[paul-collins]

Thoughts:

1. All other things remaining the same, this ensures that the LMS is only Peugeot vs Audi; all others should be happy to get any air time at all. No hope for the gasoline-powered P1s to even get close, as the weights, restrictor sizes and and turbo boosts remain the same as ACO rules - and in the ALMS the only time gasoline powered cars challenged was when they ran 65 kg lighter. It's generally thought in the paddock that there's almost 100 horses extra in the current diesel powertrain.
   
2. The choking back of the P2 cars can be seen as an effort to ensure that Mazda, Honda, Porsche do not stick around in P2. I see no carrot to go with that stick, though, considering none of them would consider going the diesel route.
   
3. The mention of ethanol points to the rumour of E85 showing up in the ALMS (the rumour was attached to the Corvettes). Hopefully they'll be able to get the fuel cell balance right, but with a max size of 110L, that only gives a 10% increase in capacity from normal GT1. It's thought that Ethanol would need as much as 50% more by volume to give the same amount of Joules in a tank. (edited to add that there's obviously an error in the PR at this point, as they previously refer to a max fuel cell size of 90L for GT classes, and there's nowhere else to apply the 110L exemption)
   
4. Beyond the possibility of the Judd 5.5 in the Pescarolos, I don't see the existing petrol packages being able to compete with the current power to weight ratio of the Audis (and Peugeots, I'm sure). The Lolas are considered improved compared to the last generation by their drivers; does it make sense that the R10 is a quantum leap ahead in chassis design? So it's all down to power available as the advantage. I've had people tell me that the Shell syndiesel is worth about a 50% increase in power over pump diesel. Since no specs were discussed by ACO, and since the syndiesel is so much different (and unavailable), perhaps this is where ACO will adjust the power discrepancy.