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Ford, Aston Martin Receive Weight Breaks in BoP Shakeup
Ford, Aston Martin Receive Weight Breaks in BoP Shakeup
By John Dagys
Ford and Aston Martin have received weight breaks, while Ferrari has been pegged back, in the latest round of Balance of Performance adjustments ahead of this weekend’s Le Mans Test Day and 24 Hours of Le Mans later this month.
The FIA confirmed on Wednesday its pre-Le Mans test day BoP, which sees changes to four of the five cars competing in GTE-Pro.
Both the Ford GT and Aston Martin Vantage GTE have received a 20kg reduction in minimum weight, although the Aston will be forced to run with a 0.4 mm (x2) smaller air restrictor for the French endurance classic.
The weight break for the Aston brings it down to 1190 kg, following an initial 20kg reduction given to the British manufacturer prior to last month’s WEC Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
Ferrari, which dominated the opening two rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship with the pair of AF Corse-run 488 GTE cars, has been given a 10kg increase in minimum weight.
No changes have been made to the boost levels for either the Ford or Ferrari, although the GTE-Pro class Corvette C7.R’s air restrictor has been adjusted to 29.1mm (x2), a slight reduction over it initial specification.
The pair of factory Pratt & Miller Corvettes run with 29.5mm air restrictors in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, but will be 10kg lighter in WEC trim.
All GTE-Pro cars, meanwhile, have been given a 5 liter increase in fuel capacity for the race.
Minor BoP changes have been made in GTE-Am, with the Ferrari F458 Italia receiving a 10kg weight break and the Aston Martin getting a 0.3mm larger air restrictor.
All GTE-Am cars except the Corvette C7.R will also have the 5-liter increase in fuel capacity as well, along with class-specific gurney height adjustments made to both the Aston Martin and Corvette.
Why not just get rid of the series entirely and give 'em all IROC cars? Obviously the engineering of any particular car is being negated at every turn.
Corvette Racing Expecting Added Competition From Ford, Aston Martin At Le Mans
by Sam McEachern
Corvette Racing is expecting this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans to be one of the hardest ever with new rules in the GTE Pro class and added competition from Ford, Aston Martin and more.
Speaking ahead of the annual Le Mans Test Day this weekend, Tommy Milner, who will share the No. 64 Corvette C7.R with Jordan Taylor and Oliver Gavin at Le Mans, said this year’s test will be crucial as they get used to the new rules package and the added competition.
“This year especially the Test Day is more important than it has been in years past,” he said. “We have a new rules package for GTE Pro. It’s the biggest change in our Corvette since we went from C6 to C7 a few years ago.
“Now we go there with a car that will have quite a bit more downforce potentially,” Milner added. “Plus you had on the extra pressure from Ford, Aston Martin has a renewed interest and programme… there’s just lots of ‘new’ everywhere.”
Ricky Taylor, who will drive the No. 63 Corvette C7.R alongside Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia in France, echoed Milner’s statements about added competition from Ford. The Wayne Taylor Racing driver says that just by sheer numbers alone, Ford should be able to make life hard on them.
“GTE Pro is always super-competitive at Le Mans. This year with four Fords going, just by numbers it will be one of the toughest years ever,” he said.
“(Corvette Racing) has a solid plan. They’ve done this so many times that while it’s not exactly routine but they can handle themselves well and get a lot of good work done.”
Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan is on the same side of the fence, but he thinks the team’s wealth of experience will pay dividends.
“In our 17 years of coming to Le Mans, I’m confident that this will be toughest test we will face at the 24 Hours,” he said. “The Test Day is more critical now than it ever has been with the number of new cars and new manufacturers. For us, we have spent many hours testing and performing simulations in order to arrive at a package that will give us the best opportunity to win at Le Mans for the ninth time.”
Corvette Racing ended the Le Mans Test Day with the fastest time in the GTE Pro class as Antonio Garcia set a lap of 3:55.122 (129.680 mph) in the No. 63 Konica Minolta/Mobil 1/Sirius XM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R.
Other leaders on the annual test day were the No. 8 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 in LMP1, the No. 33 Eurasia Motorsport ORECA 05 Nissan in LMP2 and the No. 50 Larbre Competition Chevrolet Corvette C7 Z06 in the LMGTE Am class.
Garcia, who celebrated a birthday Sunday and will team with Jan Magnussen and Ricky Taylor, led a Corvette Racing effort that focused on race setup and strategy as the team works toward what it hopes will be a ninth victory at the French endurance classic.
