Le Mans 2022 – Hypercar and GTE Pro Balance of Performance Controversy?

The 90th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans had on paper a cynically predictable result, Toyota won overall, and Porsche won the Pro GT class, but can we say they ‘given’ the result? Since the Equivalence of Technology (EoT) and now Balance of Performance (BoP) eras, parameters defining performance before the event are determined shrouded in secrecy within the ACO headquarters, so they need the fans to trust their decisions. With the complaints of competitors and little to no explanation from the ACO for these adjustments it’s a struggle for the integrity of the championship/24h of Le Mans.

Zac McGowan

I can’t comment on the BoP parameters leading up to an event without sophisticated simulation software, but thanks to the lap time data from Alkamel Systems we can look at the results after each round to shine a light on trends, and if it can be improved.

Performance parameters adjusted can be car weight, max engine power and stint maximum allowed energy/fuel. For the cars with front axle hybrid deployment, the minimum speed at which they can deploy above is also adjustable.

BoP Update Pre-Race

After Alpine won the Sebring round with unmatched pace, they had a 20kW power reduction for Spa, then an increase of 17kW for Hyperpole and a final change before the 24H of 10kW reduction leaving a net change of 7kW above Spa but 23kW down on the spec run at the 24H last year. They were given more energy per stint since Spa, to aim for a 12 lap stint.

Zac McGowan

Since Sebring the Glickenhaus and Toyotas remained unchanged.

One challenge for this BoP scenario we are in is that the SCG007 Glickenhaus is at its maximum power and minimum weight allowance. Having the ability to adjust more cars around the performance window in more directions would have helped the ACO have a better chance of balancing well, with more tools to work with.

Politically this could be interesting if the performance shifts away from Glickenhaus if Peugeot can be competitively paced, bringing the performance of the class closer to what the Alpine was designed for (in its LMP1 category days) and potentially making the fight for the race win closer, and more entertaining.

Zac McGowan

BoP Effect/Result

Once again the Toyotas were by far the most consistent (flatter gradient) and with the fastest pace. SCG could have some rare fast laps to compete with the peak Toyota pace but it had little consistency at this peak pace. 

The Alpine with its reduced engine power had poor top speeds, which may have led to its poor consistency, due to lapping the slower classes being made more difficult. Despite its LMP1 pedigree, it was nowhere for peak performance, finding it hard to pass P2s at the start on the clear circuit and in general from the BoP. The Alpine also spent some time in the garage fixing some clutch issues, which has influenced this data - it is unknown how much of the sample size has been affected.

Using the method explained in this post,I have compared the top 60% lap times (the BoP measurement window) and normalised by gap to best in class, and by circuit length. You can see that the result was another poor gap on pace to the second fastest chassis, similar to Sebring where Alpine ran away with it despite the shorter stint lengths holding them back.

As for the third fastest chassis, no gap has been this big since when Glickenhaus had their troubled debut in Portimao 8 rounds ago, and is reminiscent of the wild performance swings of the Success Handicap in Season 8.

What is more striking to me is the comparison to 2021. One would assume the extra data from the debut of Hypercar at Le Mans would help improve the balancing, but it has got worse. Potentially the new fuel introduced this year had a bigger effect than expected making last year's data less effective. Why would the ACO penalise a French OEM like this? Glickenhaus improved vs the best in class by ~2 thousandths per km (quarter of a second per lap of the Le Mans lap) however Alpine lost over 0.15s per km (2 seconds a lap) compared to last year’s 24H respectively.

Pit Strategy 

For the pit stops, being able to offset your strategy and save a pit stop or several is very powerful at Le Mans over the 24H period. Previous winners have won with cars further from the fastest paced team- Audi beat Peugeot after losing 3s a lap, but saving stops for example.

All cars were able to complete 12 lap stints, however it was a rarity for the Alpine to do this with its smaller fuel tank. All the LMHs had an average of over 12 laps when considering normal stints (without emergency service etc). 

Below shows the average normal stint lengths and cumulative time spent in the pit lane for 18 average stints for each car. The Toyota gained a stint advantage on the Alpine every 16 stints, or ~12 hours. So over the race distance the Alpine would have lost ~3 quarters of a lap in the pit lane even if they had a perfect race with the best pit crew, on top of being slower out on track.

Again, this shows the catch22 of the BoP process; how Alpine needs to be faster on track to make up for these losses, but then how, politically, this is not acceptable for Toyota and soon Peugeot. Add to that the neutered performance of the Alpine, not a good look.

GTE Pro

We have had a longer history of BoP in GTs, successful in non-LM rounds, but not here at the 24 Hour, so was this year’s any better?

Zac McGowan

Unfortunately not. The class was a bit harder to follow pace-wise compared to last year, as it appeared Porsche and Corvette had a Tortoise and Hare approach, one car each faster than their respective teammates by around a second a lap, as if they were driving to the pace of the Ferrari themselves on average one second off the top of the class. Maybe the Tortoise approach was the right one, pushing the tyres past closer to the limit, the potential of punctures is greater; as shown by the catastrophic failure for the faster #92 Porsche after sunrise.

Comparing to last year, the chassis were similarly spaced as a whole, having the Ferrari and Corvettes matched, and the Porsche 1 second back on average:

Not only were Ferrari slower on track this year, but they had a shorter stint length average for standard stints. A double-whammy just like for Alpine, giving them no chance other than reliability, which in the end turned out to work!

Monza is next, so the team in red will be desperate for an adjustment to give them performance at their home race. In Hypercar we will have the introduction of Peugeot with their interesting 9x8 LMH, and with it the first time we have had competition with several Hybrid chassis since Porsche departed LMP1, which feels like a long time ago! Hopefully their car is ready to be fitting in the performance window and can compete on debut, even if not with the Toyotas.

Many thanks to Zac McGowan who supplied these shots from our trip to the race! 

Zac McGowan