Toyota handed weight increase for WEC Prologue test

The Japanese manufacturer's TS050 Hybrids will run 14kg heavier than at the last regular WEC round of the 2018/19 superseason at Spa in May.

A new minimum weight of 918kg for the Toyotas has been set in the Equivalence of Technology table for the two-day test next Tuesday and Wednesday. That compares with the 904kg figure at which the TS050s ran from the Fuji round onwards in 2018/19.

Toyota accepted an 26kg increase in the minimum weight of its cars ahead of its home race after dominating the opening three races of the superseason.

This was reduced for last month's Le Mans 24 Hours WEC finale to 10kg, because this was calculated to be enough to remove the notional 0.25 percent advantage for the hybrids in the original 2018/19 EoT.

The weight limits for normally-aspirated and turbocharged non-hybrid privateer P1 cars remain unchanged from the Spa 6 Hours at 824kg and 833kg respectively. Fuel flow for hybrid and non-hybrid machinery also remains unchanged at 80kg and 115kg per hour respectively.

Toyota's revised weight may not necessarily carry over to the opening round of the season at Silverstone in September as rulemakers reserve the right to change the EoT at any time.

Porsche's new GTE car gets starting BoP

Porsche's new car for the 2019/20 WEC season will run 15kg heavier in the Prologue test than its championship-winning predecessor did at Spa this year.

The 911 RSR-19 has also been given 0.5mm smaller diameter air restrictors in the GTE Pro Balance of Performance table for the test.

Porsche will be given a so-called 'starting BoP' under the automatic system introduced in 2017 because it is a new car.

The BoP for the Ferrari 488 GTE and the Aston Martin Vantage GTE are unchanged for the test.