Innehållsförteckning för January 2020 från Racecar Engineering

One of the things that are part of the racing scene are the passes to get into the track. There are many different types of these – paddock and pit passes, brassards, wrist ribbons and differentiated hot pass, paddock passes with pit-lane, grid or track access. And then there are car passes; a source of never-ending bickering, the pit crew always grumbling about getting the farthest parking from the pits, as the more convenient ones were nicked by drivers and marketing, of course. Let us establish that team passes are allocated for the year and delivered by the series organiser. By necessity they are of a limited number and are part of a lot of horse-trading between manufacturers and the organiser as to the amount available. Nowadays they are individually…

If you’ve been following this series of articles from OptimumG during the last year, you will know that we have shared some of the data analysis techniques used by our engineers in their day-to-day racing activities. These have mainly been on the race driver’s inputs: steering, braking, and throttle. So far, we have presented the steering and the braking performance metrics. But this month we’re going to focus on the throttle channel. Throttle control The throttle has two main functions: accelerating the racecar and, in some situations, using the longitudinal tyre grip to balance it. The tricky part is to apply the correct amount of throttle. A driver can easily apply too much, or too little, or apply it too fast, or too slow. And as a race driver moves…

Airflow beneath the car went supersonic and stripped the paint from an area three metres back from the front wheels The Bloodhound Land Speed Record car has reached a new top speed of 628mph (1010km/h) at the Kalahari Desert ‘racing track’ in South Africa, as it completed the crucial high speed testing phase of the project. Just to help get your head around the speed, at that rate of knots the ‘car’ would get from London to Edinburgh in just 39 minutes. The successful high-speed tests have seen Bloodhound blasting down the Hakskeen Pan in Northern Cape propelled by an EJ200 jet engine, which is normally found in a Eurofighter Typhoon fighter plane. It reached maximum velocity as it passed the five mile (8km) mark, just 50 seconds after it…

Former Ferrari man Pat Fry is to join the Renault F1 operation in an as yet undisclosed position in 2020, while the team has also made a number of changes in its aerodynamics department. Having started his F1 career at the Enstone team when it was known as Benetton, this will mark a return for Fry – his last stint there finished with him in a race engineer role in 1992. From Benetton Fry went on to work at McLaren, rising to the post of chief engineer. Then he joined Ferrari as chassis technical director in 2010, before becoming its engineering director. Fry then worked at Manor for a short while and more recently at McLaren on a consultancy basis, a position that he left during the 2019 season. Currently…

While I understand Liberty and the FIA’s reluctance to accept any new entrants before 2022, it should be realised that F1 is not in as settled a state as it might appear. This is only partly due to the 2021 regulation changes. Twenty cars, as now, is surely the minimum needed to present a grid that deserves the title of World Championship for drivers and constructors, and justifies the loyalty of the fan base, the TV and media coverage and all the effort and commitment required of the whole shooting-match. Should Dietrich Mateschitz decide any time in the near future that he no longer has the ability (he is now aged 75, after all) or desire to continue funding Red Bull and Toro Rosso (soon to be Alpha Tauri), the…

The next big challenge that awaits ExxonMobil’s fuel formulators is delivering on Formula 1’s recently stated objective of 100 per cent bio-fuels by 2030. This is all part of F1’s new sustainability project, one of the pillars of this being net zero carbon racecars powered by hybrid engines running on fully sustainable, second-generation bio-fuels that do not divert farmland or crops to the detriment of the food supply. Thus, Formula 1 will phase in bio-fuels over the next decade, having given power unit manufacturers a commitment that they will not be required to substantially modify their existing internal combustion engines until 2025. The first step will be an almost-doubling of the existing bio-fuel content from 5.75 per cent – achieved through the use of iso-octanes – to a 10 per…

Flame resistance: Material is subjected to a direct flame for a prescribed amount of time. Heat transmission: Material must withstand a direct flame for a minimum of 12 seconds, while the underwear, socks and balaclava must withstand a minimum of five seconds, the shoes 11 seconds, and gloves 11 seconds with exception of the palm, which must withstand eight seconds. Heat transmission for undergarments: Material is tested to see how it performs when fixed on a surface and stretched, and then subjected to heat. Mechanical resistance: Test to see how much the material bends and stretches under load. Thread flame resistance: Test to check the resistance of sewing thread on exposure to a flame. Tensile strength of structural seams: Strength of seams tested using a tensile-testing machine. Tensile strength of shoulder handles: Strength of shoulder handles tested…

