FIA WEC Season 8 Silverstone and Fuji Notebook

The start of the new season has come faster than I could have ever expected! You may have noticed I did not stick to my word on doing a GTE Le Mans notebook, and that there weren’t standalone articles for the prologue, new LMP1 updates or round one at Silverstone; I did not want to publish something I was not confident in. Compared to the run up to the Superseason I have had a big step kicking off my engineering career, and other life changes aligned with the start of Season 8. So, looking onward and upward with this one I aim to catch up with where we stand with WEC. It will cover the following items:

• New TS050 and Ginetta G60-LT-P1 updates
• New Porsche 911 GTE RSR in GTE Pro
• LMP1 EoT and Success Handicap/Penalty
• GTE Pro BoP
• LMP2 Tyre war
• LMP2 Amateur driver performances
• GTE Amateur driver performances

Season 8 LMP1 Updates:

Toyota TS050

The final iteration of the TS050 before the introduction of Hypercar was revealed at the S8 Prologue allowing for speculation on what has changed.

Top: Old TS050 Spec, Above: New Season 8 TS050 Spec

The major difference is in the appearance of the front of the car, and with it a slight change in philosophy around the airflow through and over the car. In recent years the TS050 has had a low nose with a rather chunky keel underneath it extending down to the splitter diverting air around the front axle hybrid units and the tub. The leading edge of this keel was very far forward almost meeting the leading edge of the splitter and the tip of the nose. Either side of this keel were flaps in conjunction with the splitter making the whole front end like a dual element wing. Ahead of the flaps on each side there was a small element diverting air downward under the car/flap to generate more downforce elsewhere (despite generating lift themselves). Removing these to simplify the front end is a good move as small slot gaps get obstructed by debris and tyre marbles adhering to aerodynamic surfaces impacting performance. This redesign should allow the TS050 to maintain performance through the duration of a race, but also be easier to clean in pit stops.

For S8 the upper bodywork of the nose was moved rearward opening up for potentially more airflow through the car to the sidepods for cooling and out the side of the car to move the front tyre wake -think towards what barge boards do in F1 for this. It gives us a nicer view of the flaps inside the front end, and shows how the angle of attack of the flap/splitter combination changes across the span as there is more expansion outboard where the wheel wells are.

Moving the central keel rearward would expose the splitter top surface to more high pressure air, and potentially reduce the yaw sensitivity of the front-end flaps as they will be exposed to clean flow at wider ranges of slip angles/unsteady ambient conditions. 

Under the tip of the nose structure sits a pair of vertical fangs/fins presumed to stiffen up the front end. They are slightly ‘toe in’ to describe in suspension terms reflecting the flow direction at this area. 

The wing mirrors have been hidden in the front fender for Season 8 cleaning up the aesthetic but also the reducing the frontal area of the car.

Ginetta G60-LT-P

There’s been more testing from this car representative of a real and credible LMP1 entry, giving more bits of development to take a look at.

The brake cooling has changed a lot since the debut of the Ginetta P1. To start with the inlets were low down on the fender above the splitter. In Team LNT spec, they were moved upward and inboard similar to the Dallara LMP2 in style. 

The team increased the size of these inlets to get some more cooling flow, however this 

was not enough as the team suffered braking problems at Silverstone and Fuji where there was a catastrophic disc failure. 

To improve from here I expect another change to the brake cooling. To save money they could clean up the existing duct inside (mostly flexi hose) into a solid smooth duct avoiding a bodywork change. Some flexible ducting is necessary however to account for the kinematic wheel assembly vs a fixed chassis. Intake area could be made bigger, but at a detriment to drag and at a cost of new bodywork components. Shanghai is another track with a huge straight into a hairpin, so if dry I expect Ginetta to have more braking issues if they make no changes here.

Ginetta opted for a higher downforce setup than previously run with for a lot of testing. A second dive plane at the front was paired with a larger rear wing. Even though this was a high downforce/drag setup, the Ginetta cars were 10kph faster than anyone else on the long straight at Fuji. 

Fender topper depression and gurney for high downforce (similar to the SMP BR1 from the Superseason after one flipped at Spa) – venting wheel-arch pressure gets better front diffuser performance and therefore more downforce from the floor– at a detriment of wake from the BHH. I wonder if this will be an efficiency gain taken forward through to their low downforce/drag setup for Le Mans, or if they opt for a flat top design on it.

New 2019 911 GTE RSR

Despite only being a short time since Porsche updated their 911 RSR, they have introduced a brand-new car. Despite a similar appearance, over 90% of the parts are new. The engine note is drastically changed, but is still Naturally Aspirated, something I was surprised to learn after hearing it for the first time, I was sure it was turbocharged! The new side pipes contribute to this noise change, alongside the increase in displacement (from 4L to 4.2L), and a lower rev limit.

The fenders have been opened up at the rear edges to try and vent pressure out from in the wheel wells, especially at the rear which previously followed the profile of the tyre.

The diffuser was given more packaging space thanks to the exhaust moving outward. It has been reworked with new curved strakes – these are working with the vortex each one produces, sealing to the floor and stopping the messy rear tyre wake affecting performance in this area.

