The two Toyotas will race at next month’s Bahrain World Endurance Championship round with different levels of success handicaps.
The bulletin confirming the handicaps for the Bahrain 8 Hours on December 14 lists the #7 Toyota TS050 HYBRID with a 2.51-second penalty and the #8 sister car with 2.72s.
That is despite both Japanese cars lying more than 40 points ahead of the last-placed car in the championship classification.
The explanation of the new system introduced for the LMP1 class this season issued in August states that “the maximum performance reduction applied may not be greater than the equivalent of 40 points”.
No clarification on why the TS050s are on different penalties has been forthcoming from the FIA or the WEC.
The 0.21s difference could be explained by the three-point gap between the two Toyotas.
Using the 0.01255s per point per kilometre handicap co-efficient, three points equates to 0.203s.
The 2.72s penalty for #8 is slightly down on the 2.74s penalty that both Toyotas carried at Shanghai last month, which reflects the slightly shorter lap at Bahrain.
The #1 Rebellion-Gibson R-13, which won this month’s Shanghai round, is listed with a 1.36s penalty for Bahrain.
But its 28.5-point lead over the #6 Ginetta-AER G60-LT-P1, the lowest-scoring car in class, suggests it should be pulled back by 1.93s.
The Rebellion has been penalised solely with ballast, the car’s minimum weight rising from 862kg at Shanghai to 882kg in Bahrain.
The August explanation, issued on the eve of the Silverstone series opener, stated that the weight of non-hybrid cars would not be increased above 870kg.
Источник: www.classic.autosport.com