The clock is ticking for the 2016 GTE contenders to ensure their cars for the forthcoming season are ready for the mandatory test session at Michelin’s Ladoux facility in France.
Each manufacturer must provide at least one car for the test in full 2016 specification which must include, for the first time by regulation, the roof mounted extraction hatch and removable seat to assist rescue crews and drivers in an emergency situation.
In addition we are likely to see some variations in the direction that the teams take to the new aerodynamic regulations with some opting to utilise an extended rear diffuser, others a larger than current rear wing.
So where do the contenders currently stand?
Ford
Let’s start with the new addition for 2016, Ford.
The new Ford GT has been busily testing with some blue oval sources suggesting that the car has already posted huge test mileage in testing behind closed doors over a number of months.
The test cars have been seen at both Road America (below) and Sebring in recent weeks running very quick laps with little or no apparent problem.
The car is set to make its competitive debut at the 2016 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona but there is one hurdle to negotiate before it joins the FIA WEC grid.
In order for the car to be homologated for the GTE class Ford need to produce 100 road car versions of the Ford GT – We’re told that will not be a problem (though there is little information on whether the road cars will have been built before Daytona that’s likely to be less of an issue).
Aston Martin
The new Aston Martin Vantage GTE is currently in build at Prodrive’s new HQ and has not therefore yet run. It is likely at present to arrive at ladoux with little more that shakedown mileage completed.
DSC believes that the car will present a very different look to the current version of the V8 powered racer and will bridge the gap likely to 2018 before a new car, based on a yet to be launched new road car model, will be utilised.
Corvette
Corvette Racing will field a revised version of the new for 2015 Corvette C7.R which is likely to be little different in mechanical or visual terms from the current car.
Internally the new car has required a heavily reworked safety cell to accommodate the new roof hatch.
Ferrari
Ferrari’s new contender broke cover over the weekend after shaking down at Adria and testing at Vallelunga (more than 2000 km in the hands of Gimmi Bruni and Davide Rigon). The car has also now tested with Giancarlo Fisichella at the wheel.
Whilst visually not dissimilar to the current Ferrari 458 the new 488 is a fundamentally different car, completely different in a line from the centre of the wheels downwards in aerodynamic terms.
The headline change is from the screaming 4.5 litre V8 power plant of the 458 to a 3.9 litre twin turbo for the 2016 488, the first forced induction factory Ferrari racer since the iconic F40 of the mid 1990s. The new car also switches from a Hewland to an XTrac gearbox.
Another fundamental change to the car is that the GT3 version of the 488 will be derived from the GTE, and not from the one-make ‘Challenge’ version of the car that has been the case with the 458 and earlier 430. That means, we understand, that a 488 GT3 car can be upgraded to GTE specification!
The new Ferraris is also set to debut at Daytona, with Risi Competition already announcing the they intend to campaign a new Ferrari in GTLM in 2016 it looks likely that the long-standing Ferrari squad will get to debut the car.
Porsche
Porsche’s ongoing review of their motorsport programmes has taken another turn in recent weeks.
The factory WEC team was set, we believe, to take a racing sabbatical from GTE next season but that decision has now been reversed with a revised version of the current 911 RSR set to join the fray next season whilst an entirely new car for 2017/ 8 is designed and developed.
That’s likely to be a mid engined car bringing to a halt the Porsche 911’s long, long history of top class GT competition.
The revised car is ready for the Ladoux test after testing for the first time in the early summer.
BMW
BMW are not building a GTE car but ARE developing a car for GTLM in the IMSA series based on their forthcoming M6 GT3 (pictured below). This car will not be eligible for the FIA WEC or for the Le Mans 24 Hours.
The GTLM project timeline was described last month by BMW Motorsport boss Jens Marquardt as “very tight” and indeed DSC understands that this remains the case – BMW still saying though that the project is running “according to our schedule.
That would seem to indicate that rumours suggesting that the BMW will not be at Ladoux are not correct. The project is though still not a done deal with “constructive” discussions with IMSA still not concluded.
