WEC Round One: Qatar - March 2nd, 2024

[XtC24]

Originally Posted by tomcug

Well, they finished inside points in P6 and P9, so could have been worse for Toyota

Somehow I new you would use this line
I hope LMH and Lmdh will have correct convergenc BOP at last in Imola.

Peugeot was treated like, well, Peugeot

[veeten]

Originally Posted by XtC24

Peugeot was treated like, well, Peugeot

That's because they 'did it' to themselves. In that "splash and dash", the driver or manager forgot to reset the fuel map in the ECU, meaning the engine was running to the last setting, including the amount of fuel before filling. The tank still held, but the sending system began to shut down, leaving them to just the battery to bring it around as its designed to do.

[Adam43]

Thanks, I hadn’t seen that. Got a link? Not seen it on the usuals.

[Gerard C]

I found the footage interesting and the on board views were of good quality IMO. Seeing JE Vergne struggling to find a solution to reach the start/finish line was not enjoyable tho. Sad day for this french team.

[veeten]

Can't say that I have any to immediately post, but have been going over some of the more reliable sources and sites. The best post-race analysis usually comes at least 12-18 hours after, when everyone has had a good night's sleep, so's they can come at everything with a more clear view.

It looks like it all centers around that last pit stop, which for Peugeot was a "splash and dash", to keep that 2nd place, if not make an effort for 1st. During that segment, the power graph showed that the #93 had a significant amount as compared to that of the Porsches. But by that penultimate lap, coming around the first turn, the Pug looses power and both Porsches pass him. It couldn't have burned through that much fuel that quickly, unless... Oh no! that's when I figured that the fuel map was not reset for the new amount.

That's my assessment, but I wouldn't be surprised if the data, and others, come to a similar conclusion.

[PanozDP01]

Does WEC have BOP ?

[Adam43]

By the power graph do you mean the remaining energy graphic? That shows how much energy has been used / is left in the stint. It isn’t a direct measurement of the fuel in the tank.

The sportscar365 article says they had a problem fueling the car. That graphic wouldn’t change because of that.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by PanozDP01

Does WEC have BOP ?

I don't know. If it does I am sure there would be a thread about it.

[v8supes]

6 weeks until the next race. Its an outrage! Cant wait.

[veeten]

... which makes Sebring a great hold-over until Imola. Seeing as Porsche, Cadillac, BMW, and Lamborghini will all be there, as well as Acura. Should be good...

[Adam43]

Top speeds!

Fastest recorded in the speed trap and the average of the Top 50, 100 and 200 laps to see if we can remove the influence of any great tows.

Average Maximum Speed

Rank	Car	Top Speed	Top 50	Top 100	Top 200	Most Common
1	93 Peugeot	309.5	304.9	303.3	301.4	300.8
2	5 Porsche	308.6	304.3	303.2	301.8	301.7
3	35 Alpine	309.5	304.2	303.1	301.8	301.7
4	36 Alpine	307.7	304	303	301.8	301.7
5	12 Porsche	307.7	303.2	302.4	301.3	301.7
6	6 Porsche	306.8	303.1	302.1	300.6	300.8
7	94 Peugeot	306.8	303	301.5	299.6	300.8
8	83 Ferrari	307.7	302.9	301.5	299.4	300.8
9	51 Ferrari	305.9	302.5	301.4	299.9	300
10	50 Ferrari	305.1	302.1	300.9	299.4	299.2
11	7 Toyota	305.9	301.8	300.7	299.4	299.2
12	99 Porsche	303.4	301.2	300.5	299.4	300
13	38 Porsche	306.8	301.2	300.4	299.2	299.2
14	8 Toyota	304.2	301	300.3	299.2	299.2
15	63 Lamborghini	302.5	300.5	299.7	298.6	299.2
16	15 BMW	308.6	300	299	297.8	297.5
17	20 BMW	301.7	299.1	298.4	297.4	298.3
18	2 Cadillac	305.1	299.6	298.4	296.9	297.5
19	11 Isotta Fraschini	300.8	297	296	282.1	295.1

Ranked by top 100.

Isotta Fraschini was closer in practice, but loses out here as they didn't get as many laps in.

Of the factory teams the Cadillac and BMW have different approaches.

[Adam43]

How did they compare?

