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BMW's new M8 heavier for WEC than when it took Sebring podium

The new BMW M8 GTE will start the 2018/19 World Endurance Championship season 35kg heavier than when it took class pole for this month's Sebring 12 Hours IMSA round.

BMW's GTE Pro class contender run by the MTEK team has been given a minimum weight of 1255kg in the Balance of Performance issued by the FIA ahead of the official pre-season WEC test at Paul Ricard next week.

That compares with the 1220kg at which the Rahal-entered M8s raced at the second round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship in which it took the runner-up spot in the GT Le Mans class.

The BMW will also race with lower turbo boost levels throughout the rev-range compared with Sebring when the WEC kicks off at Spa at the beginning of May.

A like-for-like comparison between the respective BoP WEC and IMSA BoP tables is not possible, however.

For example, the evolution version of the Ferrari 488 GTE raced at Sebring with a minimum weight of 1265kg, which compares with the 1280kg issued for the WEC.

The mid-engined Porsche 911 RSR, which won GTLM at Sebring, will be lighter in WEC specification but will run smaller-diameter engine air-restrictors than at Sebring.

Aston Martin's all-new Vantage GTE, which will race for the first time at Spa, has been given a starting weight of 1263kg under the automatic BoP system introduced last season.

The minimum weight of the latest version of the Ferrari, which is regarded as a new car under the rules, is up 5kg from the 1275kg at which it finished last season.

The Porsche and the Ford GT will both run 16kg lighter than at last season's Bahrain WEC finale at 1242kg and 1255kg respectively.

There has been no change to the air-restrictor diameter on the normally-aspirated Porsche or boost pressure levels for the Ford.

This reflects calculations made under the auto BoP, but there has been an additional adjustment to reflect the introduction of the new cars from BMW and Aston Martin and the evolution from Ferrari.

The GTE Pro cars will race with the announced BoP at Spa and then Silverstone in August before adjustments are made on the basis of the unpublished algorithm at the heart of the auto BoP.

A separate BoP is issued for the Le Mans 24 Hours in June courtesy of the unique nature of the 8.47-mile circuit.

The first-generation Vantage GTE has been hit with a 55kg weight increase in GTE Am.

This reflects Aston Martin Racing's move from Dunlop to Michelin tyres for the WEC superseason.

Zdroj: autosport.com