Indholdsfortegnelse for 10/01/19 i Autosport

It’s not news that elements of Formula 1’s overtaking problem are the levels of downforce and turbulent wakes the cars produce. While many fans are rightly frustrated at how long it has taken for the issue to be addressed, it is at least a positive that those in the sport are finally looking into possible solutions with proper data. So what does that mean for the 2019 regulation changes, which focus mainly on the front wing? As our investigation on page 16 shows, the tweaks are unlikely to produce a dramatic change in on-track action. Teams believe that they will slow the cars and should stop the overtaking issue getting worse but, for a significant shift, we will probably have to wait until the more-extensive rule changes scheduled to come…

Each Formula 1 era is one to savour I used some of my down time this holiday season to ponder your question as to the best era ever in F1 (January 3). In doing so I tuned to my collection of Autocourse annuals, now 55 issues deep. What I found in combing through the rich history of our sport is that no one era is better than any other since each contains the very ingredients that keep us transfixed year after year and anxiously waiting for 2:00 (now 2:10) on Sunday afternoons. Yes, the competitive nature of each era is different and characterised by changes in the formula, advances in technology and the understanding of science, but the fascination with machines flirting with the limits of speed coupled to the…

This week the 29th edition of Autosport International takes place at the NEC in Birmingham. Since its 1991 inception, the show has gathered the entire spectrum of motorsport – from karts and oval racing through to rallying and, of course, Formula 1 – all in one place. On Saturday, the World Rally Championship will launch in front of the public for the first time at the show. McLaren will present its all-new F1 driver line-up, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz Jr. Gamers can fight for a share of $100,000, plus W Series enters the limelight as it seeks to break down the barriers to greater female participation in motorsport. Alan Hyde, guru of the British Touring Car paddock, who will take the reins as host of the Autosport Stage this year,…

As a motorsport fan, it’s your duty to attend Autosport International – six-time World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier is expecting you. The WRC was launched at Birmingham’s NEC for the first time last year. But Ogier wanted the fans to see more of the action. The 2018 series was unveiled on Thursday’s opening day of ASI. Why couldn’t we do this on a Saturday, he asked. Why couldn’t we do this on a Saturday? We could. And Saturday January 12 is going to be good. It’ll be known as the WRC’s very own ‘Super Saturday’. Ogier is delighted: “This is good news, great news. Last year it was a good event to launch the season, to have everybody together. And if there are going to be even more fans there…

MINI CHALLENGE The Mini Challenge has completed a multi-year deal to take over the vacant slot on the British Touring Car Championship support package from 2020 onwards. The vacancy had been created by the departure of the Renault UK Clio Cup, which will will cease to run after the 2019 season. BTCC organiser TOCA had been searching for a direct replacement for the Clio Cup to ensure that a suitable tin-top feeder series continues to form part of the race undercard. The announcement that the Mini Challenge would join the TOCA package was due to be made at the Autosport International Show at the Birmingham NEC, which opens today (January 10). The deal secures two Mini races on the undercard of all 10 scheduled BTCC rounds. The top-flight two-litre turbocharged…

EURO PICKUPS A fully paid drive in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is the prize for the winner of a new championship for 2019. The V6 Euro Pickup Series will feature four-litre, 350bhp machines that were previously used – with Ford Mondeo bodies – in the Benelux Racing League Series. The pickups will be centrally run by Total Motorsport, established by Stephen Young and Hubertus Heyman as a satellite of Racing-Total, which currently runs two cars in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. There will be six race weekends with 27 races across two venues: the half-mile Venray oval in the Netherlands and the Racepark Meppen road circuit in Germany. A full season will cost €55,000+VAT. The total prize fund is worth more than €175,000, with the champion getting a 2020…

MGBCV8 CHAMPIONSHIP Many would have questioned the ongoing viability of a 40-year-old multi-class championship with just 15 cars on the grid for its 2017 finale at Snetterton but, 12 months on, more than twice as many entered the concluding MG Car Club BCV8 Championship round at the same venue. Thanks to the sterling work of long-time coordinator Pam McCarthy – mother of 2017 champion Russell – and with added promotional impetus from established competitor James Wheeler, grids surged from an average of 17 cars in ’17 to 27 for the ’18 season. With the cars dating from the 1960s and ’70s the category benefits from a historic bounce, and the roaring full-race V8-powered machinery in the top class makes it one of the most spectacular championships around. The memorable decider…

WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN? WHO IS THIS? This bandy-legged maestro set new standards that still pass muster to this day. Having swapped books for spanners he initially set off in a blue oval, but it was a switch to a bow-tie that yielded international recognition. When the guns fell silent he was invited to join the best and soon proved his worth. Poor reliability blunted his first assault on the world stage, but he responded in dominant fashion. Injury meant he spent the next year on the sidelines, while a lack of a competitive car stymied his comeback. This was but a blip and he was soon fired back into contention, and he delivered over and over and over and over again. He became an unlikely political pawn as the…

