Рубрика: Sportscars NEWS

Ferrari, Toyota receive biggest BoP breaks for WEC’s Imola round


The Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar will race at a minimum weight of 1041kg, 34kg below the figure at which it competed in the WEC curtain-raiser in Qatar last month, and has had maximum power raised by 7kW (9bhp). 

Toyota’s GR010 HYBRID LMH has lost 29kg and gained 6kW in the table issued by the FIA WEC Committee. 

All nine models competing in the Hypercar class of the WEC will be lighter and run more power power in Sunday’s Imola 6 Hours than in the Qatar 1812Km on 2 March with the exception of the rehomologated Peugeot 9X8 LMH. 

The Porsche 963 LMDh that blocked out the podium positions in Qatar has a minimum weight reduced by 15kg and also a power increase of 3kW. 

The third biggest weight reduction is for the Alpine A424 LMDh on 28kg, closely followed by Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 Competizioni LMH and the BMW M Hybrid LMDh on 27kg and 25kg respectively. 

Cadillac has received the smallest reduction in weight, a 2kg drop to bring it down to the 1030kg class minimum. 

But its V-Series LMDh has been given the biggest increase in power with a 18kW (24bhp) addition.

The heavily-revised Peugeot, now known as the 9X8 2024, will race at 1061kg, 31kg above the weight of the old car at Qatar, and at 510kW maximum power rather than 520kW (683bhp compared with 697bhp). 

The deployment speed of the front-axle hybrid system for the Peugeot is now 190km/h, the same as for the other LMHs. 

This follows the French manufacturer’s switch to 29cm-wide front tyres and 34cm rears from the 31cm all-round of the original version of the 9X8.

No explanation, as is normal on the publication of the BoP table before each WEC race, has been given for the changes. 

The across-the-board weight reductions and power increases are likely the result of the differing track characteristics of the Autodromo Internationale Enzo e Dino Ferrari at Imola and Qatar’s Losail International Circuit. 

Introduction of the so-called “power gain” component of the BoP, devised to level the speeds of the Hypercars in a straightline, has been delayed. 

A plus or minus figure will be applied to the maximum power of each car above 210km/h (130mph) to more accurately match their acceleration and top speeds.

Power gain was trialled by some manufacturers during the pre-Qatar Prologue test. 

The Imola BoP table for the new-for-2024 LMGT3 has also been published. 

Aston Martin faces the biggest change on its pair of evolution Vantage GT3s. 

Minimum weight of the car that finished second and third in Qatar has been reduced by 12kg, but it has received a power hit. 

Manufacturers declare a power curve on the homologation of the car and a further 14 curves, with power reduced in one percent increments, are then set. 

The Aston will race at wthe lowest possible power, listed in the table as P15, in Italy. 

Power gain above 200km/h (124mph) is already in force in LMGT3. 



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Gounon replaces Habsburg for Alpine Hypercar debut at Imola’s WEC round


The two-time GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup title winner with Mercedes takes Habsburg’s seat in the French manufacturer’s #35 A424 LMDh alongside Charles Milesi and Paul-Loup in his role as official reserve for the Signatech-run Alpine Endurance Team.

Habsburg has been ruled out for at least the second round of the 2024 WEC after sustaining two fractured vertebrae during an endurance test with Alpine at the Aragon ciruit at the end of March.

Alpine team principal Philippe Sinault said: “It’s never easy to make your debut in such a context, but Jules was identified, selected and signed to fill this role, even though we never imagined it would happen so early like this.

“He’s fundamentally ready but still has much to learn, even if he has already demonstrated his mastery of several aspects, given his track record in GT [racing].

“We honed his preparation during our latest tests with his six team-mates and then in the simulator to prepare him for all our processes.”

Sinault added that Habsburg would “be in our minds” and that his absence is “a hard blow”.

Alpine has given no indication of whether Habsburg will be fit in time for round three of the WEC at Spa on 11 May.

The two fractured lumbar vertebrae were sustained when Habsburg crashed at Turn 7 at MotorLand Aragon for reasons that have so far not been disclosed by Alpine.

#35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg-Lothringen, Charles Milesi

#35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg-Lothringen, Charles Milesi

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

The injuries were only diagnosed after Habsburg had returned to his native Austria, despite undergoing checks in the local hospital in Alcaniz.

Gounon, 29, has been a factory sportscar driver since he began a three-year stint at Bentley prior to joining the Mercedes-AMG GT3 roster in 2021.

But Imola will be his first race at the wheel of a prototype.

Alpine said in its pre-race statement that its mission over the weekend of the Imola 6 Hours will be “to gather as much data as possible”.

“Our goal at Imola is to continue our learning process to be increasingly ready and gain momentum for the forthcoming races,” explained Sinault.

