The Ferrari 499P and the Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercars will go into the Bahrain 8 Hours lighter and with more power than last time out in the WEC at Fuji last month.
Porsche, which leads the drivers’ and manufacturers’ standings, has gained weight under the latest Hypercar class BoP released on Tuesday after Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and Andre Lotterer triumphed in Japan to go 35 points clear in the championship.
The 963 LMDh has, however, received a power increase for the eighth round of the series on Saturday in which it will bid to convert on its 10-point advantage in the manufacturers’ standings.
Ferrari and Toyota have respectively received reductions in minimum weight of two and 5kg, while their baseline maximum power figures have been increased by 10 and 6kW, equivalent to 13 and 8bhp.
The minimum weight for the Ferrari is now 1053kg and 1065kg for the Toyota, while their power maximums under 250km/h (155mph) stand respectively at 510 and 499kW (683 and 669bhp).
Each manufacturer has lost out on Power Gain, a new component of the BoP introduced at the Le Mans 24 Hours WEC round in June in an attempt to level the speeds of the cars above 250km/h.
Ferrari now has a negative figure of 0.9% after a 2.2% reduction and Toyota’s positive figure has been reduced by 1.2% to 4.2%.
The Porsche has had minimum weight increased by 7kg to 1056kg and its power upped by 2kW to 514kW. Its Power Gain figure is unchanged at 0.2%.
Vanthoor, Estre and Lotterer require only four points in Bahrain to take the drivers’ title no matter what their closest rivals do, even though more points are on offer for the race than at a regular six-hour WEC race.
They would win the title with eighth place even if the second-placed Ferrari crew of Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina take the 38 points for victory and the point for pole position.
Ninth place would be sufficient if the Ferrari wins without claiming pole.
Toyota drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries are a further two points behind in the championship race.
The Japanese carmaker, however, has a deficit of only 10 points in the manufacturers’ classification.
A victory for one or other of its GR010s would give it the title: even if the Penske factory Porsche finishes second and takes the point for pole, Toyota would win on count-back.
Peugeot’s second-generation 9X8 LMH has received another break under the BoP.
It will run at the maximum power of 520kW (697kW) allowed in Hypercar and is only 1kg above the minimum weight of 1030kg.
The Alpine A424 LMDh, which scored a maiden WEC podium last time out in Fuji, has had its minimum weight increased by 4kg and power decreased by 1kW.
Track action for the final round of the 2024 WEC on the Bahrain International Circuit begins at 12:15 local time on Thursday with the opening, 90-minute session of free practice.
