Innehållsförteckning för March 2016 från Racecar Engineering

When the World Championship for Makes, the predecessor to the WEC, ran out of steam in the first half of the 1970s, new rules were required to revive the championship and rekindle the interest of the manufacturers. Thus, in 1976, under pressure from West German manufacturers, it was decided that the emphasis would be on volume-produced GT cars, such as the Porsche 911, Ford Capri and BMW 3.5 CSL. The new generation racecars were referred to as silhouettes, but the new category was formally known as Group 5. While these cars would retain the shape and basic architecture of a production GT car, the technical rules allowed for some liberal changes, especially when it came to the engine and the aerodynamics of the cars. The engine had to stay in…

The new Hyundai World Rally Car is some 99 per cent different to the outgoing 2015 car Change is afoot for the top teams in the World Rally Championship, not least because of revised technical regulations coming into force from the beginning of 2017. This has meant that most manufacturers are holding back until next year to launch new cars. Not Hyundai, though, which for various reasons has homologated its new ‘NG’ Hyundai i20 WRC. The car made its debut on the Monte Carlo Rally in January, winning stages and finishing on the podium. NG stands for New Generation, a tag which aims to emphasise that the latest i20 production car is far removed from a ‘facelift’ development; indeed it is an entirely new model with a completely revised floorpan,…

One of the most important jobs for any race/data/performance engineer is to asses and quantify the stability of the racecar. This is absolutely critical, because the stability or otherwise of the racecar will have a critical impact on the driver’s confidence and their ability to drive the car to the very limit of its performance envelope. The focus of this article will be to summarise two important tools that we can use to assess this. The first will be the neutral steer channel. This is a great sanity check that allows you to quickly assess what is going on with the car. The other method I’ll discuss is using a tyre model based method of calculating the stability index and tying this in using slip angle data from data or…

Subaru is to compete in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) this season, teaming up with crack tin-top outfit BMR for its first assault on the premier British racing category. The Japanese manufacturer, which is better known in the motorsport world for its success in the WRC – particularly in the 1990s – will campaign an estate version of its Levorg in the championship. A three-year deal has been signed with BMR, which will enter four cars for Subaru’s first ever season in the BTCC. While the Levorg is a 4wd car on the road BMR will run it in rear-wheel-drive configuration on the track, which it is able to do thanks to a rule change at the end of last season. The car will pack a 2-litre turbocharged Mountune-developed…

NASCAR venue Kentucky Speedway is to be the subject of a massive renovation project this year which is set to be completed before the three major US stock car series visit the track in July. Chief among the planned improvements are increases to the banking in Turns 1 and 2, plus the re-paving of the entire tri-oval. Additional SAFER barriers are also to be installed, and work on the project has already begun. Mark Simendinger, the general manager of Kentucky Speedway, said: ‘Modifying Turns 1 and 2 will present an exciting challenge to the drivers while addressing issues of the track surface, [while the] SAFER barriers and drainage will improve safety, which is always our paramount concern.’ The project will be overseen by Steve Swift, the vice president of Operations…

While the McLaren race team struggled on track and securing and keeping sponsorship in 2015, its road car offshoot enjoyed a hugely successful year, and has now created 250 new skilled jobs at its hi-tech Woking HQ on the back of increased demand for its sportscars. McLaren Automotive tells us a total of 1654 cars were delivered to customers across 30 markets, and that the demand for its cars, especially the recently-launched Sports Series, has driven the need for a second shift at the McLaren Production Centre and the immediate recruitment of 250 skilled workers. The record year by McLaren Automotive was supported by the launch of no fewer than five new models while its global retailer network grew in 2015 – to 80 retailers covering 30 markets – with…

The B-G Racing Digital Dual Axis Angle Gauge can be used to measure absolute and relative angles to 0.1-degree accuracy in single and dual axis. It features a large back lit LCD screen, a hold button to freeze the display, a programmable audio buzzer, auto power off function, and V shaped multiple magnetic sides for easy mounting. The digital gauge has low power consumption with a rechargeable battery life of 40 hours. A USB and a mains charger are included in the kit. www.bg-racing.co.uk…

