Ford?s return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 50 years since the brand first won the iconic endurance race, could hardly have gotten off to a better start as the GT emerged from qualifying having secured four of the top five positions in the GTE Pro class. Ferrari took third as well as sixth and seventh in the class.
But the teams had barely had a chance to celebrate before the Automobile Club de l?Ouest (ACO), the organizing body that runs the event, announced some significant ?balance of performance? penalties that will see the GTs having to carry 22 pounds of ballast and having their turbo boost levels reduced, while the Ferrari 488 has had 33 pounds added to its minimum weight but has been allowed to keep its engine power unchecked.
Further down the order, the Aston Martin Vantage GTE and the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R?which was reckoned to be the GT?s biggest challenger going into the race?have been allowed to run larger air-restrictor plates, while the Ferrari and the Corvette have been given a 0.5-gallon increase in fuel allowance to try to equalize the ?stint length? of the 8.5-mile circuit to 14 laps. You?ve probably spotted the potentially perverse incentive such a Byzantine system gives for teams to disguise the potential of their cars to improve their performance in the race. While we?re not saying anything of the sort happened, we?ve heard some muttering in the paddock that the Chevrolet?s performance barely improved between practice and qualifying, while the Ford ...