WEC 2023

[Wouter]

FIA responds to criticism over WEC tyre warmer ban after Spa crashes

The FIA has reacted to criticism of the ban on tyre warmers in the World Endurance Championship this season after a spate of incidents on cold tyres at Spa last weekend.

By: Gary Watkins
May 3, 2023, 2:22 PM

A statement describing the ban on pre-heating tyres introduced in the WEC for this season as a necessary move for the series followed criticism from drivers and team principals.

"Moving away from tyre heating was a much-needed step from a sustainability point of view and something that the FIA Endurance Commission agreed on as part of a long-term WEC tyre road map,” said Marek Nawarecki, FIA director of circuit sport.

“It is important to remember that already for a number of years there have been several motorsport series, including endurance racing series, around the world that do not rely on tyre warmers.

“The nature of every incident is different, and each case has to be looked at before any conclusions are made."

The ban on tyre warming, which traditionally takes place in diesel-heated ovens behind each car’s pit in the WEC, was brought into focus by cold conditions over the course of the Spa 6 Hours meeting.

Toyota driver Brendon Hartley’s crash on his out-lap in qualifying at the top of Eau Rouge and Antonio Fuoco’s accident on the front straight as he left the pits after a full service were just two of the incidents in which the ban was implicated.

Criticism of prohibiting tyre warmers was widespread in the paddock over the course of the weekend.

https://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/fia ... /10464470/

[vorticism]

It's silly and reflective of Europe's self undermining politics. A few gallons of diesel (if that) to heat an oven for one event?

[Martin Keene]

The Ferrari with front radiators--haven't seen that in LMP since the Nissan experiment:

https://cdn-1.motorsport.com/images/mgl ... -49-1.webp

Looks as though the exit through the bonnet:

https://cdn-9.motorsport.com/images/mgl ... -49-1.webp

At least they chose to situate them back in the structure of the monocoque where they are, in theory, safe from damage. Unlike the Nissan.

I suspect being located at the front they are cooling the electric motor and inverter.

[Stu]

https://www.autosport.com/wec/news/fia- ... /10456352/

....🫣..



During second practice for the Porsche Sprint Cup Iberia on Friday, Portuguese driver Alexandre Areia's Porsche GT3 Cup 991 suffered a brake failure and crashed rearwards through catch fencing on the outside of Turn 1 before coming to rest in the grandstand area beyond.

Areia escaped unharmed and no spectators were present in the seated area, although footage of the incident was captured by a fan seated in the grandstand to the right of the crash zone.

The WEC's second practice session ran to time, but the grandstand was closed to the public.

A statement from the motorsport governing body provided to Autosport said: "The FIA is looking into the incident that occurred during the first practice session of the Porsche Sprint Series Iberica at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.

"The FIA is currently in the process of gathering information and a review by the FIA Circuits Commission will follow.

"The FIA is working closely with the staff of the circuit and the event organisers. The grandstand will remain closed until further notice.

"Improving safety is a continuous process, therefore conclusions drawn from this incident, and others from around the world will be integrated into the ongoing development of motor sport safety."

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=643DB2B6

https://cdn-7.motorsport.com/images/mgl ... eia--1.jpg

The last time I saw something like that was Keith Odor going into a (fortunately closed) spectator area at the TOCA Touring car shootout in 1992.

[Spoutnik]

Interesting video about the 499P at Spa.



Looking forward to Le Mans (1st test day today), the Ferrari recorded the highest top speed at Spa



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."

[Spoutnik]

Test day on sunday

Conway lost it at the Esses de la Forêt, before Tertre Rouge






Few pics from the others competitors
Peugeot










Ferrari






Porsche








Cadillac








Entry 56


The diffusors








The timings


Onboard lap from the 9x8

[AMG.Tzan]

Thankfully they changed the BoP!

The championship was already looking quite boring with Toyota so far ahead of manufacturers like Porsche and Ferrari!

IMSA got it right almost instantly from the first race at Daytona and now they’re having a great championship!

FIA on the other hand instead of changing the BoP after Portimao they seemed to wait some races to see if anyone will get anywhere near Toyota and then change it if things didn’t get any better!

