WEC 2023

[Spoutnik]

Fuoco in pole. What lap from him, incredible.



-0.7s ahead of his teamate
-1.2s ahead of the first Toyota
Big issue for the #3 Cadillac of Bourdais which took fire (engine) while it was in 3rd after his first attempt
The Porsche #75 with Nasr at the wheel managed to split the Toyota in 4th place, starting on the second row.

FP4 took place after the Hyperpole
The session was interrupted very often, not a lot of mileage (less than 15 laps)/a lot to read into

[Spoutnik]

It will be wet tomorrow
On the paper, advantage for the LMH because they are 4WD above a certain speed
Nevertheless, Porsche was super strong in cooler condition (night FP) and in the slow/mid speed corners.

[Wouter]

WEC quits LMP2: uncertainty for top drivers like Fittipaldi and Kubica

The World Endurance Championship (WEC) will no longer have a place for the LMP2 class from the '24 season. From next year, the endurance championship will continue with two classes: the Hypercars and the LMGT3 (the current GT class).

This season, thirteen hypercars are already competing in the WEC championship. Next year, that number will increase further. Lamborghini, BMW, Alpine and Isotta Fraschini will join them with (several) cars in 2024. This makes the grid so crowded that the FIA has to make room. It will do so by scrapping the LMP2 class. In this class, well-known names like Pietro Fittipaldi and Robert Kubica currently compete. Incidentally, Team WRT has been rumoured to join the hypercars next year with BMW. This Belgian team is the employer of Kubica and also Robin Frijns.

Welcome at Le Mans

Incidentally, Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) has already announced that there will indeed be room for 'at least' 15 LMP2 cars at the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours. But the remaining seven races on the WEC calendar do not welcome these cars. They can seek refuge in European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The GT class does remain active in the WEC. According to the FIA, the GT class has traditionally been the foundation of the championship. This class will have the LMGT3 class from 2024.


https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/212651/w ... ubica.html

[Stu]

The major new a week ahead of the 24 hours : a BoP change.

"The first potential change during the 2023 season should therefore have occurred between the arrival of the Le Mans race and the 6 Hours of Monza (July 9). [...] In fact, it's not a change of BoP Platform that we're going to see, but a complete overhaul of the Balance of Performance. [...] The Toyota GR010 Hybrid is therefore 37 kg heavier, the Ferrari 24 kg heavier, the Cadillac 11 kg heavier and the Porsche 3 kg heavier. The Toyota now weighs in at 1080 kg, compared with 1064 kg for the Ferrari, 1048 kg for the Porsche, 1046 kg for the Cadillac, 1042 kg for the Peugeot and 1030 kg for the Vanwall and Glickenhaus."

That could have fairly big strategy ramifications, particularly on the number of stints that tyres are able to achieve and brake life (expect to see more ‘lift & coast’ from the Toyota.

[Spoutnik]

The major new a week ahead of the 24 hours : a BoP change.

"The first potential change during the 2023 season should therefore have occurred between the arrival of the Le Mans race and the 6 Hours of Monza (July 9). [...] In fact, it's not a change of BoP Platform that we're going to see, but a complete overhaul of the Balance of Performance. [...] The Toyota GR010 Hybrid is therefore 37 kg heavier, the Ferrari 24 kg heavier, the Cadillac 11 kg heavier and the Porsche 3 kg heavier. The Toyota now weighs in at 1080 kg, compared with 1064 kg for the Ferrari, 1048 kg for the Porsche, 1046 kg for the Cadillac, 1042 kg for the Peugeot and 1030 kg for the Vanwall and Glickenhaus."

That could have fairly big strategy ramifications, particularly on the number of stints that tyres are able to achieve and brake life (expect to see more ‘lift & coast’ from the Toyota.

Indeed.. Even if the cars who became heavier got more energy allocation for a stint

[emp]

If anyone is interested and this is allowed, an official link with the live onboard from the #50 Ferrari:

[Cold Fussion]

Are the BoP performance tables published anywhere by the FIA/ASO? I can only ever find articles referencing them and not the actual regulations themselves.

[LM10]

Ferrari won. Amazing job.

[F1ern]

Huge achievement. Incredible!

[CaribouBread]

This race was fantastic, action packed, competitive, lead changes. Had everything. How bout that.

[AMG.Tzan]

Wow

I never expected them to win on their first try back! Amazing! On the centenary race too…

[Holm86]

This race was fantastic, action packed, competitive, lead changes. Had everything. How bout that.

I agree, this was the best Le Mans in years

[dialtone]

Very nice. Well done, too bad for #50 because this was going to be a 1-2 without that leak, that car went on to set some of the fastest stints of the lot afterwards.

[LM10]

Is this the effect of F1 staff moving there after budget cap?

[dialtone]

Is this the effect of F1 staff moving there after budget cap?

Car design yeah, not operations afaik.