WEC Sets Initial GTE BoP

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

The FIA World Endurance Championship has established the starting Balance of Performance for the GTE-Pro class ahead of the season-opening Six Hours of Spa in May.

The auto BoP process, which takes into account data from the previous two regular-season WEC races, sees revisions to existing GTE-Pro machinery since last year’s season-ending Six Hours of Bahrain, as well as a baseline for the new-for-2018 BMW M8 GTE and Aston Martin Vantage GTE.

The BMW will start the WEC season at a minimum weight of 1255kg, some 35kg heavier than it ran in this month’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, while also at significantly reduced turbo boost levels compared to the recent IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round.

IMSA gave a series of performance breaks to the car following its season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, where it was still lighter and had more power than in the newly established WEC BoP.

The new-generation Aston Martin, meanwhile, has been set at baseline weight of 1263kg, with a boost curve similar to the Ford GT.

Ferrari’s 488 GTE Evo, meanwhile, has been given a 5kg minimum weight increase and a slight turbo boost reduction since last year’s finale, while both the Ford GT and Porsche 911 RSR, which retain its 2017 homologation, each receives a 16kg weight reduction.

No power adjustments have been made to either the Ford or Porsche.

The starting BoP will be in effect for both Spa and the third round of the season at Silverstone in August, with the 24 Hours of Le Mans remaining with a standalone BoP.

Aston Martin Hit in GTE-Am BoP

Aston Martin’s previous-gen Vantage GTE has been hit with a significant weight increase in GTE-Am for the start of the season.

The 2016-spec Vantage GTE will now weigh in at 1263kg, marking a 55kg increase in minimum weight from last year, although it has been given a 0.6mm increase in its air restrictor.

Ferrari’s 488 GTE, meanwhile, has been handed a 8kg weight break and slight reduction in turbo boost.

The mid-engined Porsche, which makes its GTE-Am class debut, meanwhile, has been confirmed at a minimum weight of 1265kg, 2kg heavier than the Aston.

It will run 23kg heavier than the Porsches in GTE-Pro and with a 0.4mm smaller air restrictor.

Unlike the auto BoP in GTE-Pro, the BoP in GTE-Am is manually adjusted throughout the season.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John