INSIGHT: Navigating the LMP1 rule changes

Wednesday, 06 September 2017


By Stephen Kilbey / Images by JEP/LAT

When the FIA and ACO announced major changes to the FIA WEC calendar last week, it also revealed a renewed direction that the LMP1 division will take until 2020.

Despite speculation as to whether the IMSA DPi formula would find come into play, LMP1 hybrids and non-hybrids will form a single LMP1 division that allows for manufacturer involvement in either camp.


Additionally, the perimeters for LMP1 chassis have been relaxed, effectively allowing LMP2 cars to be re-engineered to meet LMP1 regulations, and house any engine that fits into the rulebook.
It's a similar solution to DPi in some senses, although there's a key difference: LMP2 and LMP1 cars will be separate, with a similar performance gap to the current rule-set, and a clear divide between the Pro and Pro/Am formula, with Bronze-graded drivers unable to compete at the top level.
It creates an interesting set of questions about the future of hybrid and non-hybrid competition at that level, starting with whether or not LMP2 will suffer a max exodus of teams wanting to use modified versions of their current machinery in LMP1; whether the other LMP1 constructors – like Ginetta and Dallara – can still therefore sell cars; and, importantly, how it affects the factories, who will have to decide whether the extra budget required to go hybrid racing holds the same value that it has for the past few years.
RACER collected a selection of reactions from a number of key players in and around the FIA WEC paddock who are now in a race against time to consider their position for the upcoming 'Super Season.'
In the LMP1 hybrid ranks, Toyota has yet to decide whether or not to continue its program into next year, despite its original commitment – like Porsche's – to race until 2019. Peugeot meanwhile, is known to be taking a serious look at a return to the class, after it ceased its previous effort at the dawn of the FIA WEC era in 2012.
Toyota clearly favors a short program in 2018, with sources suggesting it intended to compete in no more than three races (Spa, Le Mans and Fuji) before the transitional arrangements were made public.
Consequently, the ACO and WEC's insistence that Toyota would have to contest a full WEC season in 2018/19 in order to be allowed to race at Le Mans clearly came as a surprise to the Toyota camp, which immediately switched from offering some guidance on its future direction to a blunt statement that "a decision and an announcement will be made in October."
And continuing the theme of uncertainty for the months ahead, head of Peugeot Sport Bruno Famin made it clear that the French constructor still hasn't made a firm decision about a potential program despite further developments on cost reductions, which it had always pointed to as a barrier for entry.
"Nothing's changed: We have not taken any decision yet," he told French newspaper Ouest France. "Porsche's decision to stop its endurance prototype program is both a threat and an opportunity for us. We are looking at three competitions: endurance racing, rallycross and rally-raid. Everything is being looked at. I really can't tell you today what we will be doing after the Dakar 2018.
"Endurance racing is Peugeot and [PSA Peugeot Citroen chairman] Carlos Tavares's Plan A. With that said, it would not be impossible for us to manage a development program in endurance racing while racing rallycross and rally-raid cars."
Then there's the current list of potential privateers who are set to make up much of the numbers for the coming years.
SMP Racing, and its BR-Engineering/Dallara/ART Grand Prix program is progressing as planned, with the car set to go testing imminently. RACER believes the current plan is for a two-car, AER-engined full WEC program with customer cars to be made available.