Peugeot and Ferrari stand to gain the most from the World Endurance Championship’s Balance of Performance changes for its blue riband race.
Two of the cars which are yet to win a WEC round so far this year will be put on a better footing compared to most of their seven rivals in the top Hypercar class.Peugeot can take 18 kilograms out of the 9X8, making it no longer the heaviest car in its class. That’s a significant gain over its rivals, which will be 3kg lighter on average. The 9X8’s 28kg disadvantage to the Porsche 963, which has won two of the three races this year, will be cut to just 5kg.
Peugeot’s power limit below 250kph is unchanged, a net gain as its eight rivals will each have 2kW less on average. However the 9X8s will have 15MJ less energy available per stint, around twice the reduction their competitors will have to cope with.
The team recently said it needs wins to justify its sportscar prototype programme. Although manufacturers are forbidden from mentioning the Balance of Performance regulations under WEC’s rules, Stellantis Motorsport senior vice president Jean-Marc Finot was recently quoted saying the brand “need to win something” to justify its presence in the series and complaining about its weight and power disadvantage compared to its rivals.
Ferrari, who scored their only victory since returning to the WEC last year at Le Mans 12 months ago, also stand to benefit from the latest BoP changes. The 499P will shed 10kg and gain 2kW below 250kph. Like Peugeot, the also face a reduction in their maximum allowed stint energy, which falls by 16MJ.
In a further change for Le Mans, the amount of power available to each car will change at a certain speed, currently set at 250kph. At that point some cars will be permitted more power, others less.
In some cases this may even act to reverse changes made under the BoP. For example Ferrari’s maximum permitted power has increased under 250kph but falls again once they pass that point.
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Weight
Power
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Stint energy
Balance of Performance changes for Le Mans
| Car | Weight change (kg) | Power change (<250) (kW) | Power change (>250) (kW) | Energy change (MJ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine | -7 | -6 | -1.4 | -10 |
| BMW | 1 | -2 | 2.6 | -3 |
| Cadillac | 6 | -7 | -7 | -9 |
| Ferrari | -10 | 2 | -6.6 | -16 |
| Isotta Fraschini | -12 | -5 | -0.4 | -8 |
| Lamborghini | 4 | 5 | -3.3 | -4 |
| Peugeot | -18 | 0 | -3.6 | -15 |
| Porsche | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Toyota | -11 | -7 | -2.4 | -11 |
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World Endurance Championship
- Penske Porsche poised to clinch title after winning incident-packed Fuji Six Hours
- Hyundai to launch hypercar racing programme under Genesis brand
- Court of Appeal rejects Ferrari’s challenge to WEC Six Hours of Spa result
- Kubica, Shwartzman and Ye grab first win ahead of charging Toyota at COTA
- Isotta Fraschini quits World Endurance Championship after five races
Maisch (@maisch)
4th June 2024, 9:28
This BOP thing in WEC that is constantly changing is really putting me off the series, i cant bother following it. But I guess it works for others, it feels very artificial though. It would be far easier to just have all components bar the looks as spec parts.
Dude
4th June 2024, 9:59
I tend to agree sadly – BOP changes seems to be the only WEC thing making news rounds on motorsports sites outside of a given WEC weekend.. maybe I’m on the wrong sites
Imre (@f1mre)
4th June 2024, 12:54
Same for me. It’s a shame, tough. I’d not prefer a spec series either, maybe they could try a budget cap.
MichaelN
4th June 2024, 14:51
That was largely the idea for DPi, but the stock LMP2 cars used as a base for DPi eventually couldn’t keep up with the “minor” manufacturer changes. BoP is necessary to prevent a spending contest.
GeeMac (@geemac)
4th June 2024, 10:26
Congratulations to Ferrari on their second consecutive win at the Le Mans 24 Hours!
Jere (@jerejj)
17th June 2024, 7:26
Your post couldn’t have aged more perfectly.
Ben
4th June 2024, 13:03
Lots of moaning but the races have been miles ahead of F1 in terms of equality and enjoyment this season. Le Mans is set for another epic this year and I’m sure it’ll deliver yet again. Can’t wait!
lynn-m
4th June 2024, 14:00
a non spec series should never feature ‘equality’. especially one that likes to consider itself a top tier world championship.
should be about designing the best chassis and engine & then been able to show you have done a better job than the rest with those who haven’t having to do a better job to catch up.
artificially handicapping those who have done the best job and giving those who haven’t an artificial helping hand just makes the series look like an artificially manipulated show rather than a true sporting contest as this once great series/race used to be.
