2019 FIA WEC 8h of Bahrain Post Race Engineering Notebook

Bahrain brought the longest race so far for Season 8 of the FIA WEC, and with it even more content for looking at the usual LMP1 Success Handicap levels, GTE BoP and Amateur driver performances.

LMP1

Toyota and Rebellion both had similar bodywork to the previous round in China as expected due to the limited logistics operation for the sea-freight races.

Ginetta had a few tweaks to their G60 LT-P1s in the form of brake cooling and dive planes. This car has had several design changes in its life for brake cooling, originally taking clean air from underneath the splitter and front diffuser area, something very difficult to achieve - yet is implemented in high end road going supercars where there is a demand from styling to avoid a big hole in the bodywork! 



After testing and realising it was not the direction to go, they opted for an inlet in the fender above the splitter. This was used from the Prologue onwards.

In Team LNT guise, the car now has a very large inlet on the bridge between the nose and the fender (made larger than a previous inlet in the same location), using a flexible duct blowing the front brakes. 

These significant concept changes will be very difficult to make work on a budget, where presumably the uprights (which the concept will have to work with) were optimised with the original underbody option in mind, which leads me to believe the internals of the setup aren’t as good as they can be.



For the dive planes, they have followed the likes of the BR1 and RB13 where they flare upward at the outer edges. This is to gain more downforce from them using the incident flow that follows the curvature of the bodywork they are mounted on. They should help lower the pressure on the underside of the dive planes allowing their mandated maximum area to generate the maximum desired effect. 

Setup at Bahrain

To save on parts, these curved extensions appear to fit with the previous flatter design, so this may well be an old design yet to be used until now.

Setup used before Bahrain

The outer edges of the splitter had fences bonded on to increase the pressure on the top surface of the splitter increasing downforce. It also helps to counter the effect the lower pressure under the lower dive plane has on region above the splitter. This is very similar to the Rebellion solution.

LHS: Ginetta G60-LT-P1 - RHS: Rebellion R13 

LMP1 Success Handicap

The race in Bahrain continued with this season’s Success Handicap system, and had the following values:

Previously I had incorrectly used the gap to last place as the source of the cap value. This was unclear as the regulations state “After each Competition, the difference of Championship points between each car and the last car classified will be taken into account” and “The maximum performance reduction applied may not be greater than the equivalent of 40 points”. Originally reading this at the start of the season I incorrectly interpreted that as capping entries at 40 points above last place with 40 points. It’s not that simple however, as it is not measured from the last place upward. It is measured from first place downward. To reach the values published shortly before each round, I must set a cap of 40 to the lead car, and then cascade the gaps from 40 downward. This is very unclear to a reader of the original document, as for example above, the gap above between the #5 and #6 is 12 points, and if measured from the last classified car up the gap is therefore 12. After the cap calculations done the correct way however, the gap they really will be given in handicap equates to 3.5 points because of the distance not to the last place car, but the first, and where the cap sits between the two Ginettas.

Because of the impact this Success Handicap has over the outcome of the races, I strongly believe and suggest more should be done to communicate the technical side of the sport and its regulations. I know the main regulations are French and this is a translation, but to me it is unclear and English is the language most used by fans of the sport globally. This table should be presented with the championship standings pre-race allowing for commentary team to describe how it will impact strategy in the class and make predictions of outcomes. It should therefore improve the show, and help with the disconnect some have with a handicapped class.

After the race, this is the following trace of LMP1 best laps and their degradation. I have extended the x-axis due to the length of the race. 

With the handicaps applied, you can clearly see Rebellion still had the race pace, and would have been the favourite again to get another win. They were able to more closely replicate their best lap pace with their repeatable race pace. Toyota on the other hand fell off considerably from their peak pace. In a groove however, they could replicate their pace very closely throughout the majority of the race. If Rebellion were not spun out in the second corner and had a short spell in the pit box, they would have pushed Toyota hard, making it Rebellion’s pace on track vs Toyota’s efficiency in the pits. The gap between the Toyotas on pace was larger than the handicap level predicted, however they weren’t necessarily pushing their machines hard. 

Ginetta had by far the best handicap level, but could not turn that into a good race pace. They need a clean race, but are yet to find one when advantaged as they are now. At one point the #5 was 3 laps behind the lead Toyota, but had spent 3 laps equivalent in the pits after repair and a penalty. This is unacceptable if Team LNT wish to fight for a win with the G60-LT-P1. For the first time a Ginetta LMP1 has not finished a race through reliability problems, but this has been the first of many longer races to come, after completing the shorter events. I hope they have enough spares and life parts to take them all the way to Le Mans, especially after two gearbox issues.

