Innehållsförteckning för December 2019 från Racecar Engineering

One of my previous columns (April, V29N4) was about the fact that come hell or high water the cars and kit always arrive at the track, and I hinted that there were many more stories to be told. So here we go again with a story from the start of the 1972 racing season that even after all these years stands out in the memory. I had moved up to Formula 2 with a team for both Emerson and Wilson Fittipaldi and we had sourced our pristine white-painted Bedford Duple transporter from one B Ecclestone, who had a car dealership in London and was also then the new Brabham team owner. The Duple had been the Brabham F1 transporter and was a converted bus fitted with luxurious reclining aircraft seats…

The loads exerted by static air on a moving body are equal to those exerted by moving air on a static body, as long as the relative velocities between the air and the body are the same in both cases. For a truly representative wind tunnel experiment, then, the body must have its true size and the wind must have the speed that the object would have if it was moving, which is, of course, certainly the case with a full-scale tunnel. But these conditions are not always possible. The use of the real vehicle will demand very big tunnels in some cases, so for convenience we use scaled down models for aerodynamic testing. Several scaling laws can be used in order to render representative experiments where the size or…

‘The rules dictate the budgets, so they have got to be clear and well written and in a format that allows manufacturers to get involved at a reasonable cost’ When a racing driver hangs up his or her helmet after a long career there can be a real need to find something to fill the gap. Not all can do so, and many find themselves back in the cockpit soon after they retire. Others turn to different fields within the sport; some of them even become team bosses. But for Allan McNish, who stopped driving in 2013, two things were clear: he did not plan on racing again, and there was no chance that he would turn his hand to team management. McNish, who won Le Mans three times and…

Doonan has plenty of IMSA experience, having steered Mazda’s DPi campaign over recent seasons, and he steps into the president role following Atherton’s recent announcement that he was to retire from the post. While IMSA has been Mazda’s flagship programme – its RT24-P has chalked up three wins this year – Doonan has also overseen its Road to Indy and Road to 24 driver development schemes. Outgoing president Atherton started his motorsport career as a sponsorship marketing executive in CART in 1985, before going on to fill a number of roles in the US, including president and CEO of Panoz Motor Sports Group. But he really made his name running the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). In this role he guided the ALMS through the successful merger with the Grand-Am…

Bcomp Bcomp will be showcasing its natural fibre bodywork, as used by the Four Motors team in VLN, at ASI. ‘Like Four Motors, Bcomp is a pioneer in the field of sustainable motorsport – and the goal is to be competitive with those technologies,’ says Four Motors CEO Thomas von Lowis. Bcomp uses its award-winning sustainable light-weighting solutions, powerRibs and ampliTex, to replace carbon fibres, meaning the performance of carbon can be matched while reducing the CO2 footprint by 75 per cent and costs up to 30 per cent. It is also currently the only natural fibre technology used commercially by several brands and racing series, we’re told. ASNU The ASNU Classic GDI system has been designed for comparing injector against injector at a safe operating level and is suitable…

Since the last grand prix, a multitude of engineers have been working ceaselessly on analysing your chassis and PU performance, seeing how any possible improvements can be incorporated, taking into account the peculiarities of the circuit to be raced on this weekend. Constant simulation, including by reserve drivers back at base, has arrived at what seems to be the best combination of power modes, suspension and aero settings to start free practice. Throughout these sessions the set-up has been continuously honed to follow the changing weather and track conditions, to bring you the confidence in handling and balance that you need in order to commit fully to braking and corner entry speed. Practice times are middling; but after big efforts in qualifying you scrape into 10th with a good opportunity…

Q The advent of the new C8 Corvette with its mid mounted engine [see page 8] has inspired some comments on the handling characteristics of such cars. To quote: ‘A mid-engine car has a low polar moment of inertia, allowing the car to change direction more easily’, but ‘it can be harder for a novice to recover should the tail break loose’. The second quote seems problematic or unclear. It would seem that the low moment of inertia, and relatively high ratio of wheel torques to inertia, that enable the mid-engine car to change direction easily should also allow control to be regained more easily in a skid. Is this reasoning flawed? Or is the qualification of ‘novice’ here relevant? Would a pro not have the same problem? The central…

