[WEC] LMP Future Regulations (was Le Mans EVO rules - now hypercar rules)

[Aysedasi]

So they have big news, but they don't want anyone to hear it...… Bizarre.

[Akrapovic]

Still on for 3:30 targeted lap times. That’s going to make an absolute mess of the LMP2 and GTE lap times.

[Irie]

Spec tyres...

[Irie]

https://twitter.com/FIAWEC/status/1139449611863691264


BoP, regulated power curve, "perfomance windows", spec tyres ...

[Akrapovic]

It’s GT3.

[Deleted]

It's a joke.

That's what it is.

[deggis]

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2019/0...21-season.html

[deggis]

https://media.astonmartin.com/aston-...ry-at-le-mans/

"Aston Martin to enter at least two works Valkyrie race cars in the 2020/21 FIA World Endurance Championship"

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by deggis

https://media.astonmartin.com/aston-...ry-at-le-mans/

"Aston Martin to enter at least two works Valkyrie race cars in the 2020/21 FIA World Endurance Championship"

Two howling V12s. At least there's that to like.

I'm not going to get into an argument over it, but I don't have as much of a problem with these new rules, I recognize they're basically a stopgap before they try electric/hydrogen so I can live with it. Even the 3:30 target is almost certainly going to be demolished in the first year of the new ruleset. Only major problems I have are - spec tires, and what they'll need to do to LMP2 to make it fit between this new top class and the GTs.

[Bcarr6]

Not sure who can argue with a couple of Valkyrie's competing for the win.

I hope we see Mclaren, maybe Ferrari or Ford commit also.

If there some serious racing for the win, really does it matter how the cars perform in that way.

The new formula looks at a minimum good, the potential for a properly awesome engine is good as AMR have already suggested, and we could potentially see some underdogs like Glickenhaus, Rebellion, SMP genuinely battling multiple manufacturers for the LM win.

[deggis]

https://www.twitter.com/Pitlaneandy/...70971881107461 (Andrew Marriott)

"Now told that in 20/21 season there will be WEC LMP2 class but engine restrictions will slow cars by around 10 secs at Le Mans so they are slower than Hypers. Puts them more or less back to where they were before latest Gibson engine."

[chernaudi]

So then we'd be back to LMP2s having issues with overtaking GTE cars unless the GTs get pegged back, too.

I'm also not too keen on the spec tire in LMP1, even though we're sort of there now with Michelin supplying everyone.

[PascaLM]

My first impression about the new rules is that both hypercars and volume manufacturers will be able to enter competitive cars, this is positive. that was the main point of discussions I think. But a BoP... noooooo.

[crooky]

Hopefully we’ll see a well written article to make sense of all this as there’s lots of questions.

Are these new rules coming in for the 2020 Le Mans race or 2021?

I assume the Toyota TS050s will be retired from next or the one after?

What pace will they reduce the current P1s to and what knock on effect will that have on P2 and the GT classes?

Is the top class just going to be a BOP/EOT mess like GTE/GT3 where races are won as much by politics as the skill of the team and drivers?

Can I accept the BOP/EOT mess if we get to see some amazing cars with V12s?

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by deggis

https://www.twitter.com/Pitlaneandy/...70971881107461 (Andrew Marriott)

"Now told that in 20/21 season there will be WEC LMP2 class but engine restrictions will slow cars by around 10 secs at Le Mans so they are slower than Hypers. Puts them more or less back to where they were before latest Gibson engine."

LMP2 was sped up to stop them from dive bombing GTE cars. It worked well. Have they got such a short memory that they’ve forgotten this?

Let the hypercars do 3:20 and it solves that. Everything else stays the same.

[deggis]

Originally Posted by crooky

Are these new rules coming in for the 2020 Le Mans race or 2021?

Remember the new winter season schedule so 2020-21 season means 2021 Le Mans.

Hypercar class replaces P1. P1 will be gone unless grandfatheted (and slowed down accordingly).

[XtC24]

I think sub 3:30 won't be easy due to the min. weight of 1100 kg.
For me it is almost as bad as BOP.
This weight is nothing like top class, its. ca. 200 kg more than now, damn it.

[Deleted]

It's hard to get excited for LM 2021-2024 when the only thing to look forward to is Hughes de Chaunac's proam spec class. Maybe for 2021 there is also hope of hypercar meltdown so that old neutered P1 Ginetta or whatever may win one last time... and also Audi might field the hydrogen G56 before the next gen proper rules come... but that's it... Otherwise it's all bop nonsense which I have absolutely zero interest for

Tomorrow and 2020 will be so bittersweet

[broadrun96]

So Goodyear announcing they are coming back (rebranding tires) fits in to this spec tire?? Michelin left F1 over spec tire, could they be leaving LM as well? Although apparently it's not a strict rule since they took over IMSA supply

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

So Goodyear announcing they are coming back (rebranding tires) fits in to this spec tire?? Michelin left F1 over spec tire, could they be leaving LM as well? Although apparently it's not a strict rule since they took over IMSA supply

They're running as an official single tire supplier for MotoGP too.

[Akrapovic]

So let's break this down a little bit.

BoP. We all knew this was coming, so I'm not that disappointed. But what we need is more information on what is BoP'd, because that's crucial for the fans. Are we going to have hard limits on stint lengths again, for example? Because that's a bad way of doing it that we've fallen into. Or is it going to be fuel tank sizes and everyone gets to run? BoP is....fine. Well, it isn't fine but it's what we have - but the implementation is what will make or break this for fans.

Lap Times seem a bit odd. Why are we aiming for 3:30? The circuit walls have been moved back, it's safer than ever, and now the cars are being slowed down? 3:30 means pegging the LMP2s back another 10 seconds. But they only just got sped up by 10 seconds, and that was to make it easier for them to pass GTE Pros. Now we're back to that old problem again. They should be aiming for a 3:20-3:25, that way all your other classes stay static.

As broadrun96 points out, Goodyear announce they're replacing Dunlop and now we're down to a spec tyre. So does that mean Goodyear are only going to be in LMP2/GTE?

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

So Goodyear announcing they are coming back (rebranding tires) fits in to this spec tire?? Michelin left F1 over spec tire, could they be leaving LM as well? Although apparently it's not a strict rule since they took over IMSA supply

LMP2 (or whatever it's gonna be called now) should continue to be free right

Then again you never know with these fools, for all we know we'll get spec Michelins for Hyper & GTE-PRO, spec Goodyear-branded for LMP2 and spec Dunlop-branded for AM...

[Dyson Mazda]

I’m guessing this means the end for GTE. I have a card time seeing a class of 4 cars survive, with AMR stepping up to the top class.

[PascaLM]

In need of cars ? Try GT3 ! (without BoP of course)

[PascaLM]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

So they have big news, but they don't want anyone to hear it...… Bizarre.

On FB, the ACO answered me that it's a choice of the communication department of not doing a live video of the conference, without further explanations.