FIA, ACO Aiming to Improve Hypercar BoP Process

Photo: Porsche

The FIA and ACO are looking to make further improvements to their Balance of Performance system in the Hypercar class for the 2024 World Endurance Championship season, although series executives have stressed that competitors must not rest solely on the process.

The introduction of LMDh cars to the WEC’s top class this year resulted in a change in the BoP procedure, which was designed to bring more stability by typically releasing BoP tables multiple races in advance and largely based on simulation data.

The first season of the updated formula, however, was met with several controversial moments, including a BoP change made outside of the rules prior to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

A recent meeting with manufacturers on the topic of a proposed BoP overhaul for the 2024 season is believed to have been met with mixed reactions, leading to the FIA and ACO set to instead move forward with refinements to the current process.

When asked by Sportscar365 if there will be a change in the system for next year, ACO President Pierre Fillon said: “Not change it but improve it.”

FIA Endurance Commission President Richard Mille was adamant that BoP must not dictate the outcome of races.

“For next year, we hope to do something more simple but it’s a work in progress, something where more responsibility is given to the manufacturers because they have to take the responsibility of being performant,” he explained.

“The BoP is not a pillow of laziness. If a competitor is expecting the BoP because either they [made] a bad choice or didn’t perform, etc, the BoP will bring everybody back, it’s just a dream. It’s not possible.

“We have managed to do the things as well as we could.

“Today, if you finish second, [people claim] it’s not because you perform bad, it’s because of the BoP.

“The BoP is also the perfect excuse to the [manufacturer] boards, etc. We’re aware of that and know that and we take our responsibility.

He added: “We cannot control everything because it’s impossible. We cannot do the job of the manufacturers… We cannot solve all the miseries of the world.

“We can help to a certain level. After that, we can do nothing. It’s a pure dream to imagine that we can solve all the problems. We’re not here for that and it’s not our duty and even not our objective.”

Mille noted that BoP has been put into place to prevent cost escalation within the class, which features two distinct platforms in LMH and LMDh that are run to different technical regulations.

“We have a minimum weight which is high enough to avoid the explosion of the costs, the materials. The same with the power that is capped,” he said.

“You already have the ingredients to avoid stupid explosion of costs.

“At the end you have a format in which people can appraise themselves and after that they have to do their job.”

When asked if there’s any level of disappointment that only two manufacturers claimed victories this year out of the five present full-time on the grid, Fillon put it down to experience rather than the BoP.

“Of course we prefer to have more winners,” he said. “But if you look at [it], experience is very important.

“Cadillac is new in the championship. Porsche, this is a new team. Ferrari is not a new team, they were in GTE before, so I think the experience before was very important.”

Mille added: “When you consider the gap is getting closer and closer, it’s also the result of what we have done.

“There are so many parameters that are variable: the stints, tire consumption, strategy, the drivers also. There are many parameters that are not our problem.”

Coletta Hoping FIA, ACO Will Change BoP “Conditions” for 2024

Ferrari’s global head of endurance Antonello Coletta told reporters that he hopes organizers will “change the conditions” of the BoP heading into next year.

The Italian manufacturer, which scored a breakthrough victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, failed to win a regular-season WEC race, which all went to Toyota Gazoo Racing.

“In the second part of the season, it has been very critical,” Colletta said.

“I believe it is under the eyes of all the people that the second part of the season [was] not completely [well] managed from the authorities.

“The first part of the season, I believe, has been very positive. The first races, we saw a good battle. In the second part, it has been completely different.

“It’s normal that given the circumstances, it is impossible to change anything today. But I hope that 2024 will be a good season from the first race for all, because we need to have in this championship a good battle between all the manufacturers in all the races.”

Porsche Motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach and GM sports car racing program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser both declined to comment when asked about suggested changes to the BoP process for 2024.

Daniel Lloyd contributed to this report

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