Changes for 2021 – Bronze+ Driver Pitstop Times

During the past few seasons, it has been noted that some bronze rated drivers have been posting times as quick as, or even quicker, than those set by the silver rated drivers, gaining an unfair advantage over their fellow amateur racers.

In the 2021 Michelin Le Mans Cup a new regulation will be introduced to identify these Bronze+ drivers and level the playing field in a clear, transparent and objective process.

The Idea

The new system is designed to penalise bronze drivers that are as fast as silver drivers. This will be done by determining the silver drivers’ pace, identify the bronze drivers that are in that range and then penalise them based on their performance.

The Calculation

The silver driver’s performance range is divided into four quarters.

1. Bronze+ drivers whose lap times just fall into the first quarter of the silver driver’s performance range would have 20 seconds added to their pitstop time.
2. Drivers that fall into the second quarter, which is the area that is close to the average of the silver drivers, would have 50 seconds added to their pitstop time.
3. The bronze drivers that fall into the third quarter would have 80 seconds added, with the final quarter having a 120 second penalty.

Advantages of this system

This system targets the bronze+ driver performance and levels the playing field. A penalty is only applied if the bronze driver is as quick as a silver driver. The penalty only applies to the driver and not the competitor.

A full report of the results from Barcelona will be made available so the calculations for the penalties are transparent.