Team LNT cars appeared to be the most nervous and patient at passing traffic, taking more corners to get moves done compared to the Toyota/Rebellion competitors. As the repeatable/consistent race pace includes lapping traffic, I think this can be a big improvement point for the LNT crew, especially Mike Simpson. So far Lawrence Tomlinson has been faithful to his long standing Ginetta drivers, and have put them in for race starts. This season the LMP1 class has had significantly messy starts, so experience in negotiating each situation is critical. I believe there are drivers within Team LNT better suited for race starts, even if it means Lawrence having to go against any promises to his favoured drivers.

Success Handicap for Texas

Applying the points scored for each car in each race, the following table shows the handicap levels for the next race in Texas at the Circuit of the Americas. 

The #8 Toyota has a significant leg up with handicap level over its sister car which leads the championship. Rebellion however will gain around half a second per lap of pace since Shanghai. I expect a shootout early between the #1 and #5 who should qualify well, and then later on between the #1 and the #8. Motor races aren’t run on spreadsheets however, so anything can happen!

CotA has a long (1km) straight, so expect to see the Ginettas and Rebellion streak away here along with the start finish straight, which rises up hill a significant amount. Toyota will not like lifting and coasting here, considering the gradient, but also the elevation change lifting all their added excess weight from the Success Handicap. I also think there will be a lot of lifting and coasting into the corner before the straight, so here’s another point on track for the Privateers to overtake. I think Rebellion can win here, There is elevation to hinder the heavy Toyotas, and enough of a gap in the Handicap. It will as always though, require a clean race. I think the #5 can give Rebellion a fight for Pole Position however.

LMP2 Performance

Another race, and another battle in the Goodyear-Michelin tyre war. This one was won by Michelin, with the Oreca 07 of United Autosports, who previously had been lagging behind with technical gremlins.  

With each cars best laps plotted, it was United that were clearly ahead, only bettered in the top 2 laps over the 75 shown. The Orecas in the class were tightly bunched proving how competitive the pro drivers are in LMP2 - the Cetilar Racing Dallara was floundering behind. 

A Goodyear car was not too far behind with the #38 JOTA sport Oreca, however it was not competitive in the top 10 laps. It had very good consistency however to make up for it. 

Cool Racing performed well with peak laps, however they only have one professional driver, so is expected to fall back earlier. Both cars run by TDS did well also; GDrive considering it had Michelin tyres (it usually uses Dunlops in ELMS) and Racing Team Nederland considering a conservative setup for their Bronze ranked driver.

The second Jota Sport run entry of Jackie Chan DC Racing was next up also very consistent followed by Signatech Alpine, who compared to previous rounds with this method looked much much more impressive. This is the closest they have been to the front of the class so far with their new driving lineup. I expect even more to come from this team going forward in 2020 showing more of the Signatech we have become used to over recent years.

The High Class Racing entry was the last placed Oreca here, as they look towards switching to Michelin for the latter portion of the season. This entry is hamstrung by the oldest competitor on the grid with a Bronze rating, and also a second Amateur ranked driver (Silver). 

LMP2 Amateur Driver Performances

Speaking of Amateur drivers, below shows each of their top 50 laps. The class was quite spread out here allowing for more discrete positions in the class for each driver. 

Phil Hanson impressed again with good pace. He did drop off in lap time however along his stints, showing why he will not be uprated to Gold in 2020. Gabriel Aubry however performed similarly well, not with peak pace by overtaking on consistency, a factor in him going up to Gold. Roberto Gonzalez is still improving towards his Dragonspeed performances, closely matched by Antonin Borga. Just over a second off the front of the race was Anders Fjordbach, and another half a second behind him was Pierre Ragues in the Alpine. It is interesting to see however Fjordbach and Gonzalez post the fastest individual laps very far away from their repeatable race pace laps. 

Bronzes weren’t too far away from the Silvers at Bahrain, especially Lacorte in the Dallara. If he was in an Oreca I’d expect him to be mixing it up with the likes of Ragues and Fjordbach and potentially being put up to Silver status (not harmful to LMP2 drivers). 

Frits van Eerd was the best Bronze in an Oreca with good consistency. Unfortunately he was tagged into a spin sending the team backwards in class. Coigny and Patterson took up the rear.

The front of the class will be competitive again in Texas, and I look forward to seeing which of the tyre manufacturers come out on top, presumably in cold conditions. Using Shanghai as an example of cold conditions, it would be close!

GTE Pro Performance

GTE Pro has been another super competitive class despite having fewer entries this year. 

