The revised Peugeot 9X8 2024 Le Mans Hypercar introduced at the Imola WEC in April has received an 18kg weight break down to 1047kg while retaining the maximum power of 508kW (681bhp) at which it raced last time out at Spa in May.
It follows two races at which the heavily reworked LMH, which now runs a conventional rear wing, failed to match the performance of the previous iteration of the car at the Qatar season-opener in March.
Porsche’s 963 LMDh, winner of two of the three WEC rounds so far this season, has gained 5kg in minimum weight since Spa in the BoP table published on Monday ahead of this weekend’s Le Mans Test Day, which leads into race week for the French enduro.
But the German car will be able to run with 4kW (5bhp) more power.
The Ferrari 499P and Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMHs have lost 10 and 9kg respectively.
Ferrari has gained 2kW in power, while the Toyota has lost 7kW.
But Ferrari is one of only three manufacturers to have lost power under the new “power gain” component of the BoP, which will finally be introduced for Le Mans on 15/16 June.
The new feature has been incorporated into the BoP so that the acceleration and straightline speeds of the cars competing in Hypercar can be more closely matched in an effort to further balance the playing field.
Ferrari’s LMH will be have to run maximum power reduced by 1.7% above 250km/h (155mph), equivalent to 8.6kW or 11bhp.
The other cars competing in Hypercar to lose power over 250km/h are the Lamborghini SC63 with a 1.6% reduction and the Peugeot with 0.7%.
All the other cars have a 0.9% power gain, with the exception of the Porsche 963 LMDh, which will run the same 511kW maximum power above and below 250km/h.
Power gain had been set for an introduction for round two of the WEC at Imola in April after it was trialled by some manufacturers at the official pre-season Prologue test ahead of the season-opener in Qatar in March.
No reason was given for a delay that extended through round three at Spa last month.
The power gain column in the BoP table that remained empty for the opening three round stipulated 210km/h as the starting point for the increase or decrease in engine performance.
The 250km/h figure in the Le Mans BoP is understood to reflect the higher top speeds achieved on the Circuit de la Sarthe at Le Mans in comparison to the tracks that make up the rest of the schedule.
The BoP table for Le Mans carries the normal line about it remaining valid “until further notice”.
It is believed that the guidelines laid down for the BoP in 2024 allow no scope for it to change between the Test Day on Sunday and the kick-off of practice and qualifying on the following Wednesday.
The WEC Hypercar BoP table usually carries a plus or minus adjustment figure next to the weight and power values for each car.
The Le Mans figures do not, because the FIA and the ACO regard the BoP for the 24 Hours to be separate and independent of that for the rest of the series because of the unique characteristics of the 8.47-mile track layout.