The rear bumper follows closer to a road car than the previous model, which had an aggressive cut removing the lower half of the bumper. 

LMP1 EOT

Season 8 introduced a success penalty for the LMP1 class aimed at forcing a balancing effect in the field on top of a base EoT which itself is more aggressive than the previous season. This was implemented due to the significant difference between theoretical pace and the recorded race pace for different powertrains; the hybrids navigating traffic with more ease for example.

After several races, the penalties should take effect, but the first race shows what the base EoT is like, and the second shows how the penalties impact performance.

Silverstone

At Silverstone it was a bit of Noah’s Ark, two by two. Toyota were again the class of the field, around a second faster than the performance traces of the Rebellions. Rebellions had pretty consistent lap times, their lap times didn’t fall off at a steep gradient compared to the supreme Toyotas. Ginetta however had worse consistency with steeper gradient traces and a significant gap between the 5 and 6. This can be attributed to the driver line-up differences with this car, and that there were teething problems with the G60’s first race under Team LNT.

After this race, the success penalties for full-season entries at Fuji were as follows:

Calculated with a success handicap coefficient of 0.012 seconds per km per point. This was applied across a circuit distance of 4.563 km

Considering how close the Toyotas were to each other, the result of the intended ~0.4 second penalty per lap should give clear results for how effective these penalties are at predictably slowing cars down. 

Fuji

I have split the race into wet and dry as it was a prolonged period with rain.

After the balancing, the Toyotas were both still the fastest chassis over top lap window. The gap between the 7 and 8 did measure to be slightly over a quarter of a second between lap traces.

Rebellion got much closer on peak performance, bettering the #7 but only for the fastest 4 laps due to the Toyota’s better consistency. This did also result in prolonged on track action between these cars.

The Ginettas were closer again to the front of the class, roughly halving the pace gap from Toyota. 

Interestingly despite the half second handicap between the Ginettas, they were very closely matched, showing us how the 5 is either better engineered, or better driven!

In the wet, the times were close still. Toyota usually dominate here with 4-wheel drive traction (front axle E-Motor), however they opted for different slick-intermediate tyres compared to the more aggressive wets picked by Privateers. The consistency from all entrants here is a positive to take forward to Shanghai, which was a washout.

The predicted time handicaps for Shanghai are as follows:

Assumed handicap coefficient is the same as round 1 and circuit length of 5.451km used

I have highlighted the Toyotas above with an asterisk as the gap to the lowest car is capped to 40 points, so the calculation is applied to that score giving the numbers for handicaps to the right.

Considering Rebellion were ~0.07 off the fastest lap at Shanghai last season and the handicap amount (and more aggressive EoT), I predict the Rebellion to start the race on Pole Position if qualifying is in the dry. Part of this is a hope rather than expectation, but it is worth a try!

Unfortunately, because of the handicap cap to 40 points over the last placed car, this may be the largest advantage Rebellion have all season in the balancing system. Despite not having the aim to equalise, it is still doing an effective job when looking at Fuji data. I look forward to the results of Shanghai to see how the penalties affected pace.

GTE Pro Balance of Performance

After several teams pulled out from WEC at the end of the Superseason, the variance in performance of the three OEMs we have left should be more visible – If one car is having a bad BoP hit, it would leave two competitive pairs for example.

At Silverstone, it’s easier to work out which OEM had the worst performance than the best with peak lap times! That was Porsche despite winning the race… Ferrari were the strongest when looking at the #51 (usually the stronger of the pair). Aston Martin were close too especially considering the tight margins in this class!

For Fuji similar results were shown clearly. In the dry, both Ferraris were ahead by a tenth. Aston Martin were second closely followed by Porsche.

In the wet, Aston gained slightly on the Ferraris making it extremely close. Porsche fell back, they may have limited running on wet tracks with the new car. The most interesting thing about this is that based upon the plots one could expect Ferrari to be clear in the championship after having favourable BoP, but no they are last! 

Porsche lead Aston by 5 points and thus I have a feeling Porsche will win the championship. If you can score good points when you are down on pace, this bodes well for when you may have the pace advantage in future allowing for lower risk to consolidate and confirm your lead in the championship.

LMP2 Performances

LMP2 is dominated by Oreca chassis (with one Dallara for Cetilar Racing), therefore I will not spend time commenting on chassis comparisons. There is a strong tyre war however between Michelin and Goodyear (moving from Dunlop in previous seasons), and this plays a big part in the performance through the class.

At Silverstone the Michelin Oreca connection was strong shown by Cool Racing and more so by Racing Team Nederland with their best 15 laps all over two tenths faster than anyone else. Both Jota Sport run Orecas (37 and 38) are the best Goodyear teams. The pair are closely matched indicating they are close to the upper edge of the performance window of the tyre (with their current setups). I expect with more testing time, the introduction of ELMS teams on the same tyres (more data) the Goodyear teams will get closer to the front of the class on pure pace.

