Beaumesnil: GTE-Pro BoP Changes Still Possible Pre-Race

The ACO is open to making last minute-changes to the Balance of Performance after a dominant display in opening qualifying from the Ford GT.

Only Gianmaria Bruni’s AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE prevented a Ford Chip Ganassi Racing lockout of the top-four positions in the GTE-Pro class, as Dirk Mueller in the No. 68 car and Ryan Briscoe in the No. 69 car took a provisional 1-2 sweep.

Mueller’s fastest time, a 3:51.185, was five seconds faster than the best Ford time from the Test Day and beat last year’s pole time set by Aston Martin’s Richie Stanaway by 3.7 seconds.

According to ACO Sporting Director Vincent Beaumesnil, they hold the right to make BoP changes at any time, even in the middle of a race weekend.

“People are looking at the data and everything that’s been collected. We can change on Friday if we like,” Beaumesnil said.

“If we consider it’s necessary, we can do it. Whether we will do it, I don’t know, the technical people will tell me.

“We finished a bit late last night, but people are having meetings and we will [look] at the data today.”

Ford’s dominance in qualifying came after they were granted a 25 kg weight break before the event, while Corvette, which set the fastest time at the Test Day, received a 0.3 mm air restrictor reduction.

Fred Makowiecki in the No. 912 Porsche was the fastest non-Ford or Ferrari, 3.7 seconds off the pace, while the fastest Corvette driven by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Jordan Taylor could only manage 13th in class, a further nine-tenths behind.

Corvette Racing Program Manager Doug Fehan was evidently frustrated by the situation, but knows there is little he can do to change it.

“At Corvette Racing we have always operated to the tenets of honor, integrity, respect and sportsmanship,” he told Sportscar365.

“We are going to continue to do that because that is the foundation from which we have operated forever.

“As far as BoP goes, I think you can look at the time sheets themselves from after qualifying and they are pretty much self-explanatory.”

John Dagys and Adam Saal contributed to this report