[WEC] The Unified Power Rankings (GTP / Hypercar)

[Adam43]

After Monza we see a change in the race pace analysis. The pace of the Porsche, which matched Ferrari over the Top 50 (and was better Top 100 - the analysis is based on Top 50) has moved it up the rankings. Cadillac had a poor race, but overall the IMSA cars looed a bit better which has helped Acura and BMW a little.

[veeten]

Time for analysis, and boy, has a lot changed...

[Adam43]

Post Fuji (and Road America for IMSA). Ranking, manufacturer, movement since Monza/Road America, relative pace of last IMSA/WEC race combined (see above).

A change at the top as the Le Mans winner drops down.

1. Toyota (up 1) 100.00%
Go to a circuit that the others don't know. Home track. Disrupted practice. Kobayashi. Head the rankings.

2. Acura (up 1) 100.20%
Best in IMSA. Come on Honda...

3. Porsche (up 1) 100.34%
That was a strong race. Slowly getting on top of this car. Customer cars might be helping - interesting that they ran a different set up that went with more top speed than Penske. One car out of the running with a puncture and then stupidity with not knowing the rules.

4. Ferrari (down 3) 100.35%
No practice here. No tyre warmers. The previous inconsistencies coming to the fore again. This time both Toyota and Porsche could take advantage.

5. Peugeot (no change) 100.77%
I can't help feeling they are lower, despite the ranking not changing. Cadillac couldn't capitalize and BMW weren't there - they will be next year!

6. Cadillac (No change) 100.85%
One car. Bad race.

7. BMW (up 1) 101.05%
Not there could have challenged Peugeot and Cadillac if they were.

8.Vanwall (up 1) 102.38%
Vanwall showed a little more pace - back to Sebring gap to the leaders.

9. Glickenhaus (down 2) 101.17% (post Monza)
Not there.

[Adam43]

After Indy. You don't need the lap times to see this, but Acura had a bad (and slow) race.

[Adam43]

Post Indy (and Fuji for WEC). Ranking, manufacturer, movement since Fuji/Indy, relative pace of last IMSA/WEC race combined (see above).

A lot of changes, but that reflects the closeness of the pack.

1. Toyota (no change) 100.00%
Top dog still. Last race couldn't compare.

2. Porsche (up 1) 100.34%
A 1-2. Very strong pace against them all. T

3. Ferrari (up 1) 100.35%
How will the tyres fare in the next race.

4. Cadillac (up 2) 100.84%
Could have been better. The relative pace against Porsche was about the same as the last IMSA race. Benefit of the doubt here moves them above Peugeot.

5. Acura (down 3) 101.25%
Lost it's way in Indy, but considering more than just one race I think about BMW. Expect them to come back at Petit.

6. BMW (up 1) 101.18%
Cunningly grabbed a podium with not the second best car in IMSA. Without cunning they might not justify being ahead of Peugeot. Next year we can compare properly.

7. Peugeot (down 2) 100.73%
They get a wing next year, so this year it is just a pray. Will they get a little bump as they get a small BoP benefit - or will that be offset by the circuit characteristics?

8.Vanwall (no change) 102.38%
Will they improve more in the WEC season finale.

9. Glickenhaus (down 2) 101.17% (post Monza)
Not there.

[Adam43]

If Aston Martin joined where do you think they would enter this list?

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Adam43

If Aston Martin joined where do you think they would enter this list?

Fan interest alone has to put them above a winged Peugeot.....

[tomcug]

Originally Posted by Adam43

If Aston Martin joined where do you think they would enter this list?

With Lance as a mandatory part of the line up or without such requirement?

[veeten]

Well, with two races left in the season overall, expect a furious finish by (mostly) all parties concerned.

[veeten]

Okay, PLM is in the books, and the '23 IMSA season is finished. Time to deliver the stats...

Take it away, Adam.

[Adam43]

Stats today are nine hours, three stops, some yellows and a brief red for a car that had its roof cut off by the emergency services.

Maybe tomorrow.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Stats today are nine hours, three stops, some yellows and a brief red for a car that had its roof cut off by the emergency services.

Maybe tomorrow.

I had a very similar experience! Luckily the helicopter landed on the other side of the highway and my traffic was unimpeded

[Adam43]

For me too it was on the other side. Queue that side lasted for miles.

