in the European and American stages of the category, which guarantee a greater return on image. The absence of the Italian-American prototypes led to a redefinition of the parameters of the Balance of Performance for the Hypercar class. Maximum power was slightly increased for both Toyota and Alpine, by 5 and 4 kW respectively, while it was significantly lowered the minimum weight. The Japanese cars in fact drop to 1040 kg, a good 26 kg less than in Le Mans, but just as significant is the weight reduction for Alpine, which drops by 22 kg to the new value of 920 kg.
The BoP for the double event in Bahrain also foresees a cut of the maximum electrical and chemical energy of the fuel that can be used at each stint. The two GR010 Hybrids see this parameter reduced by 53 MJ, dropping to 909 MJ per stint, while Alpine passes from the previous 844 MJ to the new 816 MJ. However, in the case of the French prototype, the reduction could have no impact, since from the beginning of the season Alpine was unable to exploit all the energy granted by the BoP due to the reduced capacity of the tank, which forced it to carry out a increased number of supplies. In any case, it is reasonable to expect that Toyota will retain an important advantage in Bahrain as well, since the four-wheel drive will help even more to preserve the tires compared to rivals, on a traditionally very demanding track for the treads.
The Success Ballast returns
Finally, in the GTE-AM class, Ferraris are discounting a 3-liter reduction compared to Le Mans in the amount of fuel that can be carried at each stint. Furthermore, the Maranello cars, like the Aston Martins, see the turbo boost curve lower than the French marathon, with a more decisive lowering for the Reds than for the British brand.
The Success Ballast mechanism also returns to Bahrain, the allocation of ballast based on the championship position and the results of the last two races, after which, as usual, at Le Mans it had not been applied. The AF Corse championship leaders will have maximum ballast, with 30 kg more minimum weight for the # 83 Ferrari. The direct pursuers of TF Sport and Cetilar Racing will have an extra weight of 20 kg on cars # 33 and # 47 respectively. However, based on the results of the first race in Bahrain, the Success Ballast parameters will be automatically updated for the eight hours of the following week.
#WEC #BoP #Bahrain #Ferrari #Porsche #contend #title #FormulaPassionit