The Japanese manufacturer’s GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar will go into the 2024 season weighing 9kg more and with a maximum power reduction of 4kW or 5.3bhp compared with the post-Le Mans 24 Hours leg of the 2023 campaign.
A minimum weight for the GR010 has been set at 1089kg and maximum power at 510kW, which equates to 684bhp, under the Hypercar class Balance of Performance published ahead of the official pre-season Prologue test at Qatar’s Losail circuit this weekend.
The Qatar 1812Km, which will run to a maximum of 10 hours, takes place the following Saturday 2 March.
Ferrari’s 499P LMH has lost 2kW or 2.7bhp compared with last year, but remains at a minimum weight of 1075kg.
Porsche has taken the biggest hit from last year: the maximum power has been cut from 514kW to 505kW, which equates to a reduction of 12bhp, and the minimum weight increased from 1046kg to 1048kg.
The Cadillac V-Series.R has been handed a power reduction from 504kW to 499kW and an increase in weight from 1030kg to 1032kg.
Peugeot’s 9X8 LMH has lost 9kg with a reduction of its weight to 1030kg, while its power remains unchanged at 520kW.
Alpine’s A424 is the heaviest of cars from the three manufacturers coming into the championship with LMDh machinery at 1070kg but also the most powerful at 510kW.
The BMW M Hybrid V8 has had been given a minimum weight of 1060kg and maximum power of 506kW, and Lamborghini’s SC63 LMDh 1041kg and 502kW.
Fellow newcomer Isotta Fraschini’s Tipo 6 LMH Competizione has been allocated a minimum weight of 1085kg and maximum power of 514kW.
The deployment speed in wet and dry conditions of front-axle hybrid power for the LMHs remains at 190km/h for Toyota and Ferrari, as well as Isotta.
Peugeot9X8’s deployment speed returns to 150km/h from the 135km/h set for last year’s final rounds at Fuji and Bahrain, which reflected the proliferation of low-speed corners at those tracks courtesy of its equal size front and rear tyres.
The BoP has been released by the FIA, which jointly runs the WEC with Le Mans organiser the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, without any explanation of the revisions to the system to be employed for the 2024 season.
The document only says the BoP published applies “until further notice”.
Plans to introduce changes to the way the BoP is managed in the Hypercar class were outlined by the FIA and the ACO at Bahrain.
They said they wanted to make the system simpler and more transparent and appeared to be pushing on with their ideas despite opposition from some manufacturers.
The system introduced last year on the arrival of LMDh machinery in the WEC allowed for only limited revisions over the course of the season.
A change in the balance between the LMHs and LMDhs, the so-called platform BoP, was permitted after the first two races before wholesale revisions prior to Le Mans in June.
The FIA and the ACO subsequently opted to unilaterally tear up this plan ahead of Le Mans and make what was in effect a manufacturer change because it regarded the gaps between the LMH cars were greater than predicted by the simulation process from which it derived the BoP.
A second new platform BoP was made on schedule after a further two races ahead of the Bahrain finale in November.
The BoP for the new LMGT3 class has also been released with the starting minimum weights before cars start accruing success ballast.
The Porsche 911 GT3-R is the lightest car at 1315kg and the Lexus RC F GT3 the heaviest at 1345kg.
It has also been confirmed that the LMP2 machinery that will rejoin the WEC on a one-off basis at Le Mans will run in the same specification as last year.
That means a minimum weight of 950kg, a 35mm air-restrictor for the one-make Gibson V8 engine and rev limits of 8,000rpm in first to fifth gears and 8,500rpm in sixth gear.
