2023 FIA World Endurance ChampionshipSports Cars 

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The BoP changes for Le Mans:
  • Toyota got 37kg more, and 4MJ more per stint.
  • Ferrari got 24kg more and 2MJ more per stint.
  • Cadillac got 11kg more and 1MJ per stint.
  • Porsche 3kg more.
In the end BoP wasn't the reason Toyota lost. They got unlucky with both cars, with the #7 being rear ended and retiring, and the #8 car having damage due to hitting a squirrel (around hour 16 apparently). They very well could have won with just a bit more luck, since the #51 Ferrari lost so much time in the pits resetting the car twice.

I don't think BoP was that big a deal. It didn't really change the outcome.
 
24 Hours Balance of Performance!

Famine
Given the GR010's managed front-row locks twice with high 23s/low 24s, and turned in another low 24 with the #8, it does somewhat lend credence to Akio Toyoda's scathing assessment of this year's BOP...
Click to expand...
This is an embarrassment to the ASO, given the ban on the discussion of BOP for participants, and the completely unexpected adjustment of BOP by LeMans, which should not have been, as well as the resolution of warmers...

space_wadet
The BoP changes for Le Mans:
  • Toyota got 37kg more, and 4MJ more per stint.
  • Ferrari got 24kg more and 2MJ more per stint.
  • Cadillac got 11kg more and 1MJ per stint.
  • Porsche 3kg more.
In the end BoP wasn't the reason Toyota lost. They got unlucky with both cars, with the #7 being rear ended and retiring, and the #8 car having damage due to hitting a squirrel (around hour 16 apparently). They very well could have won with just a bit more luck, since the #51 Ferrari lost so much time in the pits resetting the car twice.

I don't think BoP was that big a deal. It didn't really change the outcome.
Click to expand...
Not quite right, the Toyota added 37kg and the Ferrari 24, creating a 16kg difference instead of the 3kg before LeMans! And in return they only added 2mj of energy, which obviously didn't make up for the loss they suffered for the Toyota, including tire work in the segments where they had a sub-par advantage over the Ferrari for 3 races in a row. Everyone knows that Ferrari can't use softs like Toyota, because the 499P uses a lot of rubber. Even at Spa where it was cold Ferrari didn't use soft drive for that they crashed the car, and after that they started pushing the heaters in Le Mans though it wasn't supposed to be so cold there. This, along with a significant increase in weight difference, took away Toyota's tire advantage,. Toyota estimates that after the unintended balance adjustment at LeMans, they were 4-5 tenths behind Ferrari in pace, and tried to compensate for this with driver risk during the race, which led to the mistake of Hirakawa in the end, and which is clearly visible on the background of the first 3 races of the season...
 
My point was Toyota could have won if not for the bad luck of damage to their two cars.

The #7 car was keeping up with the Ferraris and retired due to being crashed into. Nothing to do with pushing too much or risk taking.

Hirakawa crashed because of the damage caused by the squirrel, it seems it caused a fair bit of damage and upset the balance of the car, making it hard to drive, which Hartley also complained about. Again, not due to pushing too much because of BoP (and in any case, pinning driver error on BoP is a bit of a stretch but that's another issue).

BoP or not they could have won without the bad luck, it's not the reason they lost.

And anyway I don't think Toyota's own claims of being 5 tenths behind is reliable information, for obvious reasons. They were definitely around the same pace as the Ferrari during the race, and sometimes even faster. Their own technical director says so. The point of these hypercar regulations and BoP was for the cars to be close in pace, and they were. Toyota were just unlucky in the race. It happens.
 
I'm not going to lie: I always expect some carnage/bad luck, especially in the first and last hours. And it's one of the reasons why I watch racings...
 
space_wadet
The BoP changes for Le Mans:
  • Toyota got 37kg more, and 4MJ more per stint.
  • Ferrari got 24kg more and 2MJ more per stint.
  • Cadillac got 11kg more and 1MJ per stint.
  • Porsche 3kg more.
In the end BoP wasn't the reason Toyota lost. They got unlucky with both cars, with the #7 being rear ended and retiring, and the #8 car having damage due to hitting a squirrel (around hour 16 apparently). They very well could have won with just a bit more luck, since the #51 Ferrari lost so much time in the pits resetting the car twice.

