With the Le Mans 24 Hours fast approaching, the FIA WEC teams and drivers regroup this week in Portugal for the second round of the season at Portimao. After a landmark 1000-mile race in Sebring last month, the first of the four European races is upon us, with 37 cars on the entry and plenty to play for in each of the three classes in the first six-hour, standard points race of the year.
The Hypercar field is once again 11 cars strong and unchanged from the season opener. The five major factory efforts are all present, along with Glickenhaus and Vanwall’s non-hybrid machines, all keen to build on their performances in Florida.
The biggest question mark for this race is whether or not Toyota will dominate in the race as it did in the opener. In Sebring, the 2023-spec GR010 HYBRIDs were both fast and reliable. That coupled with the team in the garage being the most well-drilled in the field resulted in a rather comfortable win against the new-look field.
Toyota’s biggest threat, if Sebring form was anything to go by, looks most likely to be AF Corse Ferrari in Portugal. The 499P clearly has the pace to contend and proved reliable on such a punishing Sebring circuit.
Currently, all the effort lacks is experience, and that will come, it’s a case of when this outfit will get fully up to speed rather than if. If the team has learned its lessons from the opening round, and can both eliminate its operational mistakes mid-race and get strategy calls correct, then it would surprise nobody to see the ‘Prancing Horse’ finish with more than just a podium finish.
Another unknown here is how the anticipatory BoP, set before Sebring, will affect the performance levels in Portugal. The Balance of Performance values are not expected to be changed until after Le Mans now, so any teams that struggle to find pace may have to simply tough it out.
The BoP change for the next three races is not huge, though notably the Toyotas and Ferraris have been hit with a 9 megajoule reduction in maximum stint energy which should close the performance gap somewhat. The other cars in the field have seen only minor changes.
Should it make a significant difference then it may bring the LMDh Porsches and Cadillac more into play. Both Porsche and Cadillac were not far off challenging for best of the rest behind Toyota in the opener, with the Cadillac looking the better of the two LMDh cars at Sebring on pace. But, there appeared to be a notable gap between the top LMH and LMDh cars.
The Cadillac in particular showed great single-lap pace, but both of the LMDh cars seemed to struggle over a full stint, particularly with tyre wear. Whether or not that’s a factor simply for the Sebring surface remains to be seen. If it closes the field up we could be in with a real treat.
The big unknown from the major OEM pack here is Peugeot. At Sebring its 9X8s had a torrid time, let down by reliability woes and a lack of pace. The cars simply looked unsuited to the Sebring surface, which the team hadn’t tested on prior to the meeting.
This feels like a moment for the programme. If the 9X8s are still uncompetitive on a Portimao circuit which the team has tested on extensively, then alarm bells will have to start ringing.
What we do know is that Peugeot is expected to debut a new hydraulically actuated gearshift this weekend, which one would assume the team tested during its run last week at Paul Ricard. If this solves the team’s recurring gearbox issues then that will be a significant step forward.
As for the non-hybrid cars from Glickenhaus and Vanwall, expectations should be kept low. There are no significant BoP changes in their favour coming and neither car should be expected to be in the mix with the other factory cars. The days of auto-BoP and a will from the organisers to keep the likes of Glickenhaus as close to the Toyotas as possible are very likely over now that Ferrari, Porsche, Cadillac and Peugeot are in the mix.
This shifts the emphasis on finding pace firmly onto the teams themselves, something that will be very challenging with the level of resources available to the teams at this level.
Both teams will be using this as the second of three rehearsals for Le Mans, with Glickenhaus in particular hoping to bounce back from a challenging experience on home soil in March. A broken wire on the ignition let the team’s single 007 down in the race; Jim Glickenhaus and his team will hope that its luck improves for the European leg of the season.
