Fabio Scherer’s injured foot, a radio that no longer works at the end of the race… Inter Europol Competition’s surprise victory in the LM P2 category of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2023 has all the great stories that the Sarthe-based classic loves. Especially since it is about the success of David against Goliath, the small team of Marki (Poland) coming to the end of the references of the discipline which are WRT, Prema, United Autosports or Alpine.
Nevertheless, opponents are less enthusiastic about this achievement. From Sunday, in the Le Mans paddock, several members of the LM P2 category wondered about the top-flight performance of the Polish formation. The fact that the parts of the winning car were sealed for in-depth analysis did not help matters.
Lightning acceleration
Documents to which we have had access indicate three parts of the circuit where the performance of the Oreca n°34 yellow and green is well above the average for the category: the exits of the two Mulsanne chicanes as well as that of the Mulsanne bend.
” I’ve never seen that in three years of LM P2, and I do the three championships, the WEC, the ELMS and the IMSAcomments Louis Delétraz, driver of the WRT n°41 and second behind Inter Europol Competition. These data are public data of the timing and we can clearly see that there is something weird. Such dominance in acceleration when everyone has the same engine, the same power, the same weight, I don’t understand how it’s possible. Not to mention the graphs which clearly show the advantage in power, it was even worse visually when we were behind them on the track. It looked like another category! »
And the Swiss wonder: Add to that their three-second faster refueling… More power, less consumption? During refueling with tire changes the gap was less because the WRT mechanics were once again fantastic at the pit stops, but that doesn’t change the huge advantage of the #34. I have serious doubts about the legality of this car, and I’m not the only one in the paddock. The LM P2 is a relatively simple car and nothing can justify such a performance gap. »
I think the ACO and the FIA take it seriously, I imagine they see the same thing as us and they do their best to ensure the legality of the field, concludes the pilot. As competitors we have to stay out of this as much as possible and let the ACO, the FIA and Scrutineering do their job. I remain very proud of our race, we did a perfect 24 Hours of Le Mans and it will be hard to reproduce.
Refueling deemed express
“ Inter Europol Competition have done a very big job, they have found speed where very few have managed to find itstrives to answer us Vincent Vosse, the boss of Team WRT. I know there is an investigation against them. It’s not my job, there are technical controllers for it. We are a racing team and we are already fully focused on the next event in Monza (July 9. Editor’s note). I don’t want to get into an argument. You don’t have to be an engineer to see where they were extremely fast.
These are accessible data circulating and I imagine that there will be explanations to be given regarding the acceleration zones of the n°34. Maybe they found things that teams like JOTA, United, WRT or Alpine didn’t. There are technical controllers doing their job and I won’t hesitate to ask them questions when all this is over to get an explanation. We saw directly where they were stronger than us: with each refueling they gained three or four seconds. »
From what we learned, some teams had already reported this data during the event.
” In such a contested category with the same chassis, the same engine and the same electronics, it becomes extremely difficult to get the last tenthsexplains another driver in the LM P2 category on condition of anonymity.
We are followed in GPS positioning and we could see that Inter Europol was much faster than the others on the acceleration phases. On top of that, they sometimes made a lap more than the others while being three seconds faster at the refueling. These are things that are diametrically opposed. It is not possible to do more laps, refuel less and be faster than the others in terms of acceleration. “According to our information, the best acceleration capacity lies partly in the choice of “short” gearing on the first gears, even if it means having a gap between two gears before reaching the maximum speed. The benefit/risk ratio could explain the best speed reductions at the end of the chicane, even if it means losing on the straights afterwards.
Asked by us, the ACO commented: ” As part of the MOT process, parts from a number of cars were taken and sealed to verify compliance with technical regulations under the most optimal conditions and using the best tools available.
As part of this process, the results of the investigations will be presented to the stewards in the final report of the FIA and ACO technical delegates. Sporting fairness and technical compliance are at the center of the attention of the FIA and the ACO as the regulatory bodies of the FIA World Endurance Championship. »
Autohebdo understood that the electronic management programs were still in the analysis phase, when nothing on the mechanical level is to be blamed.
Contacted since last week, Inter Europol Competition did not deign to respond to our requests.
Before the Centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Inter Europol Competition had never won in the WEC. © DPPI
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