The FIA WEC was in two rude years with Audi, Toyota and Porsche engaged in a wonderful battle in LMP1. The regulations were clear, with Appendix B coping with different amounts of hybrid energy and fuels, while their manufactures were busy developing their own engines, hybrid and aerodynamics.
However, the party ended soon with Nissan pulling out of WEC after 2015. They didn’t have the time and money to develop and compete with the three. Leading FIA WEC promoter Gerard Neveu to suggest that manufactures shouldn’t turn down the budget of €70m, or they won’t be competitive.
Dieselgate followed shortly after Nissan left the sports and both Audi and Porsche pulled out of the sport in 2016 and 2017 respectively. With Toyota being the only hybrid team in 2018, new privateer teams came but to this day, privateer has got only one victory due to both Toyotas being disqualified after the Silverstone race, and right now there is a big performance gap between hybrid and non-hybrid teams in WEC.
2020 Image
It was clear that a new set of regulations had to be created in order to attract more manufactures to the sport, and that work started after the 2018 Le Mans.
At Le Mans, the road map was laid out. All cars will be hybrid, they will be mapped aerodynamically and will resemble to road cars. The privateer cars will no longer be used after 2020.
Minimum weight for cars is raised from 980kg to 1040kg, with weight distribution fixed at 48.5% front. The target of 520kW (697.3 HP) from the rear power-train and 200kW (268.2 HP) from the front MGU-K was also fixed. The rear has been reduced to produce 508kW (681.2 HP) and the front remains at 200kW (268.2 HP). Target lap has been risen to 3m22s instead of manufactures targeting for 3m14s.
Movable aero devices were also announced. There are few loopholes to exploit. The performance parameters are all measured, including power (ICE and MGU-K), aero, weight, tyres, BSFC (Brake Specified Fuel Consumption), weight distribution, suspension as it relates to attitude and aero and control systems. Wiggle room is at a minimum, which means that costs will be kept under control, but some wonder what happened to the concept of innovation. The only likely loopholes are in the measurement process.
The headline points for the new regulations surrounded the phrase "of the make". A power unit, including the MGU-K, that is designed and built by an OEM must be put into a low-volume Hypercar, and 25 must be built by the end of the first year. That rises to 100 by the end of the second year.
Limiting Growth
However, an OEM may have its engine designed and built by an external supplier, leading to certain packaging and weight advantages, although the FIA is confident that it has closed off this loophole. "In the regulations, the first point is that we limited the performance window, and fixed the other elements of the car by templates, and in fact, we tried to limit the effect of research into performance by the limiting of targets for aero and the performance of the power-train," says Pascal Giroud, head of Technical Matters, Sportscars, Touring Cars and Formula E at the FIA.
"The strategy was to fix the performance and control, as well as limit the effect of development for performance. You can work on the aerodynamics, but the result is [you will only gain] 0.1s by lap, so there
will be no interest to work on it."
The problem is, this was where GT3 racing was supposed to go, but soon it changed as manufactures designed EVO cars. The constant bid for evolution will certainly lead the regulations into unintended places, but the FIA’s confident that it has enough restrictions to stop development.
"The level of performance that is fixed by the regulations are relatively easy to achieve, so some manufacturers will of course continue to develop and fine-tune the aero effects, but there will be a limitation for all manufacturers which we will grant [so as] to have the same level of performance for different cars," says Marek Narawecki, who is the head of administration, categories, at the FIA.
Engine weight is limited to 180kg, and BSFC is set artificially high in order to make specifications easy to achieve for a production engine; at 235g/kWh, and then dropping to 225g/kWh for 2022-23 season. But it seems clear that a manufacturer would build a specific race engine, due to packaging and weight advantages. The FIA has tried to mitigate this with a Formula 1-style weight distribution limitation of 48.5 per cent front, with a fudge factor of 1.5 per cent.
"If you start from a production engine, you need to make it reach the level of performance that is capped, so you may need to work on the efficiency side, and when you develop a specific engine, this would be easier to achieve," says Narawecki. The minimum weight of the MGU-K, including the inverter and mechanical diff, may not be less than 50kg, and the total weight of the ERS must be no more than 70kg.
Prepared or Not
No date has been fixed for the homologation period to start, meaning that a manufacturer or a team don’t have to ready their car in time for 2020/21 season.
"We don’t put a restriction on the start of the homologation period,"
"If someone [has] to homologate a car during the season, then it would be possible, as obviously it would be difficult to expect everyone to be ready at the same time.” says Narawecki.
The pit stop regulations will go back to refueling and changing tyres at different times, which has allowed the regulatory bodies to run with leg tunnels in the cockpit, similar to F1, something that slows down the driver changes.
Toyota stated earlier in 2018, it is possible to run such a chassis without the front KERS, should IMSA decide to adopt the same regulations.
Muhammad Humais
Senior Motorsports Reporter, Member news desk.
In his own words, “17-year-old Pakistani Formula One fan and sim racer. Ayrton Senna my inspiration. Dare to be the greatest.”
Humais can be easily reached by the following address:
Gmail: humaismuhammad55@gmail.com
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