Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2019 i Racecar Engineering

Communication has always had its pitfalls, dependent as it is on noises accepted as ways of passing on thoughts to others, plus the miracle of squiggly lines that crystallise them on stone, parchment, paper or screen. Just ponder how those squiggles can take you into the mind of someone you have never met and has been dead for a couple of centuries. Spooky. Humanity owes a great debt to it, more than animals, which have a limited vocabulary, expressing themselves by non-verbal cues. We can also use these shortcuts by, say, flipping the bird at someone or frowning. A raised eyebrow while listening to someone can convey a whole mindset, not to mention eye rolling. Steven Pinker, a linguistics professor, claims that human language is different from animal communication not…

Q I share many of your thoughts on the front suspension of current F1 cars [see October’s edition, V29N10]. As a machine designer I’m concerned about the ball joint loads, but I agree that it just takes stronger components and more weight. But what about even higher loads if we move the control arms [wishbones] even closer together? I’ve not thought this through, but it seems that there might be a camber gain benefit if the control arms were even closer. That is, the camber gain could be enormous if the control arms were only one inch (25mm) apart and only a little different in length. Maybe we would take material strengths to the limit with this? For any design of upright, the camber velocity depends entirely on front view…

‘We have a whole bunch of cars being produced which can’t be raced anywhere and can’t go on the road’ Not so long ago the single seater ladder was a bit rickety, when it came to logic; with GP2, F3, GP3, FR 3.5 and various junior formulae. Recent changes have seen it simplified, and what could be more sensible than Formula 1, 2, 3 and then 4? In GT racing, as epitomised in the categories promoted and organised by SRO, there will next year also be categories ranging through one to four, with the addition of GT1 to the existing classes. So, it will be in the order of GT1, 2, 3 and then 4, right? Not quite. Things aren’t that simple in the world of customer sport, and it’s…

Ferdinand Piech, who will always be remembered in motorsport circles as the man behind the legendary Porsche 917, has died at the age of 82. Piech passed away four years after he stepped down from his post as chairman of the Volkswagen Group and, according to a statement released by his wife, Ursula, he died ‘suddenly and unexpectedly’. The grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, Piech worked at the family concern until 1972, when he was forced out of the company amid some acrimony. In the 1960s, in his role as head of development at Porsche – which included motorsport – he came up with the 917 concept to exploit a loophole in the regulations at that time. The car went on to win Le Mans in 1970 and 1971 and then…

Opening times Autosport International opening times: 9am- 6pm across both trade (Thursday and Friday) and public days (Saturday and Sunday). Trade tickets The trade tickets (Thursday and Friday) cost £27 (per day) with a two-day ticket costing £45. MSA members will be able to purchase a ticket for £22.50 while BRSCC members can attend the trade days for free. Public tickets • Advance public tickets (Saturday and Sunday) £19 for children (5-16) and £31 for adults. • Standard tickets provide entry to Autosport International and the Performance & Tuning Car Show, plus a seat in the Live Action Arena. • Family (two adult tickets and two child tickets) £84 valid for the Sunday and the Live Action Arena at 10am. • Paddock tickets adults £41, children £29 including Live Action…

Timing can be everything. Had the more ‘racy’ attitude of the stewards in the second half of this year’s F1 championship been in place since the start, Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel would likely have won the controversial Canadian GP. If this had been the case, it is feasible that many of the latter’s current difficulties might have been avoided. The confidence that winning brings cannot be underestimated – Vettel was denied that. Ironically, of course, it was that very incident which forced the revision in interpreting similar actions – one can also question if it’s fair to change the sporting rules, any more than the technical regulations, in the middle of a season? Vettel is going through a lengthy dismal patch, that’s for certain, for reasons which can only be…

In the last few articles we have covered how to analyse the aspects of the braking part of a corner by looking at braking aggression, brake application point, and braking stability. However, braking is only one small fraction of what can be analysed in a corner. Corner apex and exit speed can prove to be just as important, as it will define how much quicker a driver is through the corner and along the next straight. To determine how well a driver can accelerate out of a corner we can analyse how much time they are spending with no throttle or braking input through a given turn. The time, or the percentage of the lap time spent neither on brake or on throttle, known as coast factor, can in turn…

Joie Chitwood III has resigned from his post as executive vice president and chief operating officer at International Speedway Corporation (ISC), the US track operating company which owns 13 venues including Daytona, Talladega, Darlington, and Watkins Glen. Chitwood, who helped to steer the Daytona Rising project and the rebuilding of ISM Raceway during his time at the organisation, will step down at the end of November. Jeff Horton is no longer director of engineering at IndyCar. Horton has overseen a number of high-profile projects since joining the series in 2002, including many safety advances – among them the recent aeroscreen and the Advanced Frontal Protection device – while he has also worked on the kinetic energy recovery system that’s to be introduced in 2022. David Clarke has joined the Mahindra…

Plenty is happening in the world of motorsport right now, but I’m afraid we simply can’t ignore Brexit, as deadlines are close and we can expect imminent changes. At the time of writing there’s still no clear outcome so we must hope that the politicians and bureaucrats in Brussels and London can reach a sensible agreement which allows businesses to continue to create wealth and jobs in both the EU and UK. I encourage all MIA members and the UK industry to take some basic precautions, no matter the outcome. Check carefully all your contracts, whether for sale or supply with or from the EU, as some terms could cause difficulties and should be changed before they do so. Ensure you understand your contractual responsibilities and liabilities and clarify your…