‘Looking at the overall portfolio that we had within BMW, the M6 turned out to be the most suitable car in terms of aerodynamics’ It could be argued that BMW should not have been in the IMSA GT LM category for the past 15 years. The M3 GTR, with a 4-litre V8 engine that raced in the American Le Mans Series was, according to rivals, brought in under false pretences; the extremely limited run of production cars barely materialised. The Z4 was a GT3 car that was brought up to GTE specification and now, the M6 has similarly been adapted from GT3 specification to race in the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship in the US. There is, says BMW, no other option. The company just doesn’t produce a car that is GTLM…

Identical components reduces manufacturing costs, and means racers can carry fewer spares A series-specific racecar is fairly common in motorsports. Such a formula is used in everything from the top levels of the sport on down to the ranks of amateur racing. However, there is a tremendous difference between the ‘spec’ cars in professional racing and those marketed to amateurs. What typically is available to amateurs on a budget is a scaled-down open-top sports racer with old technology, and limited performance, nothing at all like top-tier cars. But Elan Motorsports Technologies and the United States’ sanctioning body, the National Auto Sport Association (NASA), have decided there’s an untapped market between those two paradigms, and the two companies have filled that niche with an affordable, closed-cockpit prototype racecar. The Elan NP01…

Ferrari’s recent flotations on the New York and Milan stock exchanges have piled extra pressure on to its Formula 1 team as the organisation steps out from the protection of the Fiat Chrysler umbrella, and its president has now said it needs to return to the very top of the sport. The Italian sportscar maker has been spun-off from the Fiat Chrysler group and is now owned by Exor SpA, an investment company controlled by the Agnelli family (the name behind Fiat), and Enzo Ferrari’s son Piero Ferrari, who’s kept a 10 per cent slice of the company his father founded. Ferrari had a shaky start on its Milan debut in January, beginning its trading at €43/share before slipping to €41.75, then being briefly suspended, before climbing back to €41.90.…

NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France has insisted he is committed to improving the lot of NASCAR teams and has hinted that a franchise system might be put in place. Team owners in the sport have been pushing for a franchising model, which would give them a bigger stake in NASCAR, since the ’90s, but NASCAR has resisted moves in the past. Now, however, France said there could be a change. Speaking on MRN Radio he said: ‘I don’t have to tell you how important [owners] are as stakeholders. So what we’re always trying to do is look at their particular interests and see how to make that work better.‘ When asked specifically about a franchising, or ‘charter’ system – as NASCAR is referring to it – he said: ‘It’s…

UK-based sports and racing car manufacturer Ginetta has picked up the top prize at the prestigious Motorsport Industry Association’s (MIA) annual Business Excellence Awards. Ginetta received the MIA Business of the Year Award, sponsored by Xtrac, for its outstanding business growth and its successful motorsport involvement in 2015. The Yorkshire-based concern, now in its 58th year, employs 70 people and boasts four single marque championships featuring in excess of 70 cars across their combined grids, while it also produces racecars for open competition. MIA CEO Chris Aylett said: ‘Ginetta Cars is a true British success story, producing innovative and ground-breaking cars, alongside thrilling race championships and extensive support for up and coming drivers. With almost six decades’ experience in the management, design and production of cars like the G40, G55…

The car which Volkswagen hopes will secure its fourth straight World Rally Championship crown is a lightly modified version of the successful 2015 Polo, VW has revealed. The front subframe has been strengthened, as have the rear axle wishbones for the gravel specification of the car. Meanwhile, under the bonnet the pistons in the 318bhp engine have also been the subject of a minor modification, in order to further optimise its reliability. ‘We are about to defend our world championship title for the third time in a row,’ said outgoing Volkswagen Motorsport director Jost Capito (see People, P88). ‘The opposition has not been sleeping, and has modified its cars for the new season. So have we, of course. [But] the changes to the Polo R WRC are basically fine-tuning and…