P2 off-axis hybrid system: • 60v high power – low volt system.• Electric motor integrates within modified current BTCC Xtrac gearbox.• Separate custom hybrid motor cooling unit.• Utilising the best power-to-weight hybrid motor currently available.• Compact size and weight: 7.5kg.• Little disruption to current NGTC specification.• Calibrated and driver-adjustable regeneration. Bespoke Delta Motorsport 60v battery pack: • Battery weight: 20 kg – housed within IP67 rated isolated composite safety cell.• Incorporated battery coolant system.• Quick release connectors.• Easy removal and replacement – less than 10 minutes.• Charging via 240v wall socket – one-hour full charge time.• Replaces current ballast box. Modifications required to current car: • Updated gearbox case (not all internals) to incorporate electric motor.• Additional electronic connections.• Changes to some intercooler locations and pipes.• Upgraded Cosworth ‘Antares’ electronics…

Gunther Steiner, the team principal at Haas, has been fined €7500 for a radio message that was deemed to have caused ‘moral injury’ to a Formula 1 steward, while also being ‘prejudicial to the interests of motorsport’. In the message, at the end of the Russian GP, Steiner criticised the stewards for giving Haas driver Kevin Magnussen a five second penalty that dropped him to ninth. Steiner said over the radio: ‘If we didn’t have a stupid idiotic steward we would be eighth.’ The Mercedes Formula 1 team has sacked four people after it carried out an investigation into discrimination. Few details are known, but it’s been reported that the incidents were of a racist or religious nature. Mercedes said the matter concerned ‘breaches of our diversity and equality policy’.…

News that Dyson had stopped work on its electric car hit the paddock in Road Atlanta mid-October, and immediately the alarm bells started to ring. There was a lot of racing know-how going into that car, yet the company decided that it was not going to make the money it needed to. The electric market will not sustain new companies such as Dyson as the competition hots up quicker than demand. Major car makers are pushing electric mobility now, and are shoving the smaller companies aside with ever-more appetising cars hitting the market. Governments forced car manufacturers down a particular path, with zero emission at the exhaust cars, having dictated that the fleet average for a manufacturer should be 95g/ km of carbon dioxide, or better. Manufacturers had no option…

Chassis / roll cage Chrome moly cage structure formed from 4130 alloy: roof fitted over cage; heavy duty skid plate. Engine Rotax ACE (Advanced Combustion Efficiency) 900cc Triple-cylinder turbocharged engine (172bhp), liquid cooled with integrated intercooler and Donaldson high-performance air filter; Intelligent Throttle Control (ITC); electronic fuel injection. Transmission Quick Response System X (QRS-X) CVT; Smart-Lok variable locking differential with electronic controls. Suspension Front: Trophy truck inspired double A-arm with sway bar. Rear: 4-link torsional trailing-arm X (TTX) with sway bar; 24in travel (regulated to 20-inch travel for Dakar). Reiger and King dampers used on Dakar. Steering Tri-Mode Dynamic Power Steering (DPS). Brakes Dual 262mm ventilated disc brakes with hydraulic twin-piston calipers on the front and dual 248mm ventilated disc brakes with hydraulic twin-piston calipers on the rear. Wheels KMC…

The Reynard SF79 is highly competitive in Historic Formula Ford 2000, as it was back in the day when it took its designer, Adrian Reynard himself, to the FF2000 European Championship in 1979. Our test car is owned by Paul Allen, and though no stranger to the podium himself, he was keen to gain some end-of-straight speed with drag reduction. We learned how to do that, and much more besides, during a busy session in the MIRA full-scale wind tunnel. But would an ultra-low downforce, low drag package be even better? Interim update In our last issue (V29N11) we saw that flap angle and splitter length adjustments produced the expected effects on drag, downforce and balance. But we also found some surprising benefits from horizontal and vertical Gurneys on the…

Since I deal with some top engineers in very senior formulae, I sometimes get asked some really interesting questions regarding simulation. For example, recently ChassisSim’s US Dealer asked me whether I was able to figure out stability index from yaw rate? The answer to this question is not only yes, but also that there are some other very interesting things that spring up when we consider this. But before I get into how it all works, it would be worthwhile taking a little time to provide a quick recap of what the stability index is. In a nutshell the stability index measures the moment arm nondimensionalised by wheelbase between the centre of gravity and the centre of the lateral forces. This is illustrated in Figure 1. This can be calculated…

Reigle is the electric race series’ second CEO, the first being its founder, Alejandro Agag, who has now taken on the role of chairman – a move he had announced before the start of the 2018/19 season. Canadian Reigle comes to FE from his previous position as executive vice-president of business operations at NFL team the Los Angeles Rams. Before joining the Rams in 2017 he spent 10 years as a senior executive at Premier League football club Manchester United, where he was a member of the board of directors, oversaw global commercial activity, launched the club’s Asia Pacific operations and led the company’s initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. Reigle will now work alongside Agag. The latter will concentrate on retaining relationships with key sponsors, teams…

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 and 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 Arena,…