FIA WEC 1000M Sebring: Tuesday Paddock Notes

IMSA field arrives

With the IMSA GTPs now on-site and unloaded there is the largest group so far of new generation prototypes at a single circuit, with eight cars in the IMSA paddock and 11 in the WEC paddock, located around 400 metres away!

Alpine’s problem solving

The #35 Alpine ORECA 07, off the pace throughout the Prologue, is understood to have been significantly down on power for the two-day test.

The team initially suspected engine issues but after changing air filters and exhaust found damage to the exhaust system. It should be up to speed once the WEC teams hit the track tomorrow.

Porsche’s personnel getting up to speed

The Porsche Penske Motorsport squad is getting up to speed quickly with the WEC squad finding its feet at its first world championship event.

Whilst all experienced personnel, the full squad only tested as a unit with their race car a matter of a few weeks ago.

Peugeot improving the 9X8 ‘step by step’

It’s been a strange meeting at Sebring for Peugeot Sport so far. As the only prototype from a major OEM that hadn’t turned laps at Sebring before the Prologue, it was perhaps understandable that it has taken some time for the team to extract pace from the 9X8.

The frustration for the team is that it lost valuable track time over the weekend. Both 9X8s had on-track incidents, the #93 the worse of the two when Jean-Eric Vergne collided with the Vector Sport ORECA. The car then ended up losing further time with mechanical issues.

You’d expect the team to have emerged from the off-season stronger, having learned a lot about its car at the tail end of last season and through winter testing, but green shoots of progress have been hard to spot at this stage.

DSC spoke to Gustavo Menezes about the team’s performance at the Prologue, and he explained that while the team has made positive strides, it has been a challenge to adapt to the Sebring track, which is unlike anywhere the team has tested or raced at to this point.

“We could always wish for more time, but in the end we started in a place that we were not happy with last week, and made big steps in the test,” he said. “Sebring is a track that’s really hard on the car, and it highlighted some of our weaknesses. The 9X8 hasn’t run on a track this aggressive, so it puts us at a small disadvantage.

“We have benefited from small improvements to the car aero wise and we’ve worked on reliability, though. It has been a while since Bahrain but we’ve done a lot of testing and it’s been a constant improvement for the car. Step by step we are getting to where we need to be.”

Pit entry changes reversed

Race organisers have confirmed to DSC that the pit entry for the FIA WEC pit lane has reverted to the layout used in the 2022 1000 Miles of Sebring. This change has been made after two revised layouts were trialled during the Prologue.

Both revisions saw the pit entry extended to the outside of Turn 14, with multiple drivers observing what they determined to be the risks attached to the revised pit entry.

Sunday evening saw a significant incident involving the #54 Ferrari of Thomas Flohr and the #28 JOTA ORECA of David Heinemeier Hansson, where the Swiss driver was attempting to move across the track to enter pit lane, but was hit hard at the rear by the LMP2 as Flohr braked before his intended move to the right.

DSC was shown the onboard footage from the ORECA, which revealed that Heinemeier Hansson was left with nowhere to go, the #54 hitting the brakes hard right in front of him, causing the impact.

Both cars are fully repaired and ready for the remaining track action at Sebring.

Pre-Le Mans testing planned for Cadillac

DSC understands that the test programme for FIA WEC-arm of the Cadillac Racing V-Series.R programme is coming together, with a big endurance test planned for Portimao ahead of the car’s Le Mans 24 Hours debut.

This adds to the extensive testing that Cadillac Racing completed for the car’s IMSA debut at Daytona in January. The data and lessons learned from testing in the US and the run at the Rolex 24 Hours have of course given the WEC crew a head start to its campaign.

The team’s decision on a European base is also believed to be close to being revealed. DSC understands the base is in Germany and is a new facility which hasn’t previously housed a race team.