Former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher has teamed up with long-time Mercedes DTM technical boss Gerhard Ungar to run a team in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship in Germany this season. HTP Junior Team Ungar, which won the inaugural German F4 title last year, will now be jointly managed by Schumacher and Ungar. John Hume, a respected UK drag race engineer and dragster designer, has passed away. Hume was chief engineer for Sydney Allard during the period that the Allard Chrysler – Europe’s first dragster – and the Allard Dragon were built in the early 1960s. Former Ferrari sporting director Luca Baldisserri, who most recently has been in charge of the Ferrari Driver Academy, has left the Scuderia to mentor F3 frontrunner and now Williams F1 development driver Lance Stroll,…

Autosport Engineering stand awards The 2016 season started as it usually does for those in the European motorsport Industry, with a trip to Birmingham’s NEC, which plays host to the Autosport International show. This year there was something of a Williams theme to the event with key figures from its F1 team in attendance, along with a range of cars from its past and a semi-erected motorhome. As usual there were a range of launches and announcements, and this included the first GT car to ever be built in Poland, the new Gibson GH-20 sports prototype, plus the first real detailed look at the new generation National Hot Rod Stock Cars. Away from the main show, Jean Todt, the current FIA President, delivered the Motorsport Safety Fund’s prestigious Watkins Lecture,…

This compact BG Racing pyrometer is easy to use (both for left and right handed users). It records three temperatures per tyre and stores up to 10 sets of memory at any time, and has the ability to calculate the average tyre temperatures for each side of the vehicle, the cross corners and the axles. An auto lock recording feature is incorporated which means once the highest temperature is seen it is automatically recorded and the user can move to the next location on the tyre. All four brake temperatures can be recorded and stored in the 10 sets memory, but the brake temperature function requires an additional probe. www.bg-racing.co.uk…

Ferrari’s change in philosophy regarding the aero performance is obviously one of the major shifts in its approach The Ferrari 488 GTE car made its public debut at the Daytona 24 hours pre-test, a car that succeeds the successful 458 with an all-new turbo engine, and aero upgrades according to new regulations for the 2016 season. Yet, under the skin, the car has also undergone some major development work, reducing weight and increasing efficiency ahead of what is expected to be a tough season ahead on both sides of the Atlantic. It’s not just the look of the car that is interesting, though, because with the 488 Ferrari has taken an unusual approach, in that the GTE and GT3 cars share many common components. Some slight changes to the aero,…

‘As this is now based on a production engine, you can take the parts out of the line, and not go to a supplier to ask for another two crank-cases’ Porsche’s endurance racing heritage is built on customer racing, so it was no small hole in the marque’s arsenal that it didn’t have the latest GT3 model for sale in one of the fastest-growing categories. That all changed with the arrival as the head of motorsport of Frank-Steffen Walliser, who pushed through the development of the GT3 and, at his insistence, the new direct injection engine. The development of the engine has caused the car to be delayed, and it was a race against time to prepare it for its debut at the Daytona 24 hours at the end of…

It’s difficult to write up a New Zealand motorsport story without resorting to cliches and hyperbole about good old-fashioned Kiwi ingenuity. But that’s because it’s true. Getting on with it and getting the job done in a timely fashion is simply part of the Kiwi DNA. But this is much more than a make do and mend mentality. It’s because New Zealand is so far from everywhere, so the first option always considered is: ‘Can we make it?, rather than ‘Can we buy it in from somewhere and wait for it to arrive?’ By making it you control the outcome. In the case of Nelson Hartley – big brother to Brendon, the 2015 WEC champion for Porsche – there is prodigious output as well. Hartley runs Hartley Engines and Motorsport…

Many in the motorsport industry will be familiar with the motorsport technology roadmap, an attempt to map out the future technology requirements for the motorsport industry given the drivers from the regulators, the fans and the requirements of the associated automotive industry. At the MIA Energy Efficient Motorsport Conference, Chris Aylett (CEO MIA), asked me to go a step further, and predict what the grid of the future may look like, across a variety of classes of motorsport. I was initially asked to look at the potential grid in both five and 10 years’ time, but I quickly came to the conclusion that five years hence was too soon for any meaningful changes to be implemented, so I settled on 10 years. The main purpose of the roadmap is to…

