Getting the balance right

Balance of performance. For some, this seemingly innocent phrase evokes feelings of disgust, anger, anxiety, and/or betrayal. As someone who works on BoP every single day, I can’t help but feel at least partly responsible for some of the negative emotions this simple phrase elicits. Do I have a guilty conscious about it? Not in the least, because I am actively working to change the way manufacturers, teams, drivers, and fans perceive performance balancing.

To understand what I am doing to change perceptions regarding BoP, we will have to first look at some important introductory topics related to it. But in writing this article it has become crystal clear that it will take more than one piece to cover all the ground I would like, so you can look forward to further instalments discussing BoP in future editions. In this issue, however, I will first explain what even qualifies me to write about balance of performance. From there I will risk ridicule and answer the question of whether BoP is even necessary (spoiler alert; if you vehemently hate BoP, you won’t like my answer!). With the formalities behind us, I will next look at the purpose of BoP using a practical example, and finally discuss some of the factors motivating performance balancing decisions.

Manufacturers will hopefully spend money advertising their involvement and thus increase exposure of the race series

My first exposure to the world of BoP was during the early 2010s when working as a race engineer on a GT car in the Grand-Am series (now the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship). We felt the car needed more front downforce, so we designed a new venting system to prevent air from building up under the front bodywork. The proposed design was submitted to the powers that be at Grand-Am, and our proposal was ultimately rejected. Did I loathe those people for rejecting my idea? Of course! But that was a long time ago, and I have moved on to work alongside some of those very same people. Prior to engineering a car in Grand-Am my experience was primarily in open-wheel racing (Champ Car and IndyCar), and prototypes (ALMS LMP1 and P2). The closest I had come to BoP before engineering those cars was around 2004 with the Speed World Challenge Series and its rewards weight system.

In between my World Challenge and Grand-Am experiences, I worked with Newman-Haas Racing in Champ