WEC: P1 tire allocations tweaked for Nurburgring

In round 2 of the World Endurance Championship, at Spa-Francorchamps, Audi was able to triumph by maintaining quick lap times on used tires. Indeed, Benoit Treluyer was able to drive for very nearly two hours on a single set of Michelins, while the Porsches struggled to make their tires last for even an hour and 15 minutes, without a significant drop off in lap times. The problem was exacerbated by the regulation that restricted LMP1 teams to using just six sets of tires for qualifying and the race – this meant that with seven pit stops required to get to the finish, two sets of tires required double-stinting.

The regulations recognize that the circuits at both Bahrain and Shanghai have particular characteristics that make tire loading more significant, and as a result, teams are allowed to use eight sets of tires at these events, later this year.

But as the Nurburgring was not part of the WEC in 2014, the FIA Endurance Committee was required to meet to establish the tire allocation for that race. In March, a bulletin was issued to the effect that the Endurance Committee would make such judgment three months before the event.

So, it came as some surprise that on June 29 – less than nine weeks before the Nurburgring Six Hours – the Endurance Committee issued a bulletin, announcing that LMP1 teams would be allowed to use eight sets of tires for qualifying and the race at the German round of the Championship on Aug. 30. This in effect will allow Porsche to change tires at each stop, if they need to, at the Nurburgring, they merely have to use the set of tires used for qualifying again in the race.

At Le Mans, Porsche triple-stinted its tires in the first (warm) part of the race and only went to quadruple stints as darkness fell. Audi, in comparison, quad-stinted the tires throughout the race. In the final six hours of the race, Porsche was not under pressure, and was able to continue to quadruple stint and tire allocation was not a problem.

Unless there is a further rule clarification, Porsche will only have to face the spectre of making six sets of tires last the whole six hours at the Circuit of The Americas and at Fuji. And don’t forget that the limitation is only on the use of slick tires, so if it should rain in Texas or Japan, (it’s happened before…) then limits on tire allocation will be not be relevant.

Following its win at Le Mans, Porsche currently leads Audi in the World Endurance Championship for Manufacturers by 16 points (140 to 124), although Audi drivers Andre Lotterer, Marcel Fassler and Treluyer have a 23-point lead in the drivers’ championship over series regulars Marc Lieb, Neel Jani and Romain Dumas.

Originally on DailySportsCar.com