Aston Martin has pulled back from plans for a branding tie-up with the Force India F1 team this season, which would have seen the Silverstone-based team operating under the famed sportscar producer’s name, but the deal is not dead, insists Force India. News of the deal surfaced in the autumn when Force India boss Vijay Mallya revealed that discussions with the British car maker were ongoing, leading to speculation that Aston Martin – a marque usually associated with sportscar racing – was to return to F1, albeit in name only, for the first time since 1959, when it campaigned unsuccessfully with its DBR4. But now Force India’s COO, Otmar Szafnauer, has said the deal will not go ahead this year. ‘It’s a big step, and it’s flattering that Aston Martin…

This year’s Sprint Cup Ford Fusion is to sport a new look, with changes made to the front of the car so that it more accurately resembles Ford’s new production model, which is due to hit the streets in 2017. Ford unveiled its new-look NASCAR challenger at the Detroit Motor Show, soon after the road car it’s based on was also shown to the public for the first time. The lower portion of the grille of the new Fusion is now more rounded than on previous models, while the inset area beneath the grille and above the splitter has undergone alterations, too. ‘There’s no mistaking we’re here to win races and championships,’ Dave Pericak, global director, Ford Performance, said. ‘And we believe the new NASCAR Fusion will be a powerful…

Formula 1 drivers will no longer be spraying Mumm champagne at the end of a successful grand prix, as it’s emerged that the company behind the brand, Pernod Ricard, is saying goodbye to F1. It’s been estimated that the company paid around €5m a year for the privilege of soaking F1 podia across the globe, but sources in the drinks industry have said that Formula One Management (FOM) has now decided that’s not quite enough, and it’s believed that Mumm’s predecessor in F1, Moet et Chandon, will now once again supply the celebration bubbly. Meanwhile, Mumm is to strengthen its ties with Formula E, for which it became the official champagne supplier in October. ‘In our mission to continually innovate, excite and push the boundaries, we have chosen to explore…

One of the founding members of the McLaren Formula 1 team, Tyler Alexander, has died at the age of 75. The American teamed up with Bruce McLaren to set up the latter’s eponymous organisation in the 1960s and was given a wide ranging role within the operation. As McLaren put it in a tribute: ‘Put simply, Tyler made things happen – quickly and efficiently with his trademark minimum of fuss. There were no definitions or boundaries to his role: he directed the mechanics; he machined spare parts; he arranged accommodation; he paid for last-minute airline tickets; he scrounged favours from a growing list of friends and colleagues. ‘He pushed and pulled McLaren’s racecars around the world, and, once at the track, made sure they were better engineered and organised than…

Kerf Developments has launched a new range of water jet cutters called the Optima Series. Kerf says this range of cutters will allow it to provide a cutting solution for a vast array of materials, in scenarios that may demand anything from low volume or prototype parts, through to high volume production. The process delivers clean cut smooth edges that eliminate secondary hand finishing operations, Kerf claims. The Optima water jet series now enables Kerf customers to process hard materials such as mild stainless and tool steel, aluminium, titanium, brass and copper; whilst brittle materials such as carbon fibre, ceramic, granite, Kevlar and marble are also easy to process, Kerf tells us. Capability is further enhanced by the option of a three, four or five axis head www.kerfdevelopments.com…

Gill Sensors and Controls has launched a new liquid level sensor aimed at achieving reliable and accurate tank level measurement. The new GS Level 4223, is said to be the result of 12 years’ experience and more than a year of internal development and testing. The new liquid level sensor will be offered as an alternative to Gill’s current R-Series sensor and customised variations, allowing all motorsport customers to benefit from variable length options, fast delivery times, and flexible mounting options. The sensor is a fit and function replacement for the current SAE 5-bolt sensors. The GS level 4223 also provides the added flexibility of off-the-shelf standard adaptors, suitable for one, two, three and five bolt; along with metric and imperial male thread-mounting options, Gill says. Using key connection features,…