GT1 World

FIA GT1 and GT3 technical and BoP decisions for Brno

In between the Silverstone and Brno rounds of the FIA GT1 World Championship and FIA GT3 European Championship the FIA announced several decisions regarding the Balance of Performance of the GT cars and requests to alter cars, as well as success ballast.

After the Silverstone round the following cars will get success ballast for the races at Brno: #7 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin DBR9 +40 kg, #22 Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R +30 kg, #9 Hexis AMR Aston Martin DBR9 +20 kg and #25 Reiter Lamborghini Murcielago +10 kg.

In FIA GT1 the Balance of Performance adjustments per manufacturer/make are:

Aston Martin DBR9

Decision 1 was the removal of 20 kg from the minimum weight of the car, which was 1200 kg. The total is now 1180 kg. It was also decided that the two restrictors can be reduced from 31.2 mm to a maximum diameter of 30.8 mm.

As specified by Article 87 b) of the Sporting Regulations, any decision concerning the changing of the size of the air
restrictors must be notified by the Committee to the competitor at the latest 2 weeks before the date of the event
concerned. As the decision was announced on May 7th this was only 13 days before the event. Should it prove impossible to change the restrictors’ size, the minimum weight of the car will apply (1200 kg) and the current size of the restrictors will be kept (31.2mm) for the Brno event only.

Aston Martin Racing also made two requests to improve the reliability of the car. The request were 1) to machine clearance pockets in the upper surface of the friction block (front section only) and 2) to machine clearance holes in the steel protection plate that forms part of the front flat floor. The FIA accepted the requests.

Maserati MC12 (exact copy from the FIA decision)

Request: To delete the specification of “Ballast” relating only to the position of the ballast plates in the fuel cell area on page 13 of the complementary information section of the form GT-017/ES-2010 dated 01 APR 2010. This ballast would be relocated to the cock-pit area according to §4.2 Ballast of Appendix J Article 257 – 2010 Technical Regulations for Grand Touring Cars. The ballast will be positioned in the same position as it was in the BoP tests of Portimao and Paul Ricard prior to the first event at Abu Dhabi. The configuration in the cockpit will be sufficient to ensure the space necessary the handicap ballast and success ballast and will be included in the complementary information section of an amendment of the ES form.

An explanation was given:

In both Rounds 1 and 2 of the FIA GT1 World Championship fuel pick-up problems were experienced on several MC12 cars, even at significant fuel levels, suggesting that the deformation of the fuel cell induced by the presence of the ballast plates has altered the efficiency and reliability of the transfer pumps used in the fuel system. This ballast configuration was a late arrival and had not been track tested before the Abu Dhabi race.

The FIA accepted this request as it saw no consequences on the balance of performance of the cars.

For the FIA GT3 European Championship the success ballast that will be added at Brno is: +10 kg for the #25 Argo Racing Lamborghini, +15 kg success ballast for the #1 Hexis AMR Aston Martin DBRS9 and #18 Toni Seiler Racing Corvette, +20 kg for the #101 Callaway Corvette and +30 kg for the #20 Trackspeed Porsche.

Furthermore the following decisions were taken by the FIA.

Ford Mustang GT3

Multimatic Motorsports requested the FIA to allow titanium valves for both the intake and exhaust valves. The request was accepted by the FIA.

Porsche 911 GT3 R

Porsche requested the FIA to allow alternative Brembo front brake discs with the same dimensions and physical properties until the end of August. The only difference would be the joint design between bell and disc. As the reason given for this request was supply problems the FIA accepted the request to allow two different discs, but from September 2010 only the new discs can be used.

As a result of Balance of Performance the FIA also decided to add 50 kg to the minimum weight of the car, bringing the total to 1250 kg. It was also decided to add 1 restrictor plate of 76 mm.

Corvette Z06 GT3

The Corvette will have some Balance of Performance changes at Brno. The FIA decided to add 60 kg to the minimum weight of the car, which will go from 1270 kg to 1330 kg. It was also decided to keep 1 restrictor of a maximum diameter of 52 mm.

Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4

Like the Porsche and the Corvette the Lamborghini will also have some adjustments of the performance of the car at Brno. For the Gallardo it was decided to add 20 kg to the minimum weight of the car, bringing that weight up to 1195 kg. The car will keep two restrictors of a maximum diameter of 53 mm.

Audi R8 LMS

The adjustments for the Audi R8 LMS cars will be completely different. The FIA decided to impose a rev limitation of the cars at 7500 rpm for every gear ratio except the last one, for which the rev limitation is set at 8500 rpm.
For that reason, all the cars must be equipped with the FIA Data Logger, with an rpm sensor and a loom independent from the electrical loom of th car.

Moreover, Audi will have to bring irrefutable proof to the FIA that the ECU and its software cannot be modified in the course of the season by anyone. Furthermore, it is noted that the ECU will have to be duly sealed.

The minimum weight of the car is set at 1320 kg.