Formula 1 has changed almost beyond recognition since March pitched up to the 1970 South African Grand Prix with five Robin Herd-penned 701s. Each cost £6000 – later upped to £9k after a friendly word of advice from Ford’s Walter Hayes – and claimed pole and a podium on debut, a mere matter of months after the company had been set up with just £10,000 put in by its four founding members. Despite frequent attempts to cut costs by implementing test bans, along with ever-tighter restrictions on CFD and windtunnel usage, there remains a gulf between the haves and have-nots. This inequality appears desperately unlikely to change anytime soon, despite Liberty Media’s best intentions. The oft-mooted cost cap is no nearer to fruition than it was a decade ago, when…

FORMULA 1 Maurizio Arrivabene has been replaced as team principal at Ferrari by the team’s technical chief Mattia Binotto. There had long been rumours that Binotto and Arrivabene had disagreements about the direction and approach of the team as it continues to bid to end its decade-long F1 title drought. Before the Christmas break, Arrivabene hit out at what he called “fake news” over reports that Binotto was so frustrated with the situation that he could leave the team. Now Ferrari’s senior bosses have decided that its hopes of stopping Mercedes’ dominance are better served with Binotto in charge. “After four years of untiring commitment and dedication, Maurizio Arrivabene is leaving the team,” read Ferrari’s statement. “The decision was taken together with the company’s top management after lengthy discussions related…

BTCC Reigning champion Colin Turkington will be back in the British Touring Car Championship in 2019, and for the first time the three-time title winner will carry the #1 on a WSR BMW 125i M Sport. The 36-year-old Northern Irishman took his maiden crown with WSR in 2009 before leaving the BTCC to pursue other drives. He won the championship again with WSR in ’14, but then carried the #1 to Team BMR to drive a Volkswagen in ’15. Turkington took just one victory in the 2018 campaign but prevailed over rival Tom Ingram by 12 points in the final reckoning. “I think we just have to look for the small gains wherever we can to push ourselves forward,” said Turkington. “We will go through everything with a fine-toothed comb,…

Another year, another rule change. Given Formula 1’s hit-and-miss record for‘improving the show’ with new regulations, you’d be forgiven for shrugging your shoulders and asking why the changes to the front and rear wing, brake ducts and bargeboards in 2019 matter, especially given that they will not definitely eliminate the problem of cars not being able to follow each other closely. But there’s a wider context to this year’s step that makes it more than just another change, since it’s effectively the first manifestation – a preview, if you like – of F1’s new approach to tackling its problems. But first it’s crucial to manage your expectations. The tweaks will not allow drivers to sit under the rear wing of the car ahead without any trouble and launch audacious passing…

It’s a salutary thought that the last five winners of the Award had not been born when I was first asked to be one of the judges, back in 1995. This was the year after the British Racing Drivers’ Club, at the instigation of the then-club secretary John Fitzpatrick, had joined McLaren and Autosport as the Award’s stakeholders. Already by then, just six years after its launch, the Award had established itself as an important goal to which every young British driver aspired. The involvement of the BRDC had one immediate financial benefit in that the cash prize doubled to £50,000. Back then, this was a very worthwhile contribution to the budget required for the next step up the ladder. Until recently the prize increased to £100,000 but has since…

BOOK REVIEW DRIVEN: THE MEN WHO MADE FORMULA ONE RRP £20.00 “They competed on the track and scrapped to outdo each other’s bank balance, yet whenever shit hit the fan, they closed ranks like the Corleones.” Take a moment to consider just how many times the names of Bernie Ecclestone, Max Mosley, Ron Dennis, Frank Williams, Eddie Jordan, Colin Chapman, Ken Tyrrell, Luca di Montezemolo and Enzo Ferrari have graced the pages of Autosport. Then, consider why the names of these nine men have become synonymous with Formula 1. Individually, their USPs would make each a formidable opponent: Ecclestone’s eye for a deal; di Montezemolo’s suave persona combined with his links to the upper echelons of Italian society; or the intensity and self-belief to make things happen of Dennis and Williams.“They…

Supermarket shoppers, babies in desperate need of emergency transportation and British soldiers – all are linked by one company. It’s got a famous first name in the motorsport sphere too: Williams Advanced Engineering. Alongside Williams’s illustrious 42-year history in Formula 1, its 114 grand prix wins, seven drivers’ champions and nine constructors’ titles, WAE can trace its roots back through the team’s involvement with the Metro 6R4 rally car, the Renault British Touring Car squad and the 1999 Le Mans-winning BMW V12 LMR machine. But the foundations of the WAE business were solidly put down in the late 2000s. F1 teams needed to buy or develop the first elements of hybrid systems with KERS units for the 2009 season, and Williams developed both battery and flywheel versions of the technology.…