Aston Martin had the fastest car in race trim, as shown by the #97 as the #91 dropped off. Porsche were second fastest, then Ferrari, however it was Porsche that had significant problems with both cars spending time in the pit garage swapping out front right dampers. The eventual top two cars #95 and #71 did well considering they didn’t have the pace, and were the slower of their respective marques. This proves why there’s a lot more to racing than what these plots can show, it’s only an indication. It also shows that with a clean race, other cars could have won on pace, and Porsche could still be leading the championship!

GTE Am Performance

Bahrain was the first I noticed the effect of the Success Ballast having an impact on results and pace. Below shows the top laps of each car, along with the success ballast values currently applied to each car. Success Ballast (SB) takes into account the results of the last 2 races and the championship positions. TF Sport had the maximum going into Bahrain.

GTE Am Success Ballast Table for Bahrain

You can clearly see TF Sport were hampered by this extra weight, performing poorly in this plot; they are usually right at the top of the class. What is significant is how the #83 AF Corse zebra Ferrari moved its weight well, being the joint fastest car on the grid alongside the #98 Aston Martin. The #57 was also impressive moving its weight at the front of the class to take the win, and up its ballast level for CotA. 

TF Sport hurt their championship fight by having the maximum amount of ballast for a round that gives 1.5x points, and thus drop to 4th... If possible you want to set up your longer races with low ballast, whilst still having good results in the meantime. 

GTE Am Silver Driver Performance

For the mandated Silver driver in GTE Am, the plot below shows their race laps. Clear from the rest of the class were Ross Gunn in the AMR run Aston Martin and Nicklas Nielsen in the AF Corse Ferrari. No surprises these drivers will be uprated to Gold for 2020 (they will remain Silver in current WEC Season). Larry ten Voorde replacing Felipe Fraga in the Project 1 Porsche impressed, especially with his best 15 laps. Next up was the pair of Kei Cozzolino and Andrew Watson. Considering ten Voorde and Watson will stay as Silver for 2020, they look to be prime targets for seats in GTE Am for the future. Aston Martin gave Watson a rookie test seat in Bahrain after the race, so this is something to look out for as AMR will be on the hunt for two Silvers!

A second off the first Silvers are Francesco Castellacci, Charlie Eastwood and Riccardo Pera. This shows how far back Eastwood in the heavier TF Sport Aston Martin was pushed thanks to the ballast. 
Severely off the pace were Charles Hollings, David Heinemeier Hansson and Adrien de Leener. 

GTE Am Bronze Driver Performances

As for above, GTE Am requires a Bronze in each driver lineup. I deem it to be the most important place to lose time relative to the rest of the class, and it is most important to get a good Bronze driver. 

Driving clear of the class at Bahrain was Ben Keating. He had a clear first lap which allowed him to make his own lines following the GTE Pro cars, whilst the rest of the class fought behind. On a clean track before working with cars lapping him, he made a gap that would be tough to overhaul. The best thing about this drive, was that it was done with 20 kg of ballast aboard...
The next best in the class was Edigio Perfetti in the sister Project 1 Porsche, and then Paul Dalla Lana in the AMR Aston Martin. What is impressive here is the consistency of Salih Yoluc in the middle of the pack held back by the 45kg ballast.

Another that impressed me was Michael Wainwright in the Gulf Racing Porsche, as before he was far behind the class on pace. This improvement alongside very rapid co-drivers could give this team a nice little charge up the championship standings. 
Francois Perrodo also showed the impact of his ballast (20kg) on performance, in the mid pack. He has the co-drivers and team around him to win a championship, but could do better to lock in a title fight with the likes of Salih Yoluc, Paul Dalla Lana and Ben Keating.

Success Ballast for Texas

The table below shows the ballast level for Texas. AF Corse have halved theirs, and TF Sport have dropped 30kg. I expect these two teams to be up at the front. The #57 Project 1 Porsche is 5kg off the maximum, and AMR have got 20kg.

GTE Am Success Ballast for Texas

Looking Toward Lone Star Le Mans

For the next race I expect an interesting affair for LMP1, seeing how the Success Handicap shakes out and if Team LNT can shake off the gremlins from Bahrain. Rebellion look in prime position to fight for the win again with less handicap.

In P2 I expect another close fight between Michelin and Goodyear cars, and in GTE Pro, it’s anyone’s call. BoP has been very competitive so far - it’s done right. GTE Am will be interesting with the ballast too, and how that impacts performances. 

I’ll stick my head above the parapet with a prediction this time: #1 #22 #51 #90.