New Driver Compensation Ballast Rules Confirmed

The FIA World Endurance Championship has confirmed the introduction of a new system of driver compensation ballast, which will come into affect for this week’s opening round of the season in Qatar.

Announced ahead of the start of free practice for this week’s curtain-raising Qatar 1812km, the new rules aim to eliminate the disadvantage faced by taller, heavier drivers by applying extra ballast to cars whose drivers are lighter than average.

As previously reported by Sportscar365, the reference weight has been set at 82 kg for both the Hypercar and LMGT3 classes, meaning that a crew whose drivers weigh, for example, 70 kg would need to apply an additional 12 kg of ballast.

Driver weights are calculated including full kit, such as the helmet and HANS device, plus the seat insert, with the average rounded to the nearest whole number. Predicted fluctuations of driver weight during a race are taken into account.

The additional ballast must be applied in the designated location or locations, with the car’s homologated weight distribution being respected.

For qualifying and Hyperpole, the ballast to be added to each car is based on an average of only the drivers who are participating in those sessions, with the amount based on the weight of all drivers to be applied for the race and practice sessions.

All drivers in Hypercar and LMGT3 participated in an official weigh-in during last week’s Prologue, but the technical delegates reserve the right to conduct random checks up to one hour before qualifying.

In cases where a driver is found to be below the originally declared weight, an additional ballast penalty will apply.