Ford GT hit with weight increase & significant power reduction for Le Mans


dbk

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http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...ease-power-reduction-in-le-mans-specific-bop/

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 for the French endurance classic...

https://www.motorsport.com/lemans/news/ford-bop-le-mans-performance-909715/

The performance of the Ford GT has been pegged back ahead of the test day for the Le Mans 24 Hours at the start of next month. Ford, which won the GTE Pro class at Le Mans last year, has received a double hit in the pre-test Balance of Performance, while rivals Aston Martin and Chevrolet have been given performance breaks...

Firstly, the Le Mans BoP is independent from what the cars have been running in the WEC thus far this year, so do not compare to Silverstone or Spa.

The GT was given an extra 20kg (1268kg) and has a revised boost curve, which is funny given that there were times the car was already running with the waste gates wide open.

Ferrari 488 is unchanged.

911 RSR starts at 1258 kg.

Corvette and Aston Martin have each been given substantial increases in restrictor size so they will have significant power gains.

I talked to some people right after it came out and optimism is in short supply. It's going to be a lot to overcome. Guess we'll find out soon!
 

dbk

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Weights

Aston Martin - 1193 kg
Corvette C7R - 1243 kg
911 RSR - 1258 kg
Ferrari 488 - 1268 kg
Ford GT - 1268 kg

Fuel Capacity

Aston Martin - 100 L
911 RSR - 99 L
Ford GT - 95 L
Corvette C7R - 94 L
Ferrari 488 - 88 L

Boost Pressures

Ferrari has a comical power advantage amongst the turbocharged cars. The 488 has just been returned to last years LM boost levels. GT has had it's boost reduced everywhere.

bop.jpg
 

RickH

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Unfortunate racing political correctness.
 

BtwoG

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The street car is faster.:willy
 

soroush

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and I didn't even take 4 years this time....
 

texas mongrel

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So, we just need our drivers to each shed 165lbs and we'll be with the Astons! That is a crazy differential to overcome, only slight glow of optimism is the GT's fual capacity, all other things being equal, it doesn't look good for our team.
 

Sinovac

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and I didn't even take 4 years this time....

Exactly. This is one of many reasons I give Ford major credit for committing to a 4 year race program. Everyone knew going in this was in the cards when you bring a gun to a knife fight.

No matter. Everyone will understand the real reason behind any uncompetiveness in the GT.
 

Vince H

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There is nothing "balanced" about this. It's manipulation from the organizers to give the illusion of equality. I understand that Ford knew what they were getting themselves into when they agreed to race but to tie both hands behind their back . . . . . . Come on!

"The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal." - Aristotle

Vince H
 

07XL0027

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There is nothing "balanced" about this. It's manipulation from the organizers to give the illusion of equality. I understand that Ford knew what they were getting themselves into when they agreed to race but to tie both hands behind their back . . . . . . Come on!

"The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal." - Aristotle

Vince H

+1


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PeteK

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I know Ford committed to a 4 year race program, but they might consider boycotting this race in protest. BOP is just too subjective.
 

PeteK

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Or, here's another idea: Enter a F150 Raptor instead of the FGT, and force everyone else's BOP down to "make it competitive." :rofl
 

Joe Dozzo

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We'll really only know on race day. And as much as i want Ford to win, I'd also like to see a really competitive race and - like it or not - last year's LeMans wasn't, not really...
 

dbk

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I'm actually fine with the disadvantage. Not "fine" but I like it for what it proves. I would just like them to make it clear what the actual numbers mean. Everyone knows what weight means; show us the power levels the cars run with. They obviously don't want to broadcast that information for a reason.

Someone will have to double check my math, but it would appear that the GT makes between 3-4 PSI less at almost all times than the Ferrari, on a smaller displacement engine. This is a serious horsepower disparity. Is it 50 hp? Less? More? How does this compare with the post-BoP N/A powertrains? Either way, it's a lot less, so the GT gets to say "they've made us the heaviest car with the least power in an effort to make things competitive."

My only concern is that they've swung the pendulum way too far. That is what people have told me.
 

dbk

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We'll really only know on race day. And as much as i want Ford to win, I'd also like to see a really competitive race and - like it or not - last year's LeMans wasn't, not really...

Really only because both AF Corse cars conked out. Who knows what would have happened had they stayed alive. Vilander was well within striking distance to win before he spun, so the 488 had plenty of speed.
 

Joe Dozzo

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True. But also true best Aston-Martin was 2 laps back and best Corvette was 4 laps back.

I remember the angst last year and all thought the Ford's were to heavily penalized or didn't play the politics to their best advantage. And STILL won taking 3 of 4 top spots.

Makes for interesting discussions before, during and after the race.
 

PeteK

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That much boost reduction is crippling. You could get within 10 HP estimate by using some complex engine modeling software, but what effect that will have at the track will only be revealed at the track. The drivers will adjust their style and lines to compensate for the changes, and modeling won't account for that.

Can Ford change the the mechanical compression and cam timing of the engine to compensate for the reduced boost? If the rules don't prohibit that, they can get back a little of the power loss.
 

nota4re

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I agree with everyone else in that appears that the BoP process has gone too far. The irony here, however, is that as great as an achievement as it was for Ford to come back to LeMans and win.... we cannot at the same time choose to say that this feat was as great as the (balls to the wall) wins in the 60's and to simultaneously acknowledge that too much of the ability to win is in the hands of those that control the BoP. In turn, this is precisely saying that those that control the BoP can control the outcomes and if we go down this path, we can see that the NFGT win last year was completely engineered. There can be no doubt that the resurrection of the rivalries has been a boon to the sport. Not trying to say things between the line here - just saying that BoP - at this level of granularity substantially detracts from teams showing us the art of the possible.... as it was in the 60's.
 

dbk

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I was unaware any of the preceding posts were about the 1960s.
 

STORMCAT

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well.. not the news we like to hear but I'm still going and flying my Ford Colors !! And as we all know you have to run the race, it's long , punishing and there is racer's luck so let's stay optimistic !!
 

fjpikul

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I'm sure Ford has some time to hire a few unemployed Volkswagen software engineers.