Bronze+ penalized in Michelin Le Mans Cup

Allergic to math, move on. The Michelin Le Mans Cup has published new regulations for the best bronze-classified drivers.

In recent seasons, it has been noted that some bronze-ranked drivers have posted times as fast, or even faster, than those set by silver-ranked drivers, gaining an unfair advantage over their amateur colleagues.

The regulations will be introduced to identify these Bronze+ drivers and level the playing field in a clear, transparent and objective process. It will determine the pace of silver drivers, identifying bronze drivers who are in that range and penalizing them based on their performance.

This is where a diploma in advanced math becomes necessary. The Silver performance range is divided into four quarters. Bronze+ drivers whose lap times fall just within the top quarter of the silver driver's performance range would have 20 seconds added to their pit stop time.

Drivers who fall into the second quarter, which is the zone that is close to the silver driver average, would have 50 seconds added to their pit stop time.

Finally, bronze drivers who fall in the third quarter would have an additional 80 seconds, with the final quarter having a 120-second penalty. A penalty is only applied if the bronze driver is as fast as a silver driver.

The penalty only applies to the driver and not the competitor. A full report of Barcelona's results will be made available so that penalty calculations are transparent. The Barcelona tests are scheduled to take place on April 14.