Quote:
Originally Posted by carbsmith
That's a extremely large "if" that just isn't happening with the current generation of cars (even if it was plausible on a performance level there's no way anyone on the IMSA side would agree to having their cars compete against such technically different cars). Michelin makes no difference, those tires will still be slower than what's on a WEC car in either prototype class and won't change the performance relative to P2.
The stuff Cheng is talking about isn't any kind of fundamental chassis advantage either, it's just being able to optimize the car for local conditions. There's no design magic to the Acuras riding better at Sebring, it's Penske's shock program finding a better set up than ORECA made available with the homologated parts. The Cadillac is basically running the Dallara high downforce kit because they don't have to worry about Le Mans and can BoP away any speed deficit at Daytona and Road America.
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I don't wanna go off topic anymore, so this is my last comment on it. In lmp1 there's freedom to change things like the suspension. That is a precise issue his team has when facing DPi. DPi could be at or near lmp1 speed with a little tinkering. Lower weight, higher power. Maybe cars like the ESM Ligier is a little heavier. There's a solution in buying a new chassis, maybe using a ByKolles Nismo? Maybe Mazda has engine power issues. There's a new AER engine running in the lmp1 SMP Dallara's (who make Cadillac's chassis). I think going forward in the future they need to target lmp1 or whatever the class's name is in DPi. Then lower funded teams can win their own class with AM drivers (lmp2). It was already suggested, maybe they should take a look at it again. Imo, they won't be equal even with excessive bop. They might take a lucky win or two, but 9 times out of 10 it'll be a DPi lockout.