"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
06/22/2018 at 07:52 • Filed to: le mans 2018, 24 hours of le mans, WEC 2018, LMP1 2018, lmp1, toyota, rebellion, SMP Racing, bykolles, ginetta, br engineering, dragonspeed
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"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
06/22/2018 at 07:52 • Filed to: le mans 2018, 24 hours of le mans, WEC 2018, LMP1 2018, lmp1, toyota, rebellion, SMP Racing, bykolles, ginetta, br engineering, dragonspeed | 1
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So, there’s a lot of whining as of late about LMP1's Equivalence of Technology, and the unfair results that allegedly came from it.
I’m, quite frankly, sick of it.
Here’s the EoT table that the 24 Hours of Le Mans ran under ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ) :
I think you’ll find that the non-hybrids got 5.1% less weight , 64.1% more fuel per lap, 35% more peak fuel flow, 49.6% more fuel per stint, and 26.3% more fuel rig restrictor area. Additionally, the aero regs are relaxed for them, so they get even further advantage.
Even if you consider the hybrid system’s improvements, if you assume 40% engine efficiency, 95% hybrid efficiency, that’s only an additional 19 MJ/lap of energy that the Toyota gets - nowhere near the 205 MJ/lap that the non-hybrids get.
The upshot? If the Toyota weren’t a hybrid, this would’ve been so much worse for the privateers. If the privateers were hybrids - even with Toyota’s hybrid system paired with their engines - it would’ve similarly been so much worse. Toyota was matching the privateers in straight-line speed with a 200 horsepower deficit (the hybrid system not contributing to power at top speed, only coming out of a corner, to maximize average speed down the straight). Trying to balance that is farcical.
Also, the whole thing about “but the little privateer is getting beaten up by the big evil megacorp !” rings hollow for me. The “little privateer” is always some rich guy blowing his fortune on racing, or it’s a government trying to promote themselves. At least the big megacorp is developing road technology to improve things for everyone... (I’d be far more sympathetic to the privateer argument if it were, say, university teams trying things out in the privateer subclass, but it’s not .)
TheTurbochargedSquirrel
> bhtooefr
06/22/2018 at 07:58 |
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On paper they are equal. The issue is that Toyota gets 1000+ hp out if the corners, that's where they make all their time over the non hybrids.
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bhtooefr
> TheTurbochargedSquirrel
06/22/2018 at 08:05 |
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That’s been nerfed since 2017 at all circuits, 2016 at Le Mans - the Toyota has about 900 hp in practice.
Still gets out of the corners better than the non-hybrids, sure, and that does help. But I really, really don’t think it’s helping as much as people think - again, the top speed is ICE power limited, and Toyota’s hitting similar top speeds to the non-hybrids despite being down 200 hp on them on ICE power.
Chuckles
> bhtooefr
06/22/2018 at 08:41 |
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It will be interesting to see if they make any adjustments for the 2019 race to finish the super season.
Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast
> bhtooefr
06/22/2018 at 09:48 |
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Well, there are BOP adjustments and then there’s outright pace/lap times .
Whatever they did to balance was not enough. Maybe they thought it was, but then Toyota R&D-ed their way around it.
It’s not Toyota’s fault, they are a victim of the weird circumstances of having no competitors last minute . When they go back later this season, it will be interesting to see what ( if anything) happens differently .