After the WEC confirmed on Monday that the winners of the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hour race, Ferrari, and home team Toyota Gazoo Racing will be the biggest beneficiaries of the breaks applied to all cars, except for the new Peugeots that have undergone significant revisions. The Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercars will now weigh 34 kilograms less, dropping from their original weight of 1812 kg to 1041 kg at Imola. Additionally, they will gain an extra nine horsepower (7 kilowatts) of power. The Toyota GR010 Hybrid LMHs will also shed 29 kg and gain 6 kW according to the FIA WEC Committee’s latest Balance of Performance tables.
Both Toyota and Ferrari were overshadowed by the Porsches and Peugeots in the previous round, so these changes are expected to shake up the pecking order in the 2024 WEC season. The other Hypercar teams will also benefit from Balance of Performance breaks. Alpine’s A424 LMDh will lose 28 kg, Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 will drop 27 kg, and the BMW M Hybrids LMDh will shed 25 kg. Even the Qatar-winning Porsche 963 LMDhs will be 15 kilos lighter and have an additional 3 kW of power. The Cadillac V-Series LMDh will only receive a 2 kg reduction in weight, bringing it down to the 1030 kg LMDh class limit, but it will gain a significant 18 kW of power.
The redesigned Peugeot 9X8 2024 will be 31 kg heavier than its 2023 counterpart, weighing in at 1061 kg, and will lose 10 kW of power. This adjustment is in line with the car’s transition from an unconventional ground effect setup to a more conventional winged configuration. The Peugeot will also now utilize its electric front axle hybrid system at the same speed of 190 km/h as its LMH competitors. Additionally, it will adopt the standard staggered wheel sizes instead of using four smaller tires.
These changes are not only influenced by the characteristics of the Imola track, which is undulating compared to the flat desert track in Qatar, but also aim to level the playing field for cars that had an advantage in the previous race. The WEC has yet to implement its planned ‘power gain’ Balance of Performance component, which is intended to equalize the straight-line speeds of the different cars.
The only changes to the Hypercar entry list for the Imola race compared to Le Mans will be Carillac running with only two drivers, Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn, while Sebastien Bourdais will sit out the Italian round. Peugeot has also replaced the injured Ferdinand Habsburg with Jules Gounon for the Imola race.
All of these factors contribute to the anticipation that anything can happen in this weekend’s WEC round, the Road to Le Mans race at Imola. Each team will arrive with a different specification compared to the Qatar season opener. The Imola 6 Hour race will start at 13:00 European time on Sunday, April 21. For more information on live streaming fees, visit fiawec.tv.
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