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Maybe we should remember that they were being beaten by LMP2 cars that were factory efforts in a class that the ACO intended to be for privateers.
Or that IMSA were very generous with hand outs that they give privateers in late 2006 (we have to remember that due to car issues that Dyson didn't just struggle against the R10, but also against the R8 and even the Penske RS Spyders). However, Audi did beat all opposition in '06 and only because IMSA didn't go with ACO BOP on LMP2s for the full season (and when they did they unwittingly gave LMP2s a stint length advantage) did they have problems in '07.
And also may I add that the gaps were even bigger, especially at Le Mans, in the R8 days. And that was a car that was built to the same exact rules as everyone else and used the same fuel.
Sorry for going on of a rant, but my point is that IMO it matters little to nothing as far as factory vs privateer, diesel vs gasoline, hybrid vs non-hybrid, you're stuck with trying to balance apples to oranges, especially when factory teams with their resources are involved.
And that's also my point about the ACO wanting Toyota to have a .5 of a second a lap advantage around Le Mans. They're the factory team with the $100 million or so budget now, and I'd argue that they don't need help from the sanctioning body or a guarantee that they should be faster, whether they asked for it or not. I frankly don't know why the ACO wrote that rule in from the beginning of the season, because we already saw at Spa that Toyota should more than likely have the edge.
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