***Thursday’s free practice 1 was interrupted by strong winds and a brief period of rain, so Porsche Penske Motorsports managing director Jonathan Diouguid said more slick tires will be brought into other practice sessions. It is said that it was completed. Penske used the mixed-conditions session primarily to let Bahraini rookies Lawrence Vanthoor and Dane Cameron run their first laps.
***Diouguid told Sportscar365: “We’re going to have more tires for FP2 and FP3. I think people will probably be running all the races, but we’re also going to focus on race preparation, including partial tire changes and things like that. The tire laps will go up quite a bit and we may do some qualifying simulations that we don’t do with the normal distribution, but generally it won’t affect our plans too much.”
***Porsche Penske also opted to run in the wet as Diouguid said there was a “slight chance” of rain during Friday’s qualifying.
***The sudden rain in FP1 surprised many drivers, including Cadillac’s Earl Bamber. “It was very, very strange,” he told Sportscar365. “We saw it rain in this area once at the Dubai 24 race and the GP2 race.”
***Bamber was able to look on the bright side and said Chip Ganassi Racing got some help out of the situation. Good data has been collected. ”
***Cadillac has been soft on tire degradation since the beginning of the season and the Kiwis will want to take advantage of that. “I think this is the most high-energy track we go to,” Bamber said. “So from that standpoint, we hope it’s a good fit for us and it suits us. But some of our competitors have made quite a bit of progress recently. .”
***According to the team, the full course yellow in the second half of FP1 was caused by the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo stopping due to an electrical problem. The car was towed back to the paddock by a flatbed truck.
*** Last month’s prototype integration meeting approved the adoption of the so-called “EVO Joker” into the LMDh platform, mirroring the re-qualification process used by LMH since its introduction in 2021. For each manufacturer, the homologation period is currently set for his 2027 on both platforms.
***As previously revealed by Sportscar365, Porsche is working on updates to the car for next year. “We have a list and are in discussions with IMSA and ACO,” said Porsche LMDh Factory Director Urs Kratl. “Everyone is ready for Daytona.” [IMSA]-Tests approved and then approved in December. You will need to discuss your approval with your IMSA/ACO. ”
***Kratl told reporters that Porsche is currently working on about a dozen updates of varying sizes. It will not be visible from outside the vehicle. There are no changes to the bodywork. ”
*** According to team principal Ian James, Heart of Racing is planning to enter a one-car Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 again next year, and will not enter a two-car field in WEC. He says he denies it. Sportscar365 understands that D’station Racing is likely to field a second Aston if it receives entry approval from the WEC selection committee.
*** James said progress continues on Heart of Racing’s recently announced Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH project, which is scheduled to debut in the WEC and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2025.
***He told Sportscar365: “The design stage is working with Aston, AMPT, Multimatic and all those people, so we don’t have to be that involved right now. It will be further strengthened.”
***The 2024 season will “probably” be James’ last year as a driver, with the Bronze-rated pilot set to be part of WEC’s Heart of Racing LMGT3 roster. James said that with increased commitment to the Hypercar/GTP program, he will likely end up focusing solely on his role as team principal.
***Drivers with a Bronze rating will be required to carry over the rules from GTE-Am and qualify their vehicle in LMGT3 next season. The driver lineup composition has also not changed, with each lineup requiring a bronze driver, which in turn requires bronze or silver.
***Even though crews from both teams will be competing for the world hypercar driver title, Toyota will apply its normal rules of engagement. “We want to send a faster car to the front without taking any stupid risks,” said technical director Pascal Vasselon. “This is true in any situation. And perhaps [positions are] I froze at the last pit stop. ”
***D’station driver Casper Stephenson feels the upgrade from FIA Silver status to Gold status in 2024 could have an impact on his future racing prospects. “This is a career-damaging decision and a life-changing one for him,” Stevenson said, adding that his options for next year’s program are now gone.
***Corvette Racing won the GTE-Am title at Monza, but it remains a close battle for second place in the drivers’ standings. The Iron Dame trio of Rahel Frei, Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bobby have 79 points, six points ahead of AF Corse’s Davide Rigon, Francesco Castellazzi and Thomas Flohr.
***The No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R once again has GTE-Am’s most successful ballast, but the additional 25 kg load is still 5 kg less than the load at Fuji. The Fuji class winner, the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari, will carry an additional 20 kg of weight this weekend.
***Christian Reid said he has not yet received confirmation from Porsche whether Proton Competition can expand to operate two 963s at next year’s WEC. “I have a meeting here and I don’t know yet,” Reed told Sportscar365.
*** Reid also said there was no contact between Proton and Jenson Button about driving the hypercar. The 2009 F1 world champion previously said he had “several options” to join the WEC grid next year.
***Michelin Motorsport Endurance Race Manager Pierre Alves will be keeping an eye on how hypercar teams approach tire strategy for Sunday’s race. “We expect all hypercar teams to fit the hard compound at the start of the race, but it will be interesting to see when is the ideal moment to switch to medium without compromising performance or stability. ” he said.
*** All current hypercar manufacturers are scheduled to take part in the Michelin tire test at the Bahrain International Circuit next week. Cadillac was originally scheduled to be absent from the session in order to evaluate options for Michelin’s 2025 model, but the American manufacturer delayed its cargo departure in order to attend.
***Said Stephen Mitas, Cadillac team manager and strategist: We’re testing in Spain in December, but obviously we have a lot of work to do in December and February at Sebring and Daytona.”
***The Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East is the only support series this weekend. The series begins the season with two 30-minute races, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.
***Friday’s track action, including qualifying, begins with Free Practice 3 at 12pm local time (5am ET).
John Dagys and Davey Euwema contributed to this report