Sportscar Engineering

Just like I did for LMP1 EoT previously, I will also compare how the BoP (Balance of Performance) in GTE Pro has played out for each car over the last three races. How close is the class, and how ‘equal’ is it for each competitor?  For this comparison, we’ll consider the top 50 lap times of each car for each race – Silverstone, Fuji and Shanghai respectively to show what pace the cars can produce and the consistency at which it can produce that pace. As this is a Pro Class, I have not plotted by driver, the standard is high throughout each driver line-up.  Silverstone The BoP process is applied automatically, but then extra tweaks can be made outside of this automated system (once a season). For Silverstone, Aston Martin were given a big boost (turbo pressure, lower weight) after being un-competitive up to that point. They earned pole position but fell away almost instantly. Ferrari got a small power boost also. It should be noted that this race was dry, unlike the ...

This instalment has got a nice amount of content, so I have split it into two parts. I may keep it this way for future races. GTE will be following soon I promise! This was a very strange race that almost wasn’t to be! From long red flags to a GTE finishing above all LMP2s! It had a bit of everything. We did have some drier racing for periods allowing some comparisons to be made with at least some confidence. I will be covering:  LMP1:    •  EoT - Are we there yet?! How far away are the Privateers from the Hybrids, and how far do they need to go    •    Comparing pace at Fuji    •    What to hope/expect for in future LMP2:    •    Comparing performance of each car (measuring combination of Driver/Tyre/Chassis)    •    Comparing Amateur performances LMP1 Where We Stand & Can the Privateers Catch Up to Toyota? Whilst we didn’t have noticeable mechanical updates for Sha...