United Autosports Ligier Spa
Photo: ELMS

2017 LMP2 – what’s the story?

This is my last post this year and i will try to make good use also of my new Youtube channel (here) to further visually (and not only through data and words) expand about the topic i am going to deal with.

As many of you probably already know, 2017 will mark the start of a new era for the LMP2 class, with new rules coming, a new spec engine built by Gibson and only four FIA mandated chassis manufacturers allowed to sell cars worldwide (Oreca, Ligier, Dallara and Riley-Multimatic).

There have been long debates about the need for a change in a class that seemed to work pretty well, with full grids pretty much in every championship, very good car variety, quick drivers and exciting races.

Anyway, the change is a fact now, so the only thing we can do in this early development stage is try to understand how exactly these new LMP2 machineries will perform.

Technical rules have changed in many aspects: first of all, 2017 cars are some 100 mm narrower than the previous generation ones (from 2000 mm overall width to 1900 mm), following the direction taken already since some years by LMP1; they also use a spec engine (provided by Gibson, as we mentioned already) producing more than 600 hp; they are also aerodynamically different: beside being narrower, they have also a wider rear wing and they are slightly longer than 2016 ones. Finally, because of a late addition of an air conditioning system, they have a slightly higher weight, moving from 900 kg to 930 kg.

For more from this story, visit DrRacings blog