2017 Le Mans / IMSA

[Kchrpm]

http://www.fia.com/news/wec-innovati...-be-introduced

The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) and the GTE Manufacturers entered in the FIA World Endurance Championship have now agreed upon a plan for the governance of Balance of Performance (BOP). An innovative and ground-breaking automatic system will be introduced from the opening round of the 2017 season, the 6 Hours of Silverstone.

Adjustments to the balance of performance for cars entered in the LMGTE Pro category during the season will now be made automatically after certain rounds, according to evaluation criteria defined and agreed by all parties before the start of the season.

A calculation tool has been created which will allow the targets for balancing the different car models to be met, without human interpretation or decision-making, and using mathematical formulas based on the quantified, public, specific, measured data obtained during each race. More specific details can be found in the attached document which was jointly prepared by the FIA and ACO.

Click here to see the document.

This new system will be applicable for all rounds of the 2017 WEC except for the 24 Hours of Le Mans which will be treated separately. It will only be used for the manufacturers in the LMGTE Pro class, and the same system used up until 2016 will be applied to the LMGTE Am competitors.

[The359]

The problem, as I've seen some point out, is that this system wont be able to take into effect sandbagging.

[Kchrpm]

I don't think any method really can, and it also won't be used for LeMans, which is the race that most would sandbag for.

[Alan P]

I think the assumption is that no team is going to sandbag in a race, and they take 60% of the fastest race laps as their benchmark. I doubt anyone would sandbag to that extent in other races just to get an advantage at Le Mans. Too much to lose.

[CudaMan]

There are other ways to sandbag through engineering. I think they will still need humans looking at data to make sure engines aren't being turnt up after an unfavorable weight penalty, for example.

[Godson]

Just let competitive cars stay competitive. Ffs.

[Alan P]

Just let competitive cars stay competitive. Ffs.

Whilst I agree, if, say, the Ford GT dominates and another manufacturer just isn't competitive, what incentive do they have to stay? Win on Sunday, sell on Monday still rings true for many vehicles and manufacturers. Or at least is part of their marketing. The BoP makes an even playing field for all. Well, it's supposed to anyway.

[Kchrpm]

After this year's race, Le Mans will be adding a run-off area to the Porsche Curves.

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2017/0...he-curves.html

[Freude am Fahren]

Ugh. I HATE when they just expand the tarmac out further. Look at every F1 track they they have to add speed bumps and shit to prevent gaining time, then they still end up issuing penalties.

Don't get me wrong, I love seeing pavement areas instead of walls or gravel traps, but they NEED to put grass or something in between to keep the original track design. Keeping a grass buffer of 5-10 feet will do hardly anything to hurt safety, but will prevent mistakes costing the racer nothing. Just look at the last corner before the Ford Chicane. Unlike in Forza, cars can go 15-20 feet wide and with no downside.

[dodint]

Agreed.