In Fuji the same results were recorded. Cool Racing and Racing Team Nederland were miles in front on the Michelin tyre. High Class were closer to the Jota entries as they get used to the Oreca, new tyres and new star driver Kenta Yamashita! United Autosports got in the mix with good consistency on Michelins but were off the pace with best laps.

In the wet, Michelins appeared to be the best tyre option as they had better peak pace and less deterioration over the plot than most of the Goodyear cars. This might also be down to the more knowledge the Michelin teams have on their tyres in the wet.

Over the top lap windows, the Goodyear cars depreciate in lap times just a little less than the Michelins for the dry. Maybe they optimise for duration rather than peak performance? A wise choice when you have amateur drivers that are not experts at looking after their tyres!

LMP2 Amateur Driver Performances

Speaking of Amateurs, let’s have a quick look at their performances in the LMP2 class over the start of the season.

In Silverstone three drivers were head and shoulders above the rest. Antonin Borga, Job van Uitert and Gabriel Aubry were all over a second faster than the rest of the amateurs with good consistency.

Roberto Gonzalez has taken some time getting used to the new team and tyres (moving from Dragonspeed Michelin). I was looking forward to seeing him impress after last season, now I expect we’ll see him improve back to the level of last season – maybe a late charge for the title when he’s up to speed?

Fjordbach spent a lot of his laps in the rain, so with his limited dry laps he did well to post competitive lap times. Frits Van Eerd took a step up in performance with the Oreca chassis it seems; not too far from the top of the class when in the Dallara (for example at Sebring he was roughly 4 sec off per lap). 

At Fuji it was much more competitive. Borga was again the class of the field a bit up on Aubry; Job van Uitert was absent (Silverstone was a one-off). Behind the top guys from Silverstone, the gap to the rest was smaller presumably as these Ams got used to their new teams/machinery. Phil Hanson got involved alongside Anders Fjordbach matching closely. Behind this pair were Pierre Ragues (from Duqueine in ELMS) and Gonzalez.

The Bronze drivers formed a nice neat trio followed by Mark Patterson who is aiming to be the oldest to compete at Le Mans. The gap to the silvers is very clear here and illustrates how important looking for a silver instead of a bronze is when forming a team.

Overall, I would not be surprised if Antonin Borga gets uprated to Gold next year (alongside Job van Uitert), which wouldn’t rid him of a drive as Coigny his teammate already fills the am driver slot currently shared. Gabriel Aubry should also be considered based on his lap times and consistency. 

GTE Am Performances

Similar to LMP2 I will cover Am performances in GTE Am, but unlike the Superseason this will also include the silver drivers along with the bronzes. For the silver drivers I was surprised by the spread in lap times. My previous assumptions were that the bronze driver variance was the only major factor in the class, but after looking further into it there can be similar gains to be made against the competition with a good driver. 

Silverstone

Kei Cozzolino and Charlie Eastwood had the best silver performances here with Eastwood having fewer dry laps to set good times. Behind this pairing by a few tenths were Nicklas Nielsen, Ross Gunn and Felipe Fraga very close together. The title defence for the #56 Project 1 Porsche did not get up to a good start here with newcomer David Kolkmann subbing in for David Heinemeier Hansson. 

Looking to the standout bronze drivers, Salih Yoluc had a great race at the top of the field. Behind were a trio of Francois Perrodo (finding his feet back in GTE Am), Paul Dalla Lana and Edigio Perfetti.

Fuji

The class was tighter here at the top for the amateur drivers. In the silver ranked driver category Kei Cozzolino, Charlie Eastwood and Nicklas Nielsen again had good drives. Felipe Fraga was a few tenths behind but had great consistency dropping off in time less than everyone else. This is super important for silvers in this class, as they can be doing a significant drive time through the race to keep the slowest in the team (bronze) out of the car as long as possible. Ross Gunn drove well again adding to experience towards a professional career at Aston Martin. Contrasting to his stunning performances in LMP2 last season, David Heinemeier Hansson has not got up to speed yet with the GTE Porsche yet. I hope he can improve to bring the #56 into the fight for the championship!

Salih Yoluc was again the best silver driver clear of the field, potentially helped for a second time by starting on pole with a clear traffic-free circuit. He was able to consistently post fast times despite not having the best overall lap.

Behind was again Paul Dalla Lana, but matched closely this time by Ben Keating, Satoshi Hoshino and Edigio Perfetti.

The best silver-bronze combinations so far have been the #90 of Charlie Eastwood and Salih Yoluc, #98 of Ross Gunn and Paul Dalla Lana and the #57 of Felipe Fraga and Ben Keating. Special mentions go to Kei Cozzolino in the #70 Ferrari and Edigio Perfetti in the #56. I would not be surprised if any of the drivers mentioned win the championship based upon superior amateur performances so far, but all can still change as we have so much of the championship to go!

In Summary

So, a lot of storylines to cover looking at Shanghai and beyond. Hopefully LMP1 is competitive and more exciting as the handicaps take their effect. In P2 will Racing Team Nederland hold on to their lead? Will Ferrari make the most of their slight performance advantage? Can TF Sport take the fight to AF Corse? I cannot wait to see what Shanghai will bring!