[WEC] WEC 2021 season

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by S griffin

I do worry grids will be down, apart from at Le Mans, although a few should use Spa to prepare for LM. Hope I’m wrong

Overall it doesn't look like grids will be down. In the top class, all depends on Peugeot. The series really needs them next year, the same way Toyota stepped up in 2012. I'm taking Glickenhaus and ByKolles with a pinch of salt. Can't assume they'll be there - big bonus if they are.

Dead races like Bahrain last weekend will cause people to jump off the train before it's even left the station.

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

A thought occurred to me today - perhaps one for TWISC (ps does anyone know how to send questions in other than twitter?).

You can BOP cars, but can you - or should you - BOP teams with different levels of resource and talent on the pit wall?

In other words, if the Alpine and the Toyota were perfectly-balanced machines, would you not expect the Toyota's superior driving talent and better-resourced team to make the difference over 6 hour races?

To take this idea further, would you even expect Signatech to be able to run a private GR 010 to the same pace as the works team?

These questions got me thinking that we have next to no idea how well the Hypercar BOP process is going until we get more cars and a much larger sample size.

You have one of the possible answers to this question in SRO racing - mandated stints and pit stop lengths.

Not something I'd want to see in ACO racing.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Simmi

Overall it doesn't look like grids will be down. In the top class, all depends on Peugeot. The series really needs them next year, the same way Toyota stepped up in 2012. I'm taking Glickenhaus and ByKolles with a pinch of salt. Can't assume they'll be there - big bonus if they are.

Dead races like Bahrain last weekend will cause people to jump off the train before it's even left the station.

We (forum posters) didn't seem to following Bahrain too closely last week. I think we get a bit of post-Le Mans let down every year, but this year seemed even greater. Not sure how to fix that, but maybe do something with the calendar and make Le Mans the final race?

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by joeb

We (forum posters) didn't seem to following Bahrain too closely last week. I think we get a bit of post-Le Mans let down every year, but this year seemed even greater. Not sure how to fix that, but maybe do something with the calendar and make Le Mans the final race?

For me it all comes down to the competition levels. I think there was still intrigue in the post-LM races back when you had Porsche and Audi also battling it out.

But when you've got stage managed processions in the two Pro classes it's just a killer. I don't think this will be an issue once we get past next year. And even then we should have Peugeot at some races which will be very interesting.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Simmi

For me it all comes down to the competition levels. I think there was still intrigue in the post-LM races back when you had Porsche and Audi also battling it out.

But when you've got stage managed processions in the two Pro classes it's just a killer. I don't think this will be an issue once we get past next year. And even then we should have Peugeot at some races which will be very interesting.

I would agree with that, we knew who was going to win before the race started. At least when the Glick car was on the grid there was something to hope for. Sure maybe they weren't going to win, but the more times the car runs they may have been able to unlock some performance.

The Peugeot will be interesting for a couple reasons, the competition in the hybrid hypercar ranks, and the looks. If they come out and match Toyota laptimes but both are still ahead of the Glick, then we have a better idea if the bop favors one class of cars over the other.

[S griffin]

We'll have to see which manufacturers that are entering do their homework. That said the presence of the likes of Alpine and Glick did add to the series. I'm sure some just saw them as propping up the top class, but at the same time it's good to see that not all entries are big bucked manufacturers

Peugeot we will wait and see what they can do, Toyota are already established in the series, but we've seen how well Peugeot have built a prototype before, so we should see them at least upset Toyota's applecart. Won't be an easy job mind you, but hopefully it will be a lot closer next year. We will see if Alpine and Glick can find that extra bit of performance next year

[Mike E]

Surprise, surprise, Ferrari BoP adjusted.

https://www.dailysportscar.com/2021/...on-finale.html

[Adam43]

For completeness here are the season's BoPs

Weight (Kg)

Bulletin	Track	GR010 HYBRID	-- 007 LMH --	---- R13 ----
23/4/2021	Spa	1040		930
28/4/2021	Spa	1040		930
2/6/2021	Portimao	1066	1030	952
5/6/2021	Portimao	1066	1030	952
12/6/2021	Portimao	1066	1030	952
8/7/2021	Monza	1066	1030	952
4/8/2021	Le Mans	1066	1030	952
2/11/2021	Bahrain 6h	1040		930

Energy Allocation (MJ)

Bulletin	Track	GR010 HYBRID	-- 007 LMH --	---- R13 ----
23/4/2021	Spa	964		920
28/4/2021	Spa	964		920
2/6/2021	Portimao	962	965	918
5/6/2021	Portimao	962	965	918
12/6/2021	Portimao	962	965	918
8/7/2021	Monza	962	965	918
4/8/2021	Le Mans	962	965	844
2/11/2021	Bahrain 6h	909		816

Max Power (kW)

Bulletin	Track	GR010 HYBRID	-- 007 LMH --	---- R13 ----
23/4/2021	Spa	520		454
28/4/2021	Spa	520		454
2/6/2021	Portimao	515	520	450
5/6/2021	Portimao	515	520	450
12/6/2021	Portimao	515	520	450
8/7/2021	Monza	515	520	450
4/8/2021	Le Mans	515	520	450
2/11/2021	Bahrain 6h	520		454

It's listed by all the bulletins. Don't think I've missed any and as LMGTE has a new list between the two Bahrain races I assume that there will be no change for Hypercar. Not the first time there has been no change between races. There were no changes between Portimao and Monza.

Main takeaways

• Toyota and Alpine back to Spa levels for the performance elements
• Stint energy reduced for Toyota and Alpine. Proportionally slightly more for Toyota. I assume this still isn't defining the stint length for Alpine (???)

[Simmi]

Looks like they got the GTE-Pro BoP sorted in time for the final race! Awesome early battles.