I interviewed FIA President Jean Todt at the opening round of the WTCC season in Marrakech in 2014, also the launch of the TC1 era. Those cars were impossibly expensive, with carbon bodywork and new engines. As the BTCC became too expensive in the late 1990s it suffered as a result, so to start the new era of WTCC with a costly concept seemed at best ill-advised. Yet, Todt declared that if you want modern racing, it’s with the highest technology, and if you want tradition, go historic. ‘All the manufacturers are talking about hybrid, electric, hydrogen, downsized engines, so if you want to have a sense about racing, there must be a link,’ he told me. ‘I have a passion for racing, I have a passion for old cars,…

The fact is that from purely technical perspectives the changes outlined in the draft regulations are minor in the bigger scheme of things That F1 faced paradigm technological and sporting shifts – potentially the largest in its 70-year history – was clear immediately Liberty Media completed its purchase of the sport’s commercial rights in January 2017. Over time, the sport had become bogged down in the antiquated ways of its out-of-touch tsar Bernie Ecclestone – who, it was said, could not send a text message, let alone fathom social media. Not only did the American company immediately boot Bernie, who had ruled F1 with an iron-clad glove since the mid-70s, ‘upstairs’ as chairman emeritus – saliently, without executive powers – but it also employed technical legend Ross Brawn as managing…

Chassis Carbon fibre composite. Safety structures Cockpit survival cell incorporating impact resistant construction and anti penetration panels; front impact structure; prescribed side impact structures; integrated rear impact structure; front and rear roll structures, Halo cockpit protection device. Bodywork Carbon fibre composite, including engine cover, sidepods, floor, nose, front wing and rear wing with driver-operated drag reduction system. Power unit Renault E-tech 19; 1.6-litre V6 ICE; 90-degree bank angle; max speed 15,000rpm; direct injection, single injector per cylinder, 500bar max; single-stage compressor and exhaust turbine, common shaft; MGU-K (max speed 50,000 rpm, max power 120kW); MGU-H (max speed 10,000rpm). Transmission Carbon fibre composite main case gearbox, longitudinally-mounted; 8-speed electro-hydraulically operated seamless shift; epicyclic differential with multi-plate limited slip clutch; electro-hydraulically operated, carbon multi-plate clutch. Front suspension Carbon fibre wishbone and pushrod…

Engine Cosworth GPV8; 3.8-litre; 32 valves; naturally-aspirated; 135kg; longitudinal mid-mounted; 90-degree vee; cast aluminium alloy cylinder block and heads; forged aluminium pistons; steel crankshaft; Pectel SQ6 ECU, dry sump. Chassis Carbon composite; Nomex core and aluminium core construction; autoclave cure; carbon composite Nomex core construction body panels. Transmission Ricardo gearbox; longitudinal layout; dog engagement semi-automatic paddle shift, pneumatic actuation; auto throttle blip/ignition cut; triple-plate carbon clutch. Suspension Double wishbone; springs actuated via pushrod and rocker arrangements; adjustable ride height and camber; Ohlins 4-way dampers; front and rear anti-roll bars with blade type adjustment. Safety Systems Cockpit and engine bay nozzle fire system (FIA approved); 6-point FIA F1 spec harness, quick release turn buckle; headrest to comply with FIA regulations; front/rear crash structures and roll hoop designed and tested to FIA…

The Reynard SF79 was one of the best FF2000 cars ever made and Paul Allen, the owner of our test example, has been making regular podium visits in historic races with his. We saw in the previous issue that the car arrived at the MIRA full-scale wind tunnel with a fairly well-balanced aero set-up, supporting the owner’s seat-of-the-pants assessment. Having crunched some of the numbers from our session we speculated that drag might actually be a more important performance parameter than downforce, and this tallied with Allen’s desire to improve end-of-straight speed with drag reduction. A wide range of adjustments was made to gain a better understanding of the aero. For reference the baseline data are shown in Table 1. Flap changes Additional rear wing flap angles above and below…

It was with great interest that I read Peter Wright’s article in the August 2019 (V29N8) edition about what would be required to reboot F1. I very much enjoyed it and I believe it was important, because it’s time for us to start an informed conversation about where motorsport needs to go. One of the things I am noticing is that every major category that I’m either directly involved in or have customers who are involved in – whether it’s Supercars here in Australia, DTM, sportscars, GT3 and others – is doing some hard thinking about its future. This is not motivated by expanding the brand, though. This is more about long term survival. The time for talk is over. Action needs to be taken, otherwise motor racing will degenerate…

Former Mercedes F1 engineering director Aldo Costa is to join racecar manufacturer Dallara as its chief technical officer next year. Costa quit his most recent role as a technical advisor at the Mercedes team in mid-September – a consultancy position he took on after stepping back from the engineering director role for this season. The Italian joined Mercedes from Ferrari, where he had worked for 16 years, in 2011, while he started his Formula 1 career with Minardi in 1988. Costa is set to start work as CTO at Dallara at the beginning of 2020. The Italian manufacturer is responsible for the spec single seaters that race in IndyCar, F2 and F3 and is also a technical partner of the Haas Formula 1 team. Costa said: ‘After many years working…