Last Minute Le Mans Rule Changes Make Ford GTs Slower, Corvettes Faster
The undeniable speed advantage enjoyed by the turbocharged Ford and Ferrari GTE-Pro cars in practice and qualifying has been met with significant Balance of Performance changes just over 24 hours before the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The pole-winning Ford GTs, which qualified 1-2-4-5 in the 14-car class, have received an extra five kilos (11 pounds) of ballast, moving the four cars up to 1248 kgs (2751 lbs), but that's only a token change. The big pre-race adjustment is the removal of boost pressure throughout the twin-turbo V6's rev range from 4200-7000 rpms. Only the Ford's peak 7100 rpm range was left untouched.
For their part, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing seems to be taking the changes in stride.
"What we do as a race team is we race the race and try to minimize the things that can stop you from being at the front at the end," said Chip Ganassi Racing managing director Mike Hull. "You win on racecraft, take what's given to you, and the faster you accept that, the faster you can push yourself to find the best strategy."
Although Hull's outlook might not be shared within every corner of the combined FCGR, Ford, and Multimatic factory Le Mans program, the ace race strategist will use all 24 hours to overcome whatever performance reductions are shown on the stopwatch.
"What I like about what's happened with the [BoP change] is it's a compliment to what's Ford's done and the team's done and the sanctioning body's done," he said. "They try to make it fair. You have to accept what you're given. It's the most carnivorous class of racing. The race will demonstrate who has the best racecraft."
On the Ferrari side, its new twin-turbo V8 488 was met with the opposite treatment as its boost was left alone in favor of reducing its pace through bolting an extra 25 kilos (55 pounds) to the three Prancing horses that qualified P3-5-6. The 488s also received and extra four liters of fuel capacity.
The slower non-turbos from Aston Martin, Corvette, and Porsche also had BoP changes made, and most were in the name of improving their pace.
Aston's V8 Vantages will breathe easier thanks to a further 0.4 mm opening of its air restrictors, which will increase power and torque. The Corvette C7.Rs received a 0.3 mm air restrictor break, but the team only has restrictors in hand that would allow a 0.2 mm break.
"It's a move in the right direction," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. "The [0.3 mm] is enough of an improvement that we need to find a solution because we only have restrictors that will get us [0.2 mm]."
The C7.Rs were also given an additional seven liters of fuel capacity. The Porsche 911 RSRs did not receive weight or air restrictor changes, but now have eight liters of new fuel capacity.
Altogether, the changes to the Ferraris and Fords should make for an intense fight among GTE-Pro cars throughout Saturday and Sunday in La Sarthe as the changes should reduce the sizable 3.7-second gap that separated turbos from non-turbos.