“We’ll discover a circuit quite different from what we’ve experienced since the first runs of the A424.”

Habsburg, Milesi and Chatin took points for Alpine on the debut of the A424 developed in conjunction with French constructor ORECA in the Qatar 1812Km at the beginning of March.



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Ex-F1 racer Pirro makes motorbike racing debut


The 62-year-old Italian contested the Hailwood Trophy for 250cc and 350cc two-stroke grand prix and Formula 750 motorcycles that raced up to 1983. He qualified the Michael Russell-entered Yamaha TZ250 20th in the 34-bike field, 9.7 seconds off pole.

The Italian, who recently left his role managing the McLaren young driver programme, ran 20th in race one on Saturday prior to a red flag when Alan Cathcart fell. Pirro lost places after the restart, but moved forward as his pace improved. He crossed the line 18th overall, 10th in class.

“Every metre I’m learning something,” said Pirro, who started 37 world championship Formula 1 races between 1989 and 1991. “It’s incredibly exciting. I’ve never ridden with people around me so I was a bit nervous at the start.

“I had massive respect for riders before doing it and now I have even more.”

The tightly contested race was won by Phil Atkinson’s Yamaha as the top three were covered by just 0.423s in a dash to the line.

Pirro is scheduled to contest the second, seven-lap, race on Sunday morning. The overall results will be decided by an aggregate of the two heats.

Most of the races for the 81st MM take place on Sunday. Three-time Le Mans class winner Darren Turner qualified on pole for the Ken Miles Cup for Ford Mustangs in Craig Davies’ example, against a quality field that includes Andrew Jordan, Rob Huff, Gordon Shedden, Jake Hill and Dario Franchitti.

Alex Buncombe will start the Graham Hill Trophy for pre-1967 closed-cockpit GTs and prototypes from pole in an AC Cobra.

Gerhard Berger driving the Ferrari 640 in period

Gerhard Berger driving the Ferrari 640 in period

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Ten-time grand prix winner Gerhard Berger also demonstrated the Ferrari 640 he used in six F1 races in 1989.

“When we finished, we finished in good positions, but we didn’t usually finish!” said the 64-year-old Austrian, who only saw the chequered flag three times in his 15 starts in 1989 but did win the Portuguese GP at Estoril.

Niki Lauda’s career is also being celebrated at Goodwood, with Chris Goodwin demonstrating the McLaren MP4/2B that the Austrian drove in his final F1 season in 1985.



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Gradient replaces Legge with McAleer for rest of 2024 season



The team revealed the driver change on social media, with McAleer stepping up to full-time GTD running alongside co-driver Sheena Monk in the Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 beginning on the upcoming Streets of Long Beach April 19-20.

McAleer was part of the Gradient’s effort as an endurance co-driver for the Daytona 24 Hours in January. In 2022, McAleer’s only previous full-time campaign in GTD, he finished third in the championship while driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3 for Team Korthoff Motorsports.

 

The switch comes after Gradient suffered finishes of 19th and 17th – suffering incidents in both – and currently standing 23rd in the standings.

Although a reason for replacing Legge was not provided by Gradient, the decision for the change comes 24 hours after she was confirmed for an Indianapolis 500 effort by Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing.

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Vettel impressed Porsche in 963 test but no Le Mans decision yet


Vettel completed almost two grand prix distances over four stints in Porsche Penske Motorsport’s 963 hypercar in testing at Aragon in Spain, logging 118 laps in its major pre-Le Mans, 36-hour endurance test.

Porsche’s director of factory racing, Urs Kuratle, remarked that Vettel “mastered it extremely well”.

“Sebastian certainly doesn’t have to prove that he can drive a car,» Kuratle told Motorsport.com’s sister site, Motorsport-Total.com. “He had a certain amount of respect for the unknown car but handled it very well.”

Kuratle knows Vettel from their days together at BMW-Sauber in Formula 1 in 2007: “He is still the same Sebastian, who really gets his teeth into these kinds of things. It was really a refreshing experience to learn about his impressions.

“Even for a four-time Formula 1 world champion, there were so many new things to deal with: a new team and a fairly complex car. He mastered it extremely well.”

Vettel has not taken part in any competitive racing since leaving F1, although he is understood to have been in preliminary talks last year with Porsche customer squad Jota for a World Endurance Championship programme.

Porsche will enter a third factory car at Le Mans to boost its chances, having taken pole position, victory and a double podium finish in the inaugural round of the 2024 WEC season in Qatar.

Porsche’s WEC star Kevin Estre said of Vettel’s approach to the test run: “He was definitely motivated. I saw him briefly before I got in and he was talking to the engineer, looking at the telemetry and hanging on the radio. He wanted to know everything. He did his job.”

Sebastian Vettel tests the Porsche 963

Sebastian Vettel tests the Porsche 963

Photo by: Porsche Motorsport

Vettel has also been linked with an F1 comeback next year, most notably after a media tour last week to promote a sports drink, when he said it “might be appealing and interesting”.

“He’s talking to various people; we only read about it in the press,» added Kuratle of the speculation. “Nothing has been decided yet about what he will do, when he will drive or whether he will drive for us in the future.

“That will only become clear in the next few days or weeks. There is not even a date yet when it will be decided what, how and where he will drive.”

Porsche has until 19 May to name its drivers for Le Mans and only Mathieu Jaminet has been named in the #4 PPM hypercar entry, with its other IMSA drivers eager to take the vacant spots. 

Vettel was joined in the test by regular WEC drivers Estre, Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor – along with reigning DTM champion Thomas Preining.

“We always look for the best possible solution for the company, for the team, and we have many drivers,” said Kuratle. “I personally believe that we have the ten best drivers in sports car racing. That’s more than enough to have three cars [with three drivers each] at Le Mans.”

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Vasser Sullivan fielding two GTD entries for Long Beach



With the GTD Pro category not competing at the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit, Vasser Sullivan opted to adjust its driver lineup for the pair of Lexus RC F GT3 machines.

Jack Hawksworth, fresh off a win at the Twelve Hours of Sebring and a win last year in Long Beach in GTD Pro, will co-drive the No. 12 entry with Frankie Montecalvo for this year’s Long Beach event.

Meanwhile, the No. 89 entry will be piloted by Parker Thompson and Ben Barnicoat, who is also coming off the GTD Pro win at Sebring and co-drove to a win with Hawksworth last year at Long Beach.

“The Long Beach Grand Prix is quite simply ‘special’ for our team and Lexus,” Team Principals Jimmy Vasser and James ‘Sulli’ Sullivan said, via a team statement.

“We are coming to Long Beach with one expectation…to win again. Pairing Frankie and Jack in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, alongside Ben and Parker in the No. 89 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, gives us the best shot at that.”

 

This concept for non-GTD Pro rounds is something Vasser Sullivan have done in the past. In 2022, for rounds at Mid-Ohio and Detroit, Vasser Sullivan opted to field two GTD entries, which saw Barnicoat joined by Kyle Kirkwood as the pair claimed victory at Belle Isle.

“We’re excited to return to the streets of Long Beach and honored to have Vasser Sullivan run a second GTD entry alongside the Vasser Sullivan No. 12 RC F GT3,” said Jeff Bal, Senior Manager of Motorsports for Lexus.

“As a tribute to the year Lexus entered the U.S. luxury automotive race, the team will run the number 89 alongside the 12 as a nod to 35 years here in the U.S. Since 1989, Lexus has built a reputation on unprecedented quality and reliability along with consistently delivering an industry leading guest experience, shaping the luxury industry to where it is today. ‘No best, only better’ is present everywhere within Lexus, and the same is true when it comes to racing.”

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Team manager dies in paddock incident in Barcelona


Amid preparations for the opening round of the season, Gerhard Freundorfer was involved in a fatal incident with one of the Proton Huber trucks in the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya paddock on Tuesday.

Although the circuit medical staff were quickly able to attend to Freundorfer, he succumbed to the injuries and was declared dead.

No further information has been made available by the Le Mans Cup, Barcelona or the European Le Mans Series, which is also holding its first race of 2024 at the Spanish venue this weekend.

«On behalf of the Circuit we deeply regret this accident and would like to extend our deepest condolences to Gerhard’s family, friends and the entire paddock of the European Le Mans Series,» said Josep Lluís Santamaría, the managing director of Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, added: “This morning we woke to the news of the death of Gerhard Freundorfer, which has saddened everyone involved in endurance racing. 

Frédéric Lequien, CEO of Le Mans Endurance Management, added: “On behalf of the whole endurance family I would like to extend all of our deepest condolences to the family of Gerhard Freundorfer, especially to his wife Karola, and the Proton Huber Competition team. This is a very sad day for the endurance family.”

“Gerhard was a member of the endurance family, and he will be sadly missed by all. I wish to extend the condolences of everyone at the ACO to Gerhard’s family and friends.”

#93 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR - 19: Michael Fassbender, Martin Rump, Richard Lietz

#93 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR — 19: Michael Fassbender, Martin Rump, Richard Lietz

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Proton Huber had entered a single Porsche 911 GT3 R for Jorg Dreiso and Manuel Lauck in the GT3 class for the 2024 Le Mans Cup.

A joint venture between the eponymous squads of long-time World Endurance Championship driver/team owner Christian Ried and veteran team boss Christopher Huber, the German-based operation was launched at the start of this year to compete in Porsche one-make series.

