In the last article about the BoP process, we discussed the concept of raceability, or the ability of cars in the same class to race each other. We saw how a sanctioning body (the FIA) proactively promotes raceability with defined performance targets in the homologation regulations, and reactively addresses raceability with Balance of Performance. That said, sanctioning bodies are not the ones who invest huge quantities of money to put racecars on track and vie for race wins and championships.
So, let’s look at raceability through the lens of some other stakeholders who, arguably, have more to lose if the issue is not properly addressed – manufacturers and teams.
To understand how manufacturers address the topic of raceability, I spoke with the person responsible for BoP management at BMW Motorsport, Mehdi Ahmadi. The team perspective was gleaned from Ricky Taylor, driver of the no.10 Acura DPi for Wayne Taylor Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
In this article, we’ll examine their responses to some questions about raceability, while I provide my thoughts on each response from the perspective of someone who does the BoP process for a sanctioning body.
The first group of questions are targeted towards what a sanctioning body can do with regulations and BoP adjustments to evaluate and improve raceability. Something interesting I realised better after reviewing the responses is that there are two distinct phases of the BoP process – car