As Formula 1 continues its relentless progress into pioneering technology, it’s refreshing when a real throwback enters the fray. The little HRT team that ran aground in 2012 was most definitely one of them; staging a full F1 season on a €46million budget, F1’s first Spanish team was a modern homage to the mass of tiny outfits battling for a space on the grid in the late 1980s and early ’90s. After three years of toil with little reward, it met a similar fate to the likes of Simtek, Pacific and Forti when its owner Thesan Capital was unable to sell the team. Triggered by the collapse of Lola’s F1 dream in 1997, the FIA had tightened up the entry requirements to join F1, requiring any entries seeking to join…

For some engineers, the lure of a life spent tinkering with engines es in pursuit of power, efficiency and reliability means they are destined for a career in motorsport. But despite his enviable track record at the Le Mans 24 Hours – a strike rate of 78% between 1999 and 2016, claiming 13 wins with Audi and one with Bentley in ’03 – that wasn’t the case for Audi Sport’s long-time head of engine development ent Ulrich Baretzky. Based at Audi Sport’s Neckarsulm site in Baden-Wurttemburg, rg, 120 miles north-west of the Ingolstadt HQ where the Team Joest-run R8, R10, R15 and R18 juggernauts originated, Baretzky is an engineer whose contribution to Audi’s successes in touring cars, prototype racing and GT3 cannot be gauged in sheer numbers alone. The 64-year-old…

When Ed Carpenter became the third driver with a Chevrolet aerokit in five days – after Helio Castroneves and Josef Newgarden – to suffer an airborne accident while practicing for the 2015 Indianapolis 500, IndyCar officials took the unprecedented step of delaying qualifying to consider the impact of the radical new oval package. At the centre of the storm was Cardiff’s Tino Belli. As IndyCar’s director of aerodynamic development since 2014, he had overseen the introduction of kits from Honda and Chevrolet, so would be tasked with finding a more permanent solution to keeping cars on the ground than simply cutting boost. Together with kit manufacturers Pratt & Miller (Chevrolet) and Wirth Research (Honda), Belli reintroduced a domed skid-plate and developed beam-wing flaps for the rear wing, designed to deploy…

DAYTONA 24 HOURS While the driver spotlights at the Daytona 24 Hours test last weekend inevitably fell on Fernando Alonso – competing in Wayne Taylor Racing’s Cadillac DPi-V.R prototype – and Alex Zanardi, racing a BMW M8 for the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team in GT Le Mans, it was Mazda Team Joest that truly deserved the plaudits. Ever since Joest took over running the RT24-Ps towards the end of the 2017 season, these handsome DPi cars have looked more consistent. Only driver error prevented a win at Laguna Seca last year; then the pair finished second and third at Petit Le Mans. Since then, there has been a further leap in performance. Last weekend at Daytona, one or other of the Mazdas led four of the seven practice sessions,…

MOTORSPORT HEROES Motorsport Heroes, the first major feature-film commission of Motorsport Network, was given a sneak preview of its narrative and cast list last week. Directed and produced by BAFTA and Sundanace award-winning Senna mastermind Manish Pandey (right of pic), the film brings together two-time Formula 1 world champion Mika Hakkinen, ex-F1 star Felipe Massa, nine-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Tom Kristensen and former World Rally heroine Michele Mouton. “Motorsport Heroes puts four central protagonists together in a setting that is conducive to recounting their incredible life stories, their successes as much as their trials and tribulations,” explained Pandey. “Rather than script the story, Tom, Felipe, Michele and Mika relay their own recollections, they share their experiences. Thus the narrative we are drawing out is organic, driven by our…

In some corners, the change in technical regulations for 2019 represents the biggest change in Formula 1’s aerodynamic formula since ’09. That rules set produced a sea change in the pecking order, but didn’t exactly prove to be the silver bullet in addressing F1’s on-track shortcomings. The 2019 regulations have been designed and developed by FOM and the FIA’s in-house technical research teams, and are selected elements taken from FOM’s research ahead of the ’21 season, when bigger changes are planned. Together, their respective engineers have seen tangible merit in their respective simulations, otherwise the changes in dimensions simply wouldn’t have been included. Of the field so far, only Williams and Force India have trialled 2019-spec front wings on track, at the mid-season test in Hungary. Although the concepts seen…

When Sebastien Ogier talks of his fresh World Rally Championship deal and new life at Citroen, he speaks of potential, of prospects. It’s all about one last roll of the dice; one final challenge. But take him back a month, to M-Sport, and his face creases. He smiles. Malcolm Wilson’s team, his home for two seasons, was his family. It’s still surprising the impact Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia had on the British squad; and, probably even more remarkable, the impact that M-Sport had on the Frenchmen. When Ogier signed to drive a Ford Fiesta WRC for 2017, it was almost impossible to predict how things would play out. The service park hadn’t been short on stories of how Ogier had enjoyed a cosseted life with Volkswagen. The Hanover team…

