A Balance of Performance system will be introduced into the top class, and into LMP2 to prevent one manufacturer producing a better car and the other manufacturers being excluded. In this last five years, we have seen a rise in the number of ORECAs sold, for example.

However, ahead of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, there was very little detail. There could not be as the deal was only brokered in the last month and at a political, rather than an engineering level. Now that the politicians have agreed to work with each other the engineers now have to figure out how to make it work, and that’s a tough job.

There is still no decision on who will supply the hybrid system (a spec system for DPi 2.0 which was already decided), or even what the hybrid system will be capable of. There is no announcement on engines, and whether the existing manufacturers will need to build new ones. Time is short for them to do so. There is no further information on how balance of performance will work between the Hypercar and this ‘common platform’ car. There is no detail for tyre manufacturer Michelin either on what the loads and demands will be on their products.

There is still a lot to be sorted out, and time is short. Sebring is mid-March, and there the organisations are planning to produce the full set of technical regulations. This will somehow integrate the already published Hypercar regulations with the already written DPi 2.0 regulations, balance the cars and then deliver manufacturers will a global platform that is above the current LMP2.

Manufacturers are lining up to study these regulations, including Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Hyundai, Ford and of course, Peugeot. If they can reduce the cost of prototype racing while increasing the return, they believe they have given the racing departments enough ammunition to take to their boards and try to receive sign-off. The work starts now.