Quote:
Originally Posted by gwyllion
I am a lot more pessimistic for Audi. I suspect that the ERS incentive is still in place, potentially giving Toyota and Porsche a 2 sec performance advantage for free.
On top of that, Audi will have a disadvantage in stint length. In the shorter WEC races, this could mean that Audi has to do a late splash and dash to finish the race.
I hope that I am wrong, but my prediction is still that Toyota will dominate Silverstone and Spa, clearly showing that the rules favor them. And because the EoT only allows for rule changes after Le Mans, Toyota will win Le Mans with little effort.
|
I am not that pessimistic about Audi's chances. Looking at the amount of energy available per lap, the petrol 6 MJ/lap ERS option and the diesel 2 MJ/lap ERS option appear to be on equal footing. As long as Audi can meet their fuel efficiency target, it should be okay for them in terms of lap performance. I strongly doubt that Audi will be up to two seconds per lap slower at LM than the competition.
The big question mark is stint length. It indeed seems that Audi's stints at LM will possibly be one lap shorter than the competition. This stint-length deficit obviously translates into a performance deficit, but this deficit was already pretty obvious in the initial drafts of the rules. I am therefore still a bit surprised to hear Audi "complain" about this stint-length deficit.