The collaboration was eventually extended to other series including the Michelin-backed Le Mans Cup, which runs most of its six rounds as part of the support bill for the ELMS.

The series also hosts a pair of 55-minute races on the undercard for the Le Mans 24 Hours at the Circuit de la Sarthe every year.

No changes are expected to be made to the programme for this weekend’s 4 Hours of Barcelona, which also includes races in the Le Mans Cup, Ligier Euro Series and Porsche Carrera Cup France categories.

Additional reporting by Mario Galan



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Alpine WEC driver Habsburg suffers fractures in testing crash



Habsburg was among a number of Alpine drivers testing the Alpine A424 LMDh car at Aragon on 27 March when he suffered a crash at Turn 7, prompting a visit to a nearby hospital for check-ups.

After returning to his home country of Austria the following day, he underwent further scans that revealed the full extent of his back injuries — although the doctors concluded that there was no neurological impact from the incident.

The 26-year-old has begun his recovery treatment, but it remains unclear if he will be fit enough to take part in the 6 Hours of Imola on 21 April.

Should the Austrian driver be unable to race in Italy, Alpine could call in factory Mercedes racer Jules Gounon, who was announced as its reserve driver in February this year.

“On the afternoon of March 27, 2024, during the A424 test session in Motorland (Aragon), driver Ferdinand Habsburg had an accident at Turn 7,” Alpine said in a statement issued to Motorsport.com.

“The cause of the accident is currently under investigation.

“Ferdinand was taken to the hospital in Alcaniz for examinations and was discharged in the evening.

“The next day, he was repatriated to Austria, where he underwent further examinations. Ferdinand suffers from two fractured lumbar vertebrae, with no neurological impact.

“He is beginning his recovery, the duration of which has not yet been defined. It will determine its participation in the next round of the FIA WEC at Imola.

“Alpine gives Ferdinand its full support and wishes him the best and quickest recovery.”

Habsburg’s crash follows an impressive start to Alpine’s LMDh programme in the Qatar 1812Km, where the #35 A424 he shared with Paul-Loup Chatin and Charles Milesi picked up a solid haul of points in seventh after the disqualification of the #2 Chip Ganassi Cadillac V-Series.R.

The sister #36 entry crewed by Mick Schumacher, Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere finished on the cusp of points in 11th.

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Cadillac confirms two-driver Hypercar line-up as Imola WEC entry list announced


Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn will drive the Ganassi-run #2 Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh as a duo in this month’s Imola 6 Hours, round two of the 2024 WEC.

Final confirmation of an arrangement that bucks the trend of running three drivers in all races in Hypercar, as well as in LMP1 before it, came on Tuesday with the publication of the entry list for the Italian WEC round on 21 April.

Team founder Chip Ganassi outlined to Motorsport.com at the Daytona 24 Hours IMSA SportsCar Championship season-opener in January an intent to run just two drivers in the Cadillac Racing WEC entry in the shorter races.

He stated a desire on the part of the team to “keep it simple”.

Stephan Mitas, team principal of the German-based Ganassi WEC operation, subsequently elaborated on the plan.

“Over a six-hour race there are some performance benefits to be had,” he explained. “It’s more prep time through free practice, and then over the course of the race, two drivers is a performance gain.”

Officially, however, Cadillac had remained non-committal on plans to run just two drivers in the five six-hour races on the WEC schedule.

#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Sebastien Bourdais

#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Sebastien Bourdais

Photo by: Shameem Fahath

The General Motors brand stated on the announcement that Sebastien Bourdais would be joining Bamber and Lynn for last month’s Qatar 1812Km 10-hour WEC curtain-raiser that the regular duo would be “complemented” by the Frenchman and his full-season IMSA team-mate Renger van der Zande, as well as “select Chip Ganassi Racing team-mates” through the season.

It added that the team would “confirm the third driver ahead of certain endurance races”.

Laura Wontrop Klauser, road racing boss at Cadillac’s parent company General Motors, also stated that the full driver line-up in the WEC V-Series.R will only be confirmed ahead of each race.

Cadillac subsequently announced that IndyCar star Alex Palou will be joining Bamber and Lynn in the vacant seat in the #2 car for the Le Mans 24 Hours WEC round in June.

Scott Dixon will team up with Bourdais and van der Zande in the additional Ganassi entry for Le Mans as part of his continuing role with the team for the long-distance IMSA races.

Cadillac is heading into the Imola race after its disqualification last week from fourth place in Qatar for homologation irregularities.

This will be the final season of the Cadillac/Ganassi partnership in sportscars.

Ganassi revealed last month that a relationship that began in 2021 in IMSA will be ending at the conclusion of the season.

The driver line-ups in the rest of the 37-car WEC entry for Imola remains unchanged from Qatar.

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