MichaelN
4th June 2024, 14:47
All of motorsport is a show. And sportscar racing does not have the audience figures to afford F1 levels of spending, so they wisely identified the biggest cost and took it off the board. There are still many other sporting variables that that help determine the race result.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
6th June 2024, 22:33
equality is synonymous with non-self determinism. a politically correct construct used to root out excellence and inspire mediocrity.
(contemporary meaning)
Ronald
5th June 2024, 16:20
Good for you, enjoy.
For me it feels too much like the result is decided by the jury instead of by the teams. For me BoP is the worst of two worlds, not the clarity and equality of a specs serie and not the enjoyment of being sure the winner just did the best job on every aspect of racing.
Tristan
4th June 2024, 13:26
Not winning? Push to do better? Nah, just wait until the rules kick in. Don’t know who likes this motorshow, it’s certainly not a motorsport.
MichaelN
4th June 2024, 14:49
Peugeot overhauled their car considerably for this season.
Just because there is BoP doesn’t mean car development stops.
Tristan
5th June 2024, 6:12
So did Alpine… Doesn’t mean they deserve to do better just because they threw money at the car.
Ben
4th June 2024, 15:05
Moan, moan moan, yet still comment on the article…
Tristan
5th June 2024, 6:12
And? At least I had a point with my moaning, your moaning is just moaning about moaning.
anon
4th June 2024, 15:10
Tristan, all of the manufacturers have been developing their cars over the past few years, and as noted by MichaelN, Peugeot’s car has gone through a major overhaul this year that has completely changed the design concept behind that car.
Peugeot themselves have said pretty openly that there was no point in hoping that the BoP would make them competitive by itself, because it ultimately was not going to do that, and the only way to achieve success was through a major redesign and fundamental rethink of their approach to racing – in other words, doing exactly what you demanded of them in the first place.
The BoP mechanism is intended to be more of a fine tuning mechanism that will only compensate so far – when you look at the results from last year, most would have agreed that Toyota were generally the leading team overall in both terms of design and trackside operations, and that was reflected in them having the most success last year. The ACO, similarly, have made the point that they will only adjust the BoP so far and that teams can’t rely on it to maintain competitiveness.
Tristan
5th June 2024, 6:11
Yet their overhaul did not provide them a competitive car regardless.
floodo1 (@floodo1)
4th June 2024, 14:16
If I wanted close racing I’d watch a spec series
Ben
4th June 2024, 15:06
Zzz go watch another series then and stop commenting if you’re so uninterested.
MarkWebber (@markwebber)
4th June 2024, 23:33
And how about you stop commenting on everyone who rightly complains that Bop ruined Le Mans and is just as much a motorsport as Monster Jam?
Maisch (@maisch)
5th June 2024, 8:54
I would prefer a spec series over this mess, then at least the best team will win. Now its impossible to know if the team have advantageous BOP for that track or are actually being the best.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
6th June 2024, 22:36
all they have to do is stop changing the rules. but then people who offer little value, might lose their jobs… tough ask.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
4th June 2024, 14:18
I hope their drivers won’t turn to desperate maneuvers during the race. Back in 2008, Renault faced similar pressure to secure wins to retain support from their parent company and main sponsors and Flavio resorted to his usual shenanigans to make it happen.
kuvemar
4th June 2024, 16:13
Anyone complaining about BoP hasn’t watched any touring car races in the last 30 years.
Tristan
5th June 2024, 6:13
que? Have and still don’t like it.
I’ll pick the 80’s when the best still engineered their own cars over BoP mess any day of the week.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
4th June 2024, 17:13
We’re complaining about complicated rules in F1 but this BoP thing remains very obscure and fabricated. Not saying it’s not needed or effective, just that it doesn’t look better than the DRS from the outside.
Tristan
5th June 2024, 6:14
I’m amazed at the defense it’s received in this comment section.
MichaelN
5th June 2024, 11:46
The problem with a lot of the BoP complaining is that it is pretending the alternative is realistic.
Sportscars is not going to have a field of 20+ cars in the top class with an open rulebook and a ‘let the biggest spender win’ approach. What it’ll get instead is a race like 2021, with two Toyota LMH cars, one old grandfathered in LMP1 car, and a pair of admirable but ultimately flawed-from-the-start Glickenhaus LMH cars run by a privateer.
BoP isn’t perfect, and in an ideal world it wouldn’t be there, but that’s the choice: 2021 or 2024. It’s an easy one, even with all the caveats.
Tristan
5th June 2024, 12:26
That’s completely wrong though. F1 is showing how a financial cap and smart restriction of development, including standard parts a field can be brought closer together yet still maintain a competitive engineering aspect.
It’s not BoP-or-nothing.