[Spoutnik]

FP1 Today
It's pretty close between the Hypercars
Ferrari a bit off the pace, maybe they were sandbagging, but they still match Toyota on top speed
Porsche, much slower in straight line/sector 2 but fastest through the mid/low speed corners, they've done a lot of work on the suspension/setup apparently. Estre never got a clean lap but he could've been even closer to the Toyota
Peugeot, fasterand much much more closer than before to the leaders, but both car had some reliability issue during the session..
Glickenhaus managed to get in the 3.30s with Romain Dumas
It will be very tight to be in the top 8 to get access to the Hyperpole which take place tomorrow
It's worth mentioning the session was disrupt by many yellow flags due to LMGTE/LMP2

The timings

[cplchanb]

https://www.motorsport.com/lemans/news/ ... /10479624/

agree/disagree with Toyota's assessment? Personally I think it should be ok as long as they dont get SC trigger happy like the F1 race directors are now.

[Just_a_fan]

https://www.motorsport.com/lemans/news/ ... /10479624/

agree/disagree with Toyota's assessment? Personally I think it should be ok as long as they dont get SC trigger happy like the F1 race directors are now.

I agree with him. It's pointless building a lead to cover off a potential pitstop issue later in the race if you're going to get it entirely removed by a safety car. The new rule uses the safety car as a means of creating drama rather than as a safety device.

Why can't these people leave the classics alone?

[Spoutnik]

Qualifying session yersteday to pick the top 8 of each category who will fight for the pole during the Hyperpole.
We've got 2 cars from each manufacturer in Hypercar, apart from Peugeot.
Ferrari was, indeed, sandbagging during FP1 they managed to be first and second fastest. They were the fastest car in the Hunaudières with a top speed of 344kph, just further ahead of the Toyota.
The Porsche came to live despite their top speed being aroung 335 kph as they are much stable on the brakes and faster in the mid speed corners.
Cadillac showed an overall good pace with a balanced car, nice top speed nice cornering speed.
Overall it was again disrupted by a lot of slow zone, yellow flag... It was difficult to put a clean lap, thats why probably the fastest of the Porsche was out of the Top 8 with Kevin Estre at the wheel.
Peugeot lacked performance again, despite being able to put some clean laps.
The Glickenhaus was far from top 8 and the Vanwall even more.
The Jota Porsche' couldn't qualify as it had an issue with his hybrid system.

The timings for the qualy



After the qualy FP2 took place in the night. Toyota put the most laps on the board. Porsche was the fastest in hands of Kevin Estre, it looked to be more at ease in fresher conditions.
The #6 Porsche, the #311 Cadillac, and the #94 Peugeot had issue with reliability.

1.Porsche 963 #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport – Kevin Estre / André Lotterer / Laurens Vanthoor – 3’28’’878
2. Ferrari 499P #51 Ferrari AF Corse – Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi – 3’29’’225
3. Porsche 963 #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport – Dane Cameron / Michael Christensen / Frédéric Makowiecki – 3’29’’307
4. Cadillac V-Series.R #2 Cadillac Racing – Earl Bamber / Alex Lynn / Richard Westbrook – 3’29’’545
5. Toyota GR010 Hybrid #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing – Mike Conway / Kamui Kobayashi / José María López – 3’29’’624

A few pics

[SiLo]

Which cars on the grid are LMH and which ones are LMDh?

[Spoutnik]

deleted

LMP1 doesn't exist anymore, now it's the Hypercar category.
In this class, there's two distinct types of cars
1/ LMH : Le Mans Hypercar. More expensive as you design you own chassis and hybrid system. Maximum output is caped.
2/ LMDh : Le Mans Daytona Hybrid. LMDh allow you to compete in IMSA and especially at the 24 hours of Daytona. It's also less expensive cause you have i) a spec chassis from one of the homologated chassis manufacturer in LMP2 (Oreca, Ligier Automotive, Dallara or Multimatic) ii) a spec hybrid system at the rear iii) the engine is free even if the maximum output is caped

LMH : Peugeot, Toyota, Ferrari, Glickenhaus, Vanwall
LMDh : Cadillac, Porsche, Jota (with a Porsche 963) + (next year) BMW, Lamborghini, Alpine, and probably Acura

[Wouter]

Well, lets see what car #63 from Prema Racing with Daniil Kvyat can do tonight in Hyperpole.

Yesterday:

[fritticaldi]

Awesome photos posted by Spoutnik. Thanks.