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For many decades, the inclusion of Grand Touring sportscars has been an integral part of major endurance racing events across the globe, most notably the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Competitors and fans have benefited from the high performing, evocative sights and sounds of marques such as Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford and Porsche.
These GTE cars are based on production models, and are fundamentally different from each other. To create a more level playing field for competition, regulators have the ability to apply fine adjustments in the performance of individual cars to allow each model to be competitive.
The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) and the GTE Manufacturers entered in the FIA World Endurance Championship have now agreed upon a plan for the governance of Balance of Performance (BOP). An innovative and ground-breaking automatic system will be introduced from the opening round of the 2017 season, the 6 Hours of Silverstone.
Adjustments to the balance of performance for cars entered in the LMGTE Pro category during the season will now be made automatically after certain rounds, according to evaluation criteria defined and agreed by all parties before the start of the season.
A calculation tool has been created which will allow the targets for balancing the different car models to be met, without human interpretation or decision-making, and using mathematical formulas based on the quantified, public, specific, measured data obtained during each race. More specific details can be found in the attached document which was jointly prepared by the FIA and ACO.
This new system will be applicable for all rounds of the 2017 WEC except for the 24 Hours of Le Mans which will be treated separately. It will only be used for the manufacturers in the LMGTE Pro class, and the same system used up until 2016 will be applied to the LMGTE Am competitors.
The manufacturers and regulators have decided not to make the first adjustments until after the first two races so as not to over-react. It has therefore been agreed that the first adjustments will be calculated after Spa, applicable for Round 4, the 6 Hours of Nürburgring.
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