In-Season Evo Jokers Likely to Be Outlawed

The introduction of mid-season Evo jokers in the FIA World Endurance Championship is likely to be banned for the 2025 season, Sportscar365 understands.

If confirmed, the rule would mean Hypercar manufacturers would only be able to introduce updates to their cars for the first round of the season in Qatar in February, or else race for the entire season with no changes compared to the 2024 campaign.

There have been multiple examples of manufacturers deploying Evo jokers in-season this year, or at least considering their use, most notably Peugeot with its overhaul of the 9X8 that was introduced for the second round of the campaign at Imola in April.

Ferrari also brought in an update to the 499P for the fifth round of the season at Sao Paulo in July, while Porsche also evaluated using one of its five allocated tokens to update the 963’s crankshaft before finally opting against doing so.

Although multiple paddock sources have indicated that the rule outlawing in-season updates is all but certain to be implemented for 2025, a spokesperson for the FIA said that no final decision had been made when contacted by Sportscar365.

Peugeot Sport technical director Olivier Jansonnie also said that the matter had not been resolved when speaking to reporters ahead of last weekend’s season finale in Bahrain. 

“This is not super-clear, even to us now,” he said when asked whether he expected in-season Evo jokers to be banned. 

“There will be decisions made in the next weeks as to what is actually allowed, and we will discuss it with the ACO and FIA. Our plan [for upgrades] will depend on that.” 

Janssonie had previously stated that Peugeot could go into 2025 with a further evolution of the 9X8 following a disappointing season, although the French marque won’t take any final decisions until it concludes its post-season testing program.

Porsche meanwhile revealed during the Bahrain finale that it plans to use the second of its five permitted Evo jokers for the start of 2025.

Ferrari has stated it will go into the new campaign with no further changes to the 499P, while Toyota has refused to divulge its plans for the evolution of the GR010 Hybrid, although it is known to have used at least one joker over the car’s lifespan so far.

It’s understood that one of the reasons that the idea of banning in-season Evo jokers has come up is a desire to simplify the Balance of Performance process, as significant updates such as the revised Peugeot 9X8 require a fresh set of starting parameters.

Further complicating the situation is the fact that the Sauber wind tunnel that the FIA has used to homologate LMH designs and LMDh cars in the WEC is currently out of use due to renovations, with no clear timeline established for its return to availability.

It means that all Hypercar teams must use the Windshear wind tunnel in North Carolina that is normally used for IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship homologations.

The decision, revealed ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June, to extend the lifespan of the Hypercar ruleset for a further two years to 2029 was accompanied by confirmation that manufacturers would be granted two further jokers for use in 2028 and ‘29.