CORVETTE NEWS
IMSA officials have rolled out the starting Balance of Performance for the rest of the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series ahead of next Saturday’s running of the 12 Hours of Sebring. Technically, these performance tables come from last year’s season closer at Petit Le Mans since the Rolex 24 at Daytona’s Balance of Performance is unique to that one race. But as the C8.R ran in GTLM last year at Petit Le Mans, I guess race organizers are just going to make it up as we go along.
We are running on a waiver as the Corvette C8.R has been modified from its GTLM specs down to GT3, but as it’s not a true GT3 car, we are supposed to adopt the attitude of “hey, just being happy to compete.” But that’s not our way. We go to a race and expect the team to be competitive and it’s difficult to watch when we are regulated to the back of the class. I know it may take some time for the team to adapt fully to its new class, but this next bit of news will have you believing that IMSA literally has its toe on the scale when it comes to the Corvette’s new Balance of Performance.
The first opportunity for the Corvette Racing to generate data as a GTD Pro racer for the series organizers was at the Roar Before the Rolex 24 and the C8.Rs started that practice weekend with a minimum weight of 1320 kg. Following the Roar and just prior to the season opener at Daytona, Corvette Racing was hit with a 15 kg weight increase and the Corvettes ran at a minimum weight of 1335 kg. The team wasn’t on pace with the GTD-Pro leaders in the class at Daytona and it showed.
Next weekend we head into Sebring and now the new Balance of Performance tables have the Corvettes with another 5 kg added for a minimum weight of 1340 kg. The Corvette will also have a 41 mm air restrictor opening and carries only 88 liters of fuel – the lowest capacity in GTD-PRO. (The Acura NSX GT3 carries the most fuel in class with 107 liters.)
Fehan would tell us that when everybody is mad about the BoP, it must mean that race organizers are doing something right. And since we are the team responsible for “destroying” the competition back in GT1, and then GT2, and finally GTLM, maybe race organizers feel the need for the Corvette to start off a little bit slower instead of being competitive right from the start.
IMSA can make adjustments to the Balance of Performance throughout the season so we’ll be watching the C8.R and the lap times in relation to the class leaders at Sebring.
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