Both Corvettes were among the four fastest cars in what should be a highly competitive fight in GTE Pro. Oliver Gavin in the No. 64 Corvette C7.R was fourth-fastest with a lap of 3:55.837 (129.245 mph). He, Tommy Milner and Jordan Taylor are the defending class winners at Le Mans, and Gavin and Milner won the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring to open the season.
Both Corvettes recorded significant mileage around the 8.5-mile Circuit de la Sarthe. The No. 64 Corvette turned 81 laps while the No. 63 Corvette posted 73 laps. The entire day was run in warm, dry conditions, which allowed the team to maximize its efforts to find the best race setup for the 2016-spec Corvette C7.Rs.
Sunday marked the first time at Le Mans for the cars, which feature a number of changes from 2015, including a larger splitter at the front and diffuser at the rear of the Corvette. Side skirts and a repositioned wing also are among the most notable changes, along with updated safety features that are now mandated on all GTE Pro cars.
Why not just get rid of the series entirely and give 'em all IROC cars? Obviously the engineering of any particular car is being negated at every turn.
Posted in the main ALMS thread as well. Additional BoP changes for Le Mans. Courtesy of Sportscar365. Fords getting faster, Corvettes getting slower. Fords should be significantly faster at the race, they've lost so much weight, and Corvettes keep getting restricted:
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The FIA has made additional Balance of Performance adjustments to GTE-Pro class machinery ahead of next weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, with changes to four of the five cars in the factory driven class.
Outlined in a bulletin issued on Thursday, the latest change sees the Le Mans Test Day pace-setting Corvette C7.R slowed, with a 0.3 mm air restrictor reduction.
The Porsche 911 RSR, meanwhile, has been hit with a 5kg minimum weight increase, with the Ford GT receiving a further 5kg weight reduction, on top of its 20kg break it received prior to the test.
Aston Martin’s 2016-spec Vantage GTE has been given the biggest adjustments, in the form of a 10kg weight reduction and 0.2 mm smaller air restrictor.
Fuel capacity levels have also been adjusted across the class, with the Aston now eligible to carry 102 liters, compared to 98 liters for the Ford, 95 for Porsche, 93 for Corvette and 88 for the Ferrari 488 GTE car.
Per the revised BoP, the Aston must also run “Aero Kit B.”
No changes have been made to GTE-Am, other than a refueling restrictor increase for the Porsche.
The changes are only in effect for Le Mans, with the previous BoP table set to serve as the base for the remainder of the FIA World Endurance Championship seaso
The ACO is open to making last minute-changes to the Balance of Performance after a dominant display in opening qualifying from the Ford GT.
Only Gianmaria Bruni’s AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE prevented a Ford Chip Ganassi Racing lockout of the top-four positions in the GTE-Pro class, as Dirk Mueller in the No. 68 car and Ryan Briscoe in the No. 69 car took a provisional 1-2 sweep.
Mueller’s fastest time, a 3:51.185, was five seconds faster than the best Ford time from the Test Day and beat last year’s pole time set by Aston Martin’s Richie Stanaway by 3.7 seconds.
According to ACO Sporting Director Vincent Beaumesnil, they hold the right to make BoP changes at any time, even in the middle of a race weekend.
“People are looking at the data and everything that’s been collected. We can change on Friday if we like,” Beaumesnil said.
“If we consider it’s necessary, we can do it. Whether we will do it, I don’t know, the technical people will tell me.
“We finished a bit late last night, but people are having meetings and we will [look] at the data today.”
Ford’s dominance in qualifying came after they were granted a 25 kg weight break before the event, while Corvette, which set the fastest time at the Test Day, received a 0.3 mm air restrictor reduction.
Fred Makowiecki in the No. 912 Porsche was the fastest non-Ford or Ferrari, 3.7 seconds off the pace, while the fastest Corvette driven by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Jordan Taylor could only manage 13th in class, a further nine-tenths behind.
Corvette Racing Program Manager Doug Fehan was evidently frustrated by the situation, but knows there is little he can do to change it.
“At Corvette Racing we have always operated to the tenets of honor, integrity, respect and sportsmanship,” he told Sportscar365.
“We are going to continue to do that because that is the foundation from which we have operated forever.
“As far as BoP goes, I think you can look at the time sheets themselves from after qualifying and they are pretty much self-explanatory.”
06-02-2016, 11:03 AM
Ford, Aston Martin Receive Weight Breaks in BoP Shakeup