I don't think BoP was that big a deal. It didn't really change the outcome.
Click to expand...
Actually in the end the best team won it was not due to others bad luck. What you are forgetting is that Toyota got saved by safety cars big time, their pace was off except for Hartley at the end. In fact one could argue Ferrari 'almost' lost due to bad luck (battery issue). If all went smoothly without safety cars and technical issues, Ferrari still wins.

But I understand though that there was so much going on that it is easy to get lost in the details and forget the big picture.
 
When Mazda won in 1991 they had a thirsty car slower than the rest. They still won. It's a 24 hour race and lots of things outside your control can help or hinder you, that's quite literally endurance racing.

You can analyse Toyota's non-win to death, and I'm far from an expert on BOP ballast in sportscar racing, but I'm just going to repeat that there was a genuine battle for the lead and with two extra manufacturers in Peugeot and Porsche there or thereabouts, let's just hope the great racing continues.

...the safety car rules need to change though.
 
You can complain about BOP till the cows come home but it's meaningless because weird **** happens in an endurance race.
 
Ferrari vs Toyota battle did not disappoint at all.

For both teams it was do or die.

Aim has always been to win the championship but Lemans has always been the big cheese because its one of the most prestigious race on the planet.

For everybody even if they won the championship they will always try gun for the win in Lemans that some cars in the past were made just for Lemans like the Mercedes CLR, Toyota Gtone, Mercedes CLK LM, Bentley Speed 8.
 
Last edited:
ScottPye20
You can complain about BOP till the cows come home but it's meaningless because weird **** happens in an endurance race.
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As a team member you can't or shouldn't... the reason nobody complains

WEC Sporting regulations 2023

6.3.1

[...]

Manufacturers, Competitors, drivers and any persons or
entities associated with their entries must not seek to influence
the establishment of the BoP or comment on the results, in
particular through public statements, the media and social
networks.

Any infringement to the above principles will be penalised by
the Stewards, at any time during any Competition, post-race
included.

Click to expand...
 
I've rewatched the first part of the race and the Cadillac incident shows a Ferrari GTE car flying past the Cadillac totally out of control. What is it about Ferraris?
 
Tired Tyres
I've rewatched the first part of the race and the Cadillac incident shows a Ferrari GTE car flying past the Cadillac totally out of control. What is it about Ferraris?
Click to expand...
Ferrari GT cars and Incidents involving Prototypes, name a more iconic duo.
 
JackRyanWMU
Kobayashi and Bourdais criticize the Slow Zone procedure.

sportscar365.com

Kobayashi, Bourdais: Le Mans Slow Zones Need “Big Rethink” – Sportscar365

Kamui Kobayashi, Sebastien Bourdais speak out on Le Mans slow zone procedures...
sportscar365.com sportscar365.com
Click to expand...
If anything, using a FCY is less fair depending on where the cars are when its gets lifted. One may be entering the last chicane and gets a regular exit onto the start/finish straight, another may be just exiting Tertre Rouge with an almost 150 km/h disadvantage to normal speeds and a two kilometre full throttle section ahead.

On the subject of "Toyota should have won if Hirakawa hadn't crashed", well, that sucks but the point is to not crash the car and Hartley managed to keep it off the walls all right. Everyone is also conveniently forgetting that Pier Guidi momentarily beached the car early in the race after a panic evasive manoeuvre around a very slow GT Porsche turning right into his path, but the age old "Ferrari evil" attitude seems to be alive and well so it gets dismissed as driver error while Hirakawa's unforced mistake gets all kinds of excuses.
 
Jezza819
sportscar365.com

Multiple Parts Impounded from Hypercar Entries, LMP2 Winner – Sportscar365

Parts from six cars, including Hypercar and LMP2 class-winners, impounded by FIA, ACO...
sportscar365.com sportscar365.com

Hmm....
Click to expand...

Hmm indeed, only the entire Hypercar top 3 and the winner of LMP2...

Per the report, parts were taken from the No. 2 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, No. 5 Penske Porsche 963, No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, No. 93 Peugeot 9X8 and the No. 34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca.
Click to expand...
Nothing To See Here GIF by Giphy QA
 
dacc10
So, exactly one car from each team on hypercar class, excluding Vanwall and Glickenhaus. That's weird.
Click to expand...
I mean with how things ended for Vanwall (as per tradition with Colin Kolles), was there ANYTHING worth confiscating from that car?
 

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