The matter was kept under the radar. On Friday evening at the ADAC GT Masters in Spielberg, the Balance of Performance (BoP) was changed in favor of Porsche. The GT3 parent organization SRO is responsible for the BoP in the ADAC GT Masters.
The Porsche 911 GT3 R got another 15 kilograms lighter after they had already been lightened in the initial BoP compared to last year. The SRO creates the BoP using different track categories, starting with A as the fastest. The Red Bull Ring falls in track category C (medium speed, high downforce).
The Porsche has had a true BoP odyssey in Spielberg: started in 2021 with 1,280 kilos, after the victory of SSR Performance on Saturday it gained ten kilos. So Porsche drove 1,290 kilograms in Sunday’s race in 2021. In the initial BoP for 2022, the Porsche weighed 1,270 kilograms, i.e. 20 kilos less. The weight was then further reduced to 1,255 kilograms on Friday evening.
However, the values are not easily comparable because Pirelli has introduced the new DHF tire generation for the 2022 season. So far, Porsche has had relatively no chance in the GT World Challenge (GTWC) Europe, which uses the same BoP values. The podium at the Masters season opener in Oschersleben (whether Allied or ID) is also more likely to be attributed to the demolition qualifying.
The change came as a surprise, however, because the Joos-Porsche finished fifth in the first free practice session (and thus in the overall standings). However, Joos had a rocket from Auto all weekend, as both drivers pointed out.
Christian Engelhart thinks the decision was right. He says to ‘Motorsport-Total.com’: “I think that was necessary, because in Oschersleben you saw a clear difference in performance to Audi and here to BMW.”
No chance against BMW in a duel
The BMW M4 GT3 were considered the top favorites from the start due to their enormous top speeds. In Friday night’s BoP change they got 0.02bar boost removed but were still the fastest cars straight ahead.
In both races, the BMW M4 GT3 reached a top speed of 240 km/h at the first timing point. They could also repeat this regularly. Other vehicles also managed up to 239 km/h, but usually only individually in the direct slipstream of an opponent.
The end of the straight was not the actual strength of the BMW M4 GT3. The ability to accelerate was superior, especially in the medium speed range between 160 and 220 km/h. The BMW made up the most meters here.
“There was absolutely no chance against the BMWs,” said Engelhart about his experiences at the start of the second race. Ayhancan Güven, starting driver in the first race, takes a similar view: “I knew that I had to defend hard against the BMW because we saw its good top speed in qualifying. That’s why it was clear that he would attack on the straight.”
The Turk parried the attack hard, pinning Ben Green to the grass. This resulted in a warning. And it didn’t last long because Güven didn’t have a chance to stop Green’s forward drive: “It just wasn’t possible to keep him behind me.” After the race, Green confirmed that he wasn’t angry with Güven.
Raffaele Marciello, who was there a short time later, takes a similar view: “It’s not difficult to overtake at six or seven km/h.”
Torsten Schubert, who possibly experienced the weekend of his life with a total of four victories in the DTM and ADAC GT Masters, expresses his first fears in the thrill of victory in an interview with ‘Motorsport-Total.com’: “I hope that BoP will now be given to us because of the weekend doesn’t take anything away. They’ve taken away a bit of performance here on a track where we had to win.”
He refers to the last laps in both races, in which the BMWs apparently struggled more with the tires than the lighter Porsches: “You saw how close the Porsche can be to us with less weight.”
BMW and Porsche point to Audi
Güven and Engelhart both approached the BMWs in the closing stages in their Joos-Porsche. However, both emphasize that they could not do anything against the straight-line speed of the M4. “I couldn’t attack, they were just too strong,” says Engelhart.
Both Schubert and Engelhart prefer to point out something completely different: Dries Vanthoor’s intermediate sprint in the Land-Audi #29 (Vanthoor/J. Owega). “With his lap times, he was up to half a second faster than us,” Schubert marveled.
And Engelhart is also impressed: “He had incredible pace and even caught up with the two BMWs.” Before the pit stop, mind you, when tire wear was not an issue. More about Vanthoor’s intermediate spurt will follow in the next few days.
Incidentally, an ADAC spokesman responded to a request from ‘Motorsport-Total.com’ about the BoP change: “At least we won’t change it three times at the weekend!” A friendly nod to the Lausitzring.