LMDh Hypercars head to WEC finale with BoP boost

The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) heads to Bahrain for the final round of 2023, and whilst the new Hypercars have provided a fantastic spectacle, it’s been all LMH spec machines on the top-two steps.

The 8 Hours of Bahrain season closer on November 2-4 is the final time that the FIA and and ACO can tinker with the BoP before an influx of new LMDh manufacturers join the show in 2024.

The LMH spec Toyota GR010 and Ferrari 499P have done all the winning in the WEC’s new powerhouse hypercar category, with the LMDh machines of Porsche and Cadillac left to scrap for the lower podium spots in their first WEC season.

And whilst the AF Corse Ferrari teams have only taken one win from the two Toyota’s – an historic one at that at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – they’ve also left only four podiums on the table for the LMDh teams (Plus Peugeot, the now defunct Glickenhaus, and Vanwall) with Cadillac and Porsche (2) having been there at least once, and never in the same race.

Toyota have anjoyed another dominant year at the top of the WEC hypercar tree. Image: LAT

The final round at Bahrain on November 4 will see the two LMDh teams have their best chance at a win with a BoP weight adjustment coming for the West Asian island race.

Both manufacturers will be relieved of 7kg’s at the Bahrain International Circuit, with the Porsche 963 cars to be lowered to 1030kg, and the V-Series. R American hypercar to 1046 kg, whilst there is only a very minimum power reduction for both.

For the Toyota, Ferrari, and Peugeot LMH spec machines, they will all carry 1080, 1075, and 1041kg’s respectively, with no weight/power adjustment from the 8 Hours of Fuji.

Along with the Porsche 963’s, the Cadillac V-Series hypercars will head to Bahrain with a decent BoP advantage. Image: LAT

British Cadillac driver Richard Westbrook said that the weight reduction and the track will suit the #2 team’s hunt for a second podium, if not a maiden victory.

“It’s always difficult to know if your car is going to be suitable for a particular circuit, because all the circuits we did this year were new for our car,” Westbrook said. 

“But I really think that Bahrain will be good for the Cadillac, there are a lot of slow corners that require good traction. This is one of the car’s strong points. It’s very hard on the tyres, which is a strong point considering how good the Cadillac is with Michelin tyres.”

Urs Kuratle, the director of the Stuttgart based LMDh Porsche program, also feels that they can finish the year on a high.

“I expect us to be at the forefront in Bahrain. In the intense desert heat, tyre management plays a major role,” he explained. 

“We have made considerable progress in this area in recent months. We are well prepared. I am also optimistic that the circuit has almost no bumps and the curbs are relatively flat, which should suit our Porsche 963. We would like to conclude our first season with another podium.”

Next year the WEC will get a raft of new manufacturers joining the grid, all of which will be LMDh spec machines with BMW, Lamborghini, Alpine, Isotta Fraschini, as well as the potential for more Porsche and Cadillac customer cars, whilst 2025 will see the arrival of an LMH Aston Martin machine.

It will be as important as ever to have the BoP suited to the more strictly constructed and homologated LMDh machines come Round 1 at Qatar, with Bahrain to give a good indication (owing also to the similar weather conditions) as to what the relevant BoP’s will be for a potential 30-40 car WEC Hypercar grid where the LMDh machines will be by far the prevalent build.

In the states, the IMSA GTP hypercar class in 2023 was all LMDh machines in what was an incredibly close and even contest over the season, with every manufacturer winning at least one race.

Both Ferrari and Toyota have no plans on expanding in IMSA in 2023, although the crossover will happen eventually, with Aston Martin committing its 2025 LMH Valkyrie hypercar to both IMSA and the WEC.

The battle for the championship comes down to the two Toyota GR010 hypercars this weekend with 15 points between them, with the TGR squad also having sewn up the manufacturers title on their home turf in Fuji.

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