Had a brief SC (Sheriff Car) too. Although some dude overtook the SC like he didn’t notice it and got away with it!

[Adam43]

Just the relative lap times of the best cars. Fuji and Petit together.

Petit here: https://tentenths.com/forum/showpost...&postcount=275
(based on Top 50).

Porsche and Cadillac times are combined. They swapped round in IMSA, which in turn has influenced Acura. Acura looks quicker than Cadillac here, because of the relative pace of them to both in IMSA and Porsche being quicker in the last WEC. Cadillac are losing out a bit because of the single car in WEC. Still improved though.

[Adam43]

Relative Pace, post Bahrain and Petit.

Ferrari have dropped off since we moved away from the tracks they had tested on.

The Jota Porsche relative pace was close at Bahrain, but this is a mix of Petit and Bahrain. Cadillac was quicker in IMSA, Jota in WEC.

[veeten]

Well, the 2023 season is done. Time for the final tally and who won the year, so to speak.

A lot of data and numbers to crunch, but I have faith in you, Adam.

[veeten]

Well, guess what's back...
It's time for the 2024 edition of the Unified power rankings, with Daytona 24 hours in the books and Qatar just ahead. Let's get things started.

Over to you, Adam...

[Adam43]

Here you go.

A quick reminder of some of the key features:

• It is the fastest car of each brand.
• WEC and IMSA are compared by averaging Porsche and Cadillac. After the first WEC race I'll also use BMW.
• For Daytona I used the top 200 lap times for the benchmarking. It was a clean race and little yellow or weather impact. This choice is always a balance.

Some takeaways.

What is going on? - Cadillac was faster than Porsche at Daytona! It was, but this combines the most recent IMSA and WEC performance. Porsche is fastest in WEC and Cadillac in IMSA. What we are seeing here is the Porsche got really close to Cadillac at Daytona, and remains quicker in WEC.

Acura, influenced by the BoP changes and the change in teams have dropped off. Perhaps also their mind is elsewhere with other stuff going on? This is complete speculation!

BMW got closer to the average. If I'd used practice it would have been closer too. They had a short period of goodness in the race. Perhaps the car is very sensitive to changes in conditions?

[veeten]

Well, Qatar was a great race, with some surprises at the end.

Time for the power rankings, with the opening season races in the bag. Lots of data to sift through, so make a nice hot cup of tea and dig in...

[Adam43]

Yes we shall see a change.

And with hindsight maybe Daytona gave us a clue to this? We’ll see. There was lots of green running so should have nice clean data. Hopefully get chance to look tomorrow.

It’s interesting that WEC said in their BoP update they would consider the performance of the fastest car of each manufacturer. Which is what I do here. They caught up eventually

[Adam43]

Here is the pace guide.

Now three manufacturers are averaged to bring together the two series - Cadillac, Porsche and BMW.

• Well done Porsche - you've found your feet. JOTA had a good race, but the factory team Penske has managed to assert itself to be the car that drives the performance in this chart from both Daytona and Qatar.
• Toyota lose 1.15% and drop to 7th! Madness.
• Isotta Fraschini start closer than Vanwall ended.
• Alpine was the best of the newbies. Good job.
• BMW - they've been running their car for a year, but didn't do great relative to the other newbies in WEC race 1.
• Lamborghini looks like a factory team on their debut.

Errata. There was an error in cacluating the average v. Cadillac/Porsche/BMW across IMSA/WEC. As such the Porsche advantage was under-called. This also put BMW behind Toyota, when it should have been ahead. Other trends remain. Corrected calculation can be seen in the update on 3/18/2024. Sorry

[tomcug]

Good job with the update

[Adam43]

Here is the pace guide.

Now four manufacturers are averaged to bring together the two series - Cadillac, Porsche, BMW and Lamborghini.

Porsche have dropped. They are still top because of the pace in WEC, but IMSA saw them the 4th fastest there in Sebring.

That has closed this combined up.

[Adam43]

Just the pace.

Combined via Cadillac, Porsche and BMW. Lamborghini out of it as it didn't do Long Beach.

Ferrari trajectory has been improving and it hit the front.

The newbies to the series all did worse in Imola.

[tomcug]

Makes me wonder how did Acura jump Porsche being a bit slower in the Long Beach race. Is this because of how the combined performance is calculated for both series?