The ACO has released details of the technical regulations that will apply to the Le Mans 24 Hours and the ILMC from 2011 until 2013. LeMansLive takes a look at some of the key areas…

LM P1
In keeping with the previously announced intention to run new, less powerful engines, the aim is to prevent cars from lapping the full Le Mans circuit in less than 3m 30s. Maximum power output will be shaved to approximately 520hp, while powerplants will also emit less CO2 and consume less fuel.

The new regulations provide for the gradual introduction of new hybrid engine technologies which will have to comply with a brief regarding their safety and to ensure that they do not serve as driver aids. Braking energy recovery will be permitted via the front or rear wheels, but not all four. All types of so-called hybrid technology will be considered.

Brand new cars must run a so-called shark’s fin-type engine cover for safety reasons.

Article 19 of the regulations will allow the ACO to even out differences in performance between the different engine types and technologies, even in the course of a season. The ACO will also be able to take steps to apply the so-called “two percent” rule which seeks to contain the lap times of the best cars using the different types of technology within a fork of two percent (based on the fastest car overall).

Previous-specification cars will still be able to compete in 2011 to 2010 technical regulations, although engine restrictors will have to be modified and fuel tanks will be restricted to a capacity of 75 litres (compared with 90 litres previously) in compliance with the new rules which target an overall reduction in engine power .

LM P2
The selling price of a complete new car must not exceed €345,000.

Engines must be based on production engines and cannot be sold for more than €75,000. It will not be possible to rebuild them until they have run for 30 hours, while the cost of a rebuild may not exceed €35,000. In the course of the next five seasons, the number of hours between engine rebuilds will be gradually increased to 40, then 50 hours.

Driver line-ups must include one gentleman driver as defined by the existing driver classification system.

In order to avoid teams having to invest at once in a new car for 2011, 2010 LMP2 cars (without price cap) will be able to compete in 2011. The ACO will take steps to ensure that 2010 cars are not more competitive than the new 2011 cars.

LM GTE:
The GT1 category has been dropped and replaced by the GTE category which is based significantly (approximately 95 percent) on the current GT2 regs. The new category will be divided into two classes: GTE Am and GTE Pro.

GTE Am: a maximum of one professional driver permitted per car. The model of the car itself must have been released at least one year previously in order to favour the used GT car market.

GTE Pro: no restrictions with regard to either the model or driver line-ups. The concept of ensuring balanced levels of performance is already built into all the ACO regulations. Adjustments will be made from the third race of the season, for all three championships (ILMC, ALMS and LMS) in order to guarantee a level playing field.

2011, 24 Hours of Le Mans