WEC-Imola: BoP not yet matching LMDh with LMH

WECHyperCar

Apr 24

April 16th we analysed the new Balance of Performance (BoP) tables that would govern Hypercar (LMH and LMDh) for the Imola round of the 2024 FIA WEC (World Endurance Championship). We were hoping that the changes would level both LMH and LMDh homologated cars. It didn’t.

Ferrari dominant in LMH.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. The Ferrari 499P dominated all the rivals in performance but endurance racing is also about strategy where the Squadra executed poorly.

Hyperpole and first stint saw the three Ferrari 499P dominating all the rivals including Toyota and Peugeot who are also LMH based homologated cars. Thanks to Ferrari and AF Corse teams mistakes, Toyota and Porsche were able to squat the podium but, in pure performance, the 499P was in another class!

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. Both factory Porsche 963 were the second best in performance after Ferrari also finishing second and third. Toyota Gazoo Racing demonstrated their long experience in WEC races executing the perfect strategy with Kobayashi mastering the energy consumption still keeping leadership.

Endurance racing is also about experience

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. Kevin Estre taking over from André Lotterer in Porsche 963 #6 while Porsche Penske Motorsport mechanics take care of their Hypercar.

Luckily, winning an endurance race also relies on a minimum of luck, the right strategy at the right moment and a 100% faultless execution by drivers and mechanics. It is clear that, based on those parameters, Toyota Gazoo Racing and Porsche Penske Motorsport are the best thanks to their experience in endurance racing.

BoP within LMH based cars

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Losail 1812. Porsche 963 squat the podium.

The best way to compare cars performance is through the Hyperpole result and the ranking before the first pit stops (at lap 32) as it is the last lap before pit stops generating penalties and pit stops length variations between teams, hence modifying the ranking.

Table 1: Top 11 fastest lap during Friday and Saturday sessions. Table 2: Lap 32 gaps analysis between Hypercars

At the end of the Hyperpole Hypercar (Table 1), the 3 Ferrari 499P were the only one below the 1:30 mark; the two Porsche Penske Porsche 963 were able to lap within 0.755 from Fuoco’s Benchmark but the two Toyotas were around 1 second slower! None of both Peugeot 9X8 did reach Hyperpole!
This is also reflected in the gaps between cars after 32 laps racing (Table 2): the two works Ferrari were close to 4 sec. ahead of the #6 Porsche and 5 sec. ahead of the #7 Toyota. Toyota #8 was 18 sec. behind having difficulties to overtake the #20 BMW. The first Peugeot (#93) was more than 50 sec. behind the leader!

To us, it is clear: the Toyota drivers didn’t have the same level of performance and it was even worse for the Peugeot drivers. BoP didn’t level LMH homologated cars.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Imola. The new Peugeot 9X8 was not at the party at Imola by qualifying 14th and 15th, finishing the race 9th and 14th more than two laps behind the winner.

Did BoP level LMH and LMDh?

Let’s have a look to Table 3 to factually answer that question looking at the drivers fastest lap after Hyperpole Hypercar.

Table 3: Drivers fastest lap after Hyperpole Hypercar.

Observations:

Excluding Fuoco’s performance, both Porsche Penske Porsche 963 were within reach of the second and third Ferrari which is confirmed by table 2 as #6 Porsche 963 was within 3 sec. from #51 Ferrari before pit stops;
Both BMW M V8 Hybrid were 1 to 1.8 sec. slower which is also confirmed by table 2 as #20 was close to 18+sec. behind the leader after 32 laps (Table 2);
The Cadillac V-Series.R was close to 2 sec. slower in qualifying and already close to 32 sec. behind the leading Ferrari at lap 32 (table 2);
The Lamborghini SC63 and both Alpine A424 were around 2.5 sec. slower in their fastest lap and the SC63 was 27 sec. behind the leader at lap 32 (Table 2)! (Both Alpine were out of contention since the crash ahead of turn 2)

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Imola. The Lamborghini SC63 showed progress and an encouraging pace despite battling a few minor issues through practice and qualifying. It was the third full race completed with no major technical issues or procedural woes. After qualifying in P16, Mirko Bortolotti, Edoardo Mortara and Daniil Kvyat crossed the finish line in P12.

Conclusion: the numbers are clear… apart from the Porsche 963 who was at the same level as the Toyota, none of the other LMDh based cars had a level of performance enabling their drivers to come close to the Ferraris.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Imola. A day after the sister #01 Cadillac V-Series.R and #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R finished 1-2 in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sprint race on the streets of Long Beach, California, Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber scored their first Hypercar point of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season, advancing two positions from its qualifying spot to P10 in the 6 Hours of Imola.

Again, critic is easy AND BoP is a highly sophisticated program, linked to the simulations carried out in wind tunnel, the engines on the test benches and number of meetings/adjustments made in collaboration between FIA/ACO and manufacturers engineers. On those parameters one have to bear in mind the configuration of the track.

Comparing LMDh in IMSA and WEC

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring. In IMSA, Cadillac and Porsche are head to head with the duo Nasr-Campbell leading the Teams and Drivers Championships (1 victory and 2 P3) ahead of Bourdais-van der Zande (1 victory, 1P2, 1DNF). Cadillac leads the manufacturers championship with 1 victory and 2 P2 ahead of Porsche with 1 victory, 1 P2 and 1 P3! In WEC, the Porsche domination versus Cadillac is… insane!

Of course, Long Beach is a very different track than Imola. So were Daytona and Sebring versus Lusail. But a fact is that Cadillac V-Series.R are head to head with the Porsche 963 in IMSA and BMW V8 Hybrid further behind. The same cars in WEC perform differently with the Porsche 963 dominating the BMW M V8 Hybrid and the Cadillac was even further at Imola!

Conclusion: even within the same homologation rules, the BoP generates different performances between manufacturers in WEC than in IMSA!