The waiting game
I’ll admit that when I heard Nissan had pulled back their WEC programme to concentrate on Le Mans I felt a bit like a spoilt kid a Christmas who’d gotten a crayon set instead of a Tamiya Lancia Delta Integrale!
But now I have my crayons I’ll put them to good use and be thankful we still have Nissan on board for what could be one of the most revolutionary years in sports car racing for decades. We also have cause to rejoice in the fact that Porsche have undergone aggressive high down-force testing – a contrast to last year’s conservative low-drag approach.
The FIA should also be applauded for setting a ballast requirement for teams fielding drivers below the minimum 80 kg weight requirement. LMP1 entrants must declare the minimum weight of each driver entered. If the average weight of the drivers is 80kg or more no action is necessary. If the average weight of the driver line-up in each LMP1 car is less than 80kg, driver ballast must be added to the car which will equal 80kg minus the actual average weight of the drivers.
The move sends a positive message not only to drivers but also the sport in general. Certainly health issues relating to weight in Formula One have been ignored or left (unfathomably) under the jurisdiction of the teams for too long. Certainly there are even benefits for the proper relocation of ballast, but it has also forced teams to execute a rethink on the spread of their drivers across their entries.
Of course the final piece of the puzzle is yet to be slotted in – that being what Mega Joule class teams will be running.
That will be either have the experts nodding sagely or provide another baffling Ben Bowlby moment.
Trent Price, eRacing editor @realtrentprice