WEC News: Palou Concerned About Cadillac’s Straight-Line Speed Ahead of Le Mans
In a surprise revelation, two-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou has expressed concerns about the Cadillac V.Series.R LMDh car’s straight-line speed ahead of the 92nd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours. This comes after two of three factory Cadillac cars progressed into hyperpole but recorded the lowest top speeds in Wednesday’s first qualifying session at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Palou’s comments were sparked by the #2 Cadillac’s top speed of 332.9km/h, set by his teammate Alex Lynn, which paled in comparison to the 341.3km/h achieved by the Alpine duo Paul-Loup Chatin and Nicolas Lapierre in their A424 LMDh cars.
“I think in the race we don’t have the best BoP [Balance of Performance], in the sense that we are fast but we are really slow in the straights and really fast on the corners,” Palou said. “So if you have traffic and your ability in the straight is really tough… But hopefully they can modify it – I don’t think so. But it will be a tough race for us.”
The Spanish driver believes that the current BoP will hinder their performance in the race, citing the issue of traffic and the car’s struggle to overtake on the straights. “In qualifying you normally don’t have traffic and you can go at 100%. Maybe the BoP for qualifying is perfect, but I think for the race, for us, it’s really tricky,” Palou explained.
When asked if set-up changes could improve the car’s straight-line speed, Palou replied, “Not really. We cannot really do [much] for straightline speed. We can only take downforce off, I believe, but there is some minimum, and we would just make our corners terrible.”
The FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest have introduced a new ‘power gain’ element in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) to make it easier to match the top speed and acceleration of each car in the Hypercar class. This two-stage BoP will allow power values for each car to be adjusted beyond a certain speed, set at 250km/h for Le Mans in 2024.
Meanwhile, teammate Alex Lynn has expressed optimism about the Cadillac’s speed, citing its high downforce package as a strength in high-speed corners. “Long runs are good. We have high downforce as a car, as a package. If you look at our performance in the Porsche Curves as an example, we are very good. So I think that’s the strength of the corner,” Lynn said.
With the WEC 2023 season reaching its climax, Palou’s concerns about the Cadillac’s straight-line speed have added a new layer of intrigue to the highly competitive Hypercar class. As the teams head into the 24-hour endurance race, it remains to be seen how the BoP will affect the performance of the Cadillac V.Series.R LMDh car.
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