A controversial and late Balance of Performance change dominated the build-up to the LeMans24 only to give way to a competitive centenary race that saw Ferrari triumph over Toyota. WEC But could the 11th-hour tweak set a dangerous precedent? ⬇️
Ferrari wins on its factory prototype comeback. And narrowly so at the end of an intriguing and sometimes thrilling battle with Toyota. All five major car manufacturers involved in Hypercar led at some point or other. The centenary edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours definitely got a race befitting of such a significant moment in its history. There can be no question of that.
That’s why, together with the co-organiser of the WEC, the FIA, the ACO overrode the new BoP system introduced for this season. A system that didn’t allow for wholesale changes ahead of Le Mans. Only a tweak in the balance between LMH machinery and the LMDhs from Cadillac and Porsches was permitted from the start of the season right up until after Le Mans, though exactly when that was possible wasn’t entirely clear.
Who knows what would have happened if Hirakawa hadn’t had his off at Arnage and the winning Ferrari not lost half a minute in the pits with a recurrence of an earlier electronic glitch Porsche’s 963 LMDh was given only three kilogrammes and finally showed some pace in the WEC. The reliability of the thing remained suspect, however, and the German manufacturer failed to get a car home in the top six.
But the philosophy of this new framework was always going to work in Toyota’s favour. In the GR010 it has the proven car, one that has been racing since 2021 and undergone two off-season upgrades within rules that strictly limit performance developments. Of course it was going to be nearer to its potential than the rest.
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