More insight into the BoP debacle

[blacksheep-1]

Sportscar 365 article..

Insight: Why IMSA is Rolling Back its BoP Process for GTD Pro/GTD

IMSA senior technical director Matt Kurdock, VP of competition Simon Hodgson speak on decision to sideline manufacturer-nominated BoP following Daytona...

open.substack.com

 

[Bill Pemberton]

No real surprise Manufacturers tried to fudge the system, and as imperfect as we often feel the BOP is with IMSA, SCCA and others, it sure looks like it needs to stay in the hands of the sanctioning body running a race Series. The changes coming hopefully will make things more equal for the rest of the IMSA race series?

Thanks for posting Mr. Blacksheep.

 

[Dave_W]

So it looks like the Mustang GT3 gets 15 lbs. taken off. The Lexus loses 10 lbs, and all other makes either stay the same or get weight added. The 911 gets a massive 35 lbs. added, but its intake restrictor is opened up an equally huge 3.5 mm. There are some small changes in fuel cell capacity. The Acura, Aston Martin, and McLaren get to use more boost; BMW and Ferrari have boost taken away.

GTD/GTD Pro changes on pages 5 & 6 - notable are weight adjustments and change in expected average engine power (in kilowatts - 1kW = 1.34 HP; the 911 is getting +25.75 HP)

https://www.imsa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2024/03/07/TB-IWSC-24-34-Sebring-12hr-BoP-03072024.pdf

 

[JDee]

I think this is going to fail and things will not change. They've been doing BOP for a long time and it doesn't seem to ever be fair. In competition it is man's nature to do whatever he is allowed to do in order to win. Very few companies take the higher level view that what's good for the series to produce close racing is best, they just want to win every race which makes for a crappy series from a spectator point of view. I always think of Porsche being the worst offender, this goes back to the days of the Penske/Donohue 917KL30's which utterly dominated and then killed CanAm way back in the day.

I think it's impossible to equalize the wide range of car configurations (eg front engine/rear drive, rear engine/rear drive, 2wd, 4wd, etc.) that are in use. It's like herding cats, only worse. BOP seems to be the best way so far to equalize, but it always looks like BOP is too much at the whim of the sanctioning body which leads to suspicions of cheques being passed under the BOP table and the like. They should be more transparent as to why decisions regarding BOP were made and provide the rationale behind the decisions. None of this paper shuffling is good for the series.

Until the ALL of the manufacturers start taking a higher level view and stop thinking about how they can win everything, this will not get better and ultimately will be the end of any series that is not a one make/model series. They need to shift their thinking higher, a series were one make or driver or team continually dominates is doomed.

For sure, 1 make series are the best if you want to equalize the machines. Those series certainly do produce good racing, rarely does anyone run away and hide from the pack and if they do they're likely cheating and will get caught, if the sanctioning body is doing its job. But they are somewhat boring because of the lack of differences between the cars. But what we have now is not satisfying to the masses and that ultimately will kill any series.