One of the biggest strengths of the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award has been the continued support from so many people. None more so than McLaren, which has been a very special partner at the heart of the Award and helped give it massive credibility. Being able to use the McLaren Technology Centre gives everyone such a boost – you can see it in the finalists when they arrive and take in the amazing history that McLaren has, with the display of world championship cars and trophies. “McLAREN HAS BEEN A VERY SPECIAL PARTNER AT THE HEART OF THE AWARD AND HAS HELPED GIVE IT MASSIVE CREDIBILITY” McLaren has also organised the fitness and simulator testing in some years, along with all the data analysis to help the judges find the…

BMW CAR CLUB The 750 Motor Club’s M3 Cup and BMW 330 Challenge categories will be amalgamated into the BMW Car Club Racing Championship for 2019. The two series shared a grid last year but still struggled to get more than 15 entries combined. Now the club has decided that rather than running dedicated championships for these cars, they can move to the popular BMW Car Club series. This has achieved championship status for its second season this year and the regulations have been written to make sure cars from the other categories can easily be accommodated. “We’re not going to run M3 Cup and 330 Challenge [individually] and instead will focus on running one very strong BMW Car Club Racing Championship,”said 750MC competitions secretary Giles Groombridge. “We have written…

PICKUP TRUCKS Ex-British Touring Car racer Lea Wood is weighing up a return to tin-tops in 2019 after three years in the Pickup Truck Racing Championship. Wood, who finished second to Scott Bourne last year and Freddie Lee in 2016, is eyeing a new challenge. One that has caught his eye is the Touring Car Trophy, a series launched by Stewart Lines for two-litre turbocharged touring cars. “I’m looking at my options for this year,” said the 2013 BTCC Jack Sears Trophy winner.“There’s a few irons in the fire. I’ll be going to Autosport International to see what’s going on there. “The only thing that strikes me as being quite interesting is the Touring Car Trophy. It does appeal to me and it’s had a lot of interest and I’ll…

RGB Two-time RGB champion Billy Albone has announced that he will not be racing full-time in 2019, boosting the chances of title runner-up Christopher Wesemael, who returns for his second year in the series aiming to fight for the crown. Spire GT3S driver Albone, who won back-to-back titles in 2017 and ’18, is stepping back to focus on his business. “I’ve got too much going on to race full-time this year,”he said. “We have a couple of cars in the C1 Challenge now. We have eight drivers signed up, four in each car. “We’re running a karting team with full factory support in the British championship this year as well. It’s a bit up in the air with what’s going on with karting, so we’re keeping our options open.” Wesemael…

MALLORY PARK BRSCC DECEMBER 26 Double North West Sports/Saloon champion Joe Spencer gained some useful experience ahead of his 2019 750 Motor Club Bikesports campaign by winning both of the BRSCC Sports Car races at Mallory Park on Boxing Day in a newly acquired Radical PR6. The Leicestershire driver won the regional title in 2015 and ’17, and a campaign in the 750MC competition – aboard a Spire – was mooted for last year.“We’ve still got the Spire in build,”explained the 23-year-old. “We’ve got this car [the ex-Phil Cooper race-winning PR6] as a bit of a benchmark. I’ve never driven a downforce car before, so I thought if I got the Radical I would know roughly what it should feel like so we could set the Spire up. Then we…

FROM THE ARCHIVE Michael Schumacher (Ferrari F310B) kicks up the dust and detritus during the 1997 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, the penultimate round of the season. He started the race from second place on the grid, behind title rival Jacques Villeneuve (Williams-Renault FW19), but Schumacher’s ascension to the top step of the podium was assisted by Ferrari’s pragmatic and very effective deployment of Eddie Irvine as his wingman. FOR MORE GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS, VISIT MOTORSPORTIMAGES.COM…

Fuel-tank manufacturer Aero Tec Laboratories (ATL) has won Autosport International’s Product Showcase Cross-Industry Application Award – presented by the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) – for its FIA FT5-1999 fuel cell. The award is aimed at products that have demonstrated their potential application in sectors of industry as well as in motorsport. ATL’s FT5 fuel cell was considered the strongest candidate among its competitors, and was recognised as the winner of the cross-industry category in the inaugural Product Showcase Awards. “Companies are continuously looking to improve the safety of those who engage with their technology,” said MTA technical manager Joshua Dugdale. “Whether you work in marine, aerospace, automotive, defence or construction, safety is of paramount importance. The innovation and technology utilised in the design and construction of the FIA FT5-1999 has…