Ranked by average of top 100 laps:

Rank	Car	Fastest	F (%)	Top 50	50 (%)	Top 100	100 (%)	Top 200	200 (%)	Laps
1	6 Porsche	1:40.592	100.8%	1:41.749	100%	1:42.193	100%	1:42.749	100%	335
2	5 Porsche	1:39.748	100%	1:41.827	100.1%	1:42.212	100.0%	1:42.759	100.0%	335
3	12 Porsche	1:40.795	101.0%	1:42.099	100.3%	1:42.468	100.3%	1:42.964	100.2%	335
4	93 Peugeot	1:41.441	101.7%	1:42.185	100.4%	1:42.480	100.3%	1:42.919	100.2%	334
5	2 Cadillac	1:41.625	101.9%	1:42.457	100.7%	1:42.752	100.5%	1:43.184	100.4%	334
6	50 Ferrari	1:41.595	101.9%	1:42.526	100.8%	1:42.842	100.6%	1:43.263	100.5%	333
7	94 Peugeot	1:41.804	102.1%	1:42.638	100.9%	1:42.957	100.7%	1:43.490	100.7%	316
8	83 Ferrari	1:41.699	102.0%	1:42.650	100.9%	1:42.973	100.8%	1:43.389	100.6%	334
9	99 Porsche	1:41.414	101.7%	1:42.631	100.9%	1:42.994	100.8%	1:43.466	100.7%	333
10	36 Alpine	1:42.014	102.3%	1:42.808	101.0%	1:43.156	100.9%	1:43.640	100.9%	332
11	38 Porsche	1:41.738	102.0%	1:42.825	101.1%	1:43.159	100.9%	1:43.641	100.9%	309
12	8 Toyota	1:42.553	102.8%	1:42.915	101.1%	1:43.186	101.0%	1:43.631	100.9%	333
13	7 Toyota	1:41.990	102.2%	1:42.908	101.1%	1:43.205	101.0%	1:43.604	100.8%	334
14	51 Ferrari	1:41.842	102.1%	1:42.974	101.2%	1:43.230	101.0%	1:43.655	100.9%	332
15	20 BMW	1:42.247	102.5%	1:42.999	101.2%	1:43.296	101.1%	1:43.704	100.9%	332
16	35 Alpine	1:42.042	102.3%	1:43.044	101.3%	1:43.313	101.1%	1:43.733	101.0%	333
17	15 BMW	1:41.898	102.2%	1:43.019	101.2%	1:43.336	101.1%	1:43.795	101.0%	327
18	63 Lamborghini	1:42.296	102.6%	1:43.223	101.4%	1:43.506	101.3%	1:43.974	101.2%	330
19	11 Isotta Fraschini	1:43.883	104.1%	1:44.666	102.9%	1:45.313	103.1%	NA	NA%	157

It remains super close. Toyota 1.0% of it's performance relative to the others and it appears in 12th! Crazy!

The chart shows the fastest of each car (by Top 100), but I also added the #5 Porsche in as it had fastest lap.

[GT3_Fan]

Should be good music to our ears at the end of the S365 post race notebook:

***The race ran to the full 1812 kms (1125 miles), having reached 335 laps some four minutes before the maximum ten-hour duration. The faster-than-expected pace was attributed to there being only two Full Course Yellows and no safety cars.

[Adam43]

Yes, that was good. I’m ahead of the game as I noticed that during the race.

It’s a good circuit for that. See also didn’t have any cars catch fire, sorry I mean stall.

[RL17]

Great race - just catching up following a busy couple of months following phone issue at New Year plus nfl and soccer.

Good to see that rubbish Penske team achieving and last hurrah for 9X8 (who needs wings anyway). And a caddy going forwards rather than steadily back through the field. Thumbs up for Michelins too

[veeten]

Been checking the 'net, and it looks like a lot of people are liking what they saw. And comparing a very boring F1 race this weekend, we just might be seeing an increase in viewers. If Sebring and Imola can keep the interest up, we could be seeing better times.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by veeten

Been checking the 'net, and it looks like a lot of people are liking what they saw. …

They’re not real fans.

[tomcug]

Nope. How can you enjoy watching BOP series being a real motorsport fan!?

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by GT3_Fan

Should be good music to our ears at the end of the S365 post race notebook:

***The race ran to the full 1812 kms (1125 miles), having reached 335 laps some four minutes before the maximum ten-hour duration. The faster-than-expected pace was attributed to there being only two Full Course Yellows and no safety cars.

Probably goes back to the parking lot lay-out of the track. Imola will be a rather different story.

Originally Posted by tomcug

Nope. How can you enjoy watching BOP series being a real motorsport fan!?

Go see it in person - always has and always will be the best way to watch race cars!

[tomcug]

That was just a little joke in response to Adam's joke

[Aysedasi]

Yeah, but nothing beats the wall to wall excitement of the prospect of watching Max win 24 GPs in one season......

[Mike E]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Imola will be a rather different story.

It certainly will. Hypercars divebombing GTs into all the chicanes could make for a messy race.

[Gerard C]

Would it be Monza…

[PhilipR]

A good listen is the Vanthoor brothers podcast. They do one after every race this year and can give quite interesting insights into the race and their cars

Laurens explained how during Andre's stint they had tire issues which explains Andre's slower average times, and this continued into Lauren's stint until they found the solution

Also Dries explained how the BMW loses a lot more downforce behind other cars compared to other Hypercars (interestingly both agreed that there is quite a lot of downforce lost behind the Peugeot even though it has no rear wing)

The podcast is good to get some insights that we would not get normally on tv or from press releases