Toyota has reiterated its dismay at the perceived “Americanisation” of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the introduction of new safety car rules for the 2023 edition of the race.
13 m
Instead of neutralizing the race with the use of three safety cars, as has been the case at the World Endurance Championship blue ribbon event in recent years, this year a new procedure has been introduced that will see everything the field packed behind a single safety. car before each restart.
Additionally, any car behind the class leader in the safety car tail will be able to overtake the safety car, complete a lap and rejoin the back of the pack, similar to the system used in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in America. .
The cars will also run a procedure called ‘drop-back’ which will see LMP2 and GTE Am racers separate from the Hypercars competing for overall honours.
Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director Pascal Vasselon has already made his displeasure with the new system clear, saying it risks devaluing a win by making the race “a bit of a lottery”.
Speaking to selected media, including Motorsport.com, after the system was tested during the official Le Mans test day on Sunday, Vasselon underlined his position and lamented what he sees as the “Americanisation” of the French classic of resistance
“The new safety car rule does not seem to us to correspond to the spirit of Le Mans,” said Vasselon. “When you look back at what made Le Mans so great, it’s the exact opposite of that kind of gimmick where if you’re not good at pit stops, if you make a mistake in strategy, it doesn’t matter because the safety car. will put everything back.
“It’s quite serious in terms of the mood: it’s a big step towards the Americanization of Le Mans and our opinion is that Le Mans should not be Americanized. If it does, it’s no longer Le Mans.”
Safety car Exercise
Photograph by: Paul Foster
Vasselon predicts the new rules will reduce the incentive for teams to push throughout the race, creating a situation similar to IMSA’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, with the focus shifting from building a lead to simply hanging on. the lap leader ready for a showdown in the closing stages.
“At Daytona, you have the show in the last two hours, and the rest of the time the cars just manage to stay at the front and there’s no racing for 22 hours,” said the Frenchman. “Let’s take a step in that direction.
“In recent years, Le Mans has been a 24-hour sprint, precisely because it was possible, with the three safety cars, to have a certain neutrality about the race. The cars that wanted to win had no respite, but now we have pulled away.
“The impact is on risk management. In a way, it will help reliability but above all it will reduce the risk of accidents.”
When asked if he felt the other Hypercar teams had similar views on the changes, Vasselon replied: “I know there are other teams that have the same position as us. I think there are a few that are not they are discouraged by American-style racing.
“Our opinion is really expressed in terms of the historic spirit of Le Mans. After that, it’s okay to want to change things, the world evolves, but for us this is not one of the things that should evolve.
“In terms of the core principles of what makes us win or lose at Le Mans, we don’t think they should change because they are timeless values.”
Vasselon also reiterated his belief that the previous system of three equally spaced trains of safety cars around the 8.47-mile Circuit de la Sarthe offers the best compromise between not unduly interfering with the race and safety.
He said increasing the number of safety car convoys to six could be considered to reduce the impact of car separation, but accepted that fewer disruptions to traffic could make it harder for marshals to resolve incidents in some cases.
Additional reporting by Basile Davoine
