Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia
Breaking news

WEC BoP has worked "against" Ford all year - Priaulx

Ford WEC ace Andy Priaulx has expressed his “frustration” over a Balance of Performance he believes has been stacked against the Anglo-American squad this season.

#67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK  Ford GT: Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell,

#67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford GT: Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell,

JEP / Motorsport Images

#67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK  Ford GT: Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell,
#67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK  Ford GT: Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell,
Podium GTE Pro: winner Andy Priaulx Ford Chip Ganassi Racing
#67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK  Ford GT: Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell,
#67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK  Ford GT: Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell,
#67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK  Ford GT: Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell,
Podium GTE Pro: winners Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, second place Richard Lietz, Frédéric Makowiecki, Porsche GT Team, third place James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi, AF Corse
#67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK  Ford GT: Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell
#67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK  Ford GT: Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell,
Podium GTE Pro: winners Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing

An automated BoP system was introduced in the GTE Pro category this season in a bid to eliminate the controversy that surrounded last year’s manual adjustments.

But Priaulx feels the system is still flawed, saying it has had to harshly penalise the Ford GT’s straight-line speed in order to compensate for its superior braking and cornering, in order to make laptimes as close as possible between the four marques.

“The BoP has been against us all year, from doing what we did, going out and winning Silverstone and pushing hard,” Priaulx told Motorsport.com.

“I think we’ve got a stonking car, but we can’t always show it. That’s frustrating.

“The way to win this championship is to build a dragster that’s really fast in a straight line, and doesn’t corner, because you can always keep the other car behind.

“And that’s what we’ve experienced, which is frustrating. You can have great braking or corner speed, but you just fall back.”

While praising this year’s automated BoP system as an “improvement” on its predecessor, Ford WEC team boss George Howard-Chappell said he felt the system could be perfected.

“The way it ends up balancing the cars mean that they do a very similar laptime, but they are not all as competitive as the other cars from a racing point of view,” he explained.

“That is maybe something that needs to be refined in the future.”

Three-way GTE title fight

Priaulx and Tincknell took their second GTE Pro victory of the year in Shanghai, overcoming a stern challenge from the #91 Porsche of Richard Lietz and Frederic Makowiecki.

It means the British pair are now only 7.5 points behind championship-leading Ferrari pair James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain showdown. 

Lietz and Makowiecki are also in contention, two points shy of Calado and Pier Guidi.

“Shanghai was probably our best-ever win because we had the fourth-best car,” said Priaulx “It was the perfect race for me and for Harry.

“We forced the win and got ourselves back in the title fight. We need that again.

“We’ve gone out the blocks, full on, full attack. Other manufacturers have crept up on it, some hid their performance and won Le Mans with a second of advantage.

“We’ve gone all out and shown our cards. That’s what I’m proud of. The car is obviously a great car, and we can’t show it.”

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Bahrain WEC: Porsche tops disrupted final practice
Next article FIA World Endurance Championship reveals Global Fan Survey results

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia