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Engine tokens and 10MJ hybrids set for 2018 LMP1 rules
New safety implementations and an allowance to run a 10-megajoule energy retrieval package are set to be established in the new technical regulations for LMP1 for 2018.
Sam Smith
Edited: Jun 15, 2016, 1:27 PM
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The 2018-2021 FIA World Endurance Championship draft of regulations are close to completion and are expected to be confirmed shortly.
Discussions between the ACO, FIA and manufacturer teams have been going on for well over a year, and are believed to also include the possibility of a token system being implemented in to the regulations.
The token system was proposed by Toyota in 2015 in order to address cost-saving in the LMP1 class with the motivation to attract potential new manufacturers.
“We are working well on the new regulations and for stability we want to continue the performance development,” Toyota’s Rob Leupen told Motosport.com.
“I think a token system would help the series and help the regulations to be more stable and predictable and to focus on elementary parts. It would help everybody.”
Toyota, which is understood to run its LMP1 programme on a smaller overall budget than rivals Audi and Porsche, wants the token system to be implemented in order to control costs on specific aspects of the car and powertrain.
“We are really keen to keep innovations and freedoms but we want to control costs,” confirmed Toyota’s technical chief Pascal Vasselon to Motorsport.com.
“So we have proposed this principal so we can define which element of the car should have a token and then limit the amount of tokens to be used.
“We think this is an elegant way of reducing the scope of development every year, so the team can still develop and innovate but not produce a different car every year just for the sake of it.”
Motorsport.com understands that the initial resistance by Audi and Porsche to embrace the idea of a token system has cooled in recent months.
An announcement on some aspects of the 2018 regulations is set to be announced shortly.
While Toyota appears to be committed toward the future of the LMP1 class, Audi is yet to publically announce whether or not it will stay beyond 2017 in the FIA WEC.
But it is widely believed that the decision has already been taken by Audi’s Supervisory Board last Spring to continue, as long as it gets parity on aspects of the diesel and petrol engine equivalency.
Additional reporting by Erwin Jaeggi
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