LMP2 Joker Upgrades 2017/18 – Has it Helped Balance the Class?
The LMP2 class is a privateer oriented one and has a limited number of chassis providers (Dallara, Oreca, Ligier and Riley) and their homologation is locked in competition over each season thus limiting the costs to both the competitor and the car manufacturer. In other words, no modifications can be made to influence the performance of the car, other than the setup within bounds specified - For example, wing angles for the aero performance. This contrasts to LMP1 where the privateers (and previously OEMs) can make changes to their entries race by race. LMP2 is not a place for buying speed over the competition with development, it is to be an affordable route to achieve high performance with the main objectives of each car to be reliability, safety and low maintenance cost. Ligier JSP217, an example of an LMP2, here seen in 2018 'Joker' form That said, if a particular model of the P2 chassis outperforms the others, the organising body reserves the right to take measur