Ford Hit with Weight, Power Adjustments in Le Mans-Specific BoP

Photo: Drew Gibson/Ford

Ford has been hit with a weight increase and power reduction for next month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, following the release of the Balance of Performance tables that’s effective for the Le Mans Test Day on June 4.

The Le Mans-specific BoP, based on the results from last year’s race, sees wholesale changes to the turbocharged Ford GTs, which along with the Ferrari 488 GTEs, dominated the event, with a sweep of the top four positions between the two manufacturers.

The Fords will head to Le Mans with 20kg of additional weight, compared to last year, along with reduced turbo boost pressures across all RPM levels.

It translates to a 15kg weight increase and slight boost reduction from the car’s specification in the opening two rounds of this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship, under the separate automatic BoP system.

While the Ford has been hit with adjustments to weight and power, the Ferrari returns to Le Mans with no BoP changes year-to-year, remaining at a minimum weight of 1268kg and being adjusted back to the same boost levels the Prancing Horses ran at the event last year.

The only change to the Ferrari comes with a reduction in fuel capacity (-2 liters), with cuts also made to the Ford (-3 liters), Aston Martin Vantage GTE (-2 liters) and Corvette C7.R (-1 liter).

The Aston Martin has received a 10kg increase in weight and 0.4mm larger air restrictor compared to last year, with the Corvette, which equally struggled at La Sarthe in 2016, receiving a 0.7mm increase in air restrictor for this year’s race.

Porsche’s new-for-2017 mid-engined 911 RSR, meanwhile, remains essentially at the same BoP levels as its predecessor, except for a 10kg weight increase and slight 0.1mm larger air restrictor. It will have a fuel capacity of 99 liters, 1 liter more than the car from last year.

The FIA has also confirmed the BoP for the GTE-Am class, which sees adjustments in weight and power for all four cars competing in the mixed specification category.

Included are weight adjustments for the 2015-spec rear-engined Porsche 911 RSR (+10kg), Ferrari 488 GTE (-10kg) and 2016-spec Aston Martin Vantage (-5kg), with slight power or restrictor adjustments for all three models as well, compared to the recent WEC round at Spa-Francorchamps.

The GTE-Am class Corvette C7.R, which has not taken part in a WEC race this season, has been set for a 1228kg minimum weight and 29.4mm air restrictor.

It’s understood the FIA can make further adjustments prior to the June 17-18 race, which means the newly released BoP is not yet set in stone.

Two rounds of BoP changes were made last year, one following the test day and another unprecedented adjustment after qualifying, less than 24 hours prior to the race start. 

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