Our MIRA full-scale wind tunnel test subject for the next three issues is the 2019 Javelin Trackdays Sprint Series-winning Ariel Atom. Owner/driver Stuart Drewell had developed the spaceframed, semi-open-wheeler in all areas including increasing power to 450bhp-plus, fitting wide-span dual-element wings front and rear and panelling in the sides of the otherwise fairly open chassis. Needless to say, a raft of ideas was evaluated. Back to front For variety, this project will begin at the end, with the results of the last test conducted; running without either front or rear wings. The objective was to be able to evaluate the effects of fitting the wings. The differences between the wingless configuration we tested and a standard car included the wing support plates; the owner-installed side panels; and some taped on…

‘There was really only one opportunity in the sport that I would consider departing Mazda for, and that’s this role at IMSA’ When Racecar last spoke to John Doonan, a couple of years ago, it was difficult to imagine him ever leaving his post as the boss of Mazda’s motorsport efforts in North America, such was his obvious enthusiasm for the role. In 2019 it seemed even less likely he would want to move on, after all the firm’s RT24-P DPi had finally won its first IMSA race and had then gone on to rack up another two victories. Yet it’s now turned out there was another position that could lure Doonan away from his dream job with the Japanese manufacturer. Doonan was confirmed president of IMSA, the US sportscar…

Roger Penske has cemented his position as one of the most powerful people in world motorsport, and perhaps the most influential man in US racing, by acquiring the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from Hulman and Company. Penske, who already owns race teams in NASCAR, Australian Supercars (co-owned with DJR), IMSA and IndyCar itself, acquired the series and the track, plus other assets, through Penske Entertainment Corp, a part of his vast US business empire. The buyout means that Penske’s four-car single seater operation, which won the Indianapolis 500 and also the IndyCar series in 2019, will now compete in a championship that is owned by its parent company. Hulman and Company said in a statement:‘The board of directors of Hulman and Company are announcing the sale of…

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,…

Turbosmart Turbosmart is an Australian manufacturer of boost control and performance products and is the 2018 SEMA Best Performance-Street New Product Award winner. It has recently released its much anticipated eWG Electronic Wastegate – a fully electronic actuated external wastegate which is available in 45mm and 60mm versions. These wastegates will give all the flow and interchangeability of Turbosmart’s Gen-V range of external wastegates, we’re told, with the kind of control ‘never seen before’, which is independent of any reference signal, without the need for compressed gas or boost hoses. They are also fully adjustable from a tuning interface, so boost control is completely adjustable from your laptop. Turbosmart says: ‘The Gen-V range in particular has proven itself in the harshest of environments with its reliability and performance. As boost…

The technological progress led by Formula 1 teams has, over time, benefited hundreds of millions of cars on the road today I have to say I was delighted to hear boss of Formula 1 Chase Carey’s recent announcement of plans for a sustainable future. ‘F1 will continue to lead and work with the energy and automotive sectors to deliver the world’s first net-zero carbon hybrid internal combustion engine that hugely reduces carbon emissions around the world,’ he said. This is just the message needed to attract the attention of many industries and direct them towards the unique, energy-efficient capability of motorsport engineering companies. I congratulate F1 owner Liberty for taking this leadership position, it’s a credit to the company. Let’s hope the FIA will now pro-actively encourage others to promote…

There is no doubt that the LMP1 cars would be thrilling around Kyalami The South African circuit of Kyalami hosted its first nine-hour race for 37 years when the Intercontinental GT Series visited in November for the concluding round of its 2019 season. The race was the first international race since the track was taken over by the national Porsche importer Tobi Venter, and then renovated to become a Grade 2 track, which means its capable of hosting cars up to but not including Formula 1. Pre-race interest in the track was at an all-time high. This is a circuit with tremendous history, having hosted sportscar and Formula 1 in the past, the last grand prix having been held here in 1993. And there is a clear ambition from the…

Q What are the differences between coil binding and bump stops on asphalt circle track late model stock cars and  what are the advantages and disadvantages of them both? Also, which one is preferred for a better handling racecar? Another thing I would like to know is how do rear trailing arm or truck arm angles affect the racecar’s turning ability when entering a corner? And finally, how do different size arms affect the car? THE CONSULTANT A Coil binding, bump stops, and bump springs are all ways to work ground clearance rules, and/or body template rules, that require the car to statically sit higher than we would ideally like to run it. Because of this we then use very soft springs and hold-down shocks (lots of rebound damping) so…

One of the most popular articles I have ever written for Racecar and one of the most downloaded items on the ChassisSim website is the Damper Workbook. The reason for its popularity is that this is a hot topic, while there is also a lack of genuine information on this important aspect of racecar tuning. What we will be doing in this article is applying this knowledge while showing where simulation tools enter the equation, by using a racecar I have recently worked on as an example. This is the Scorch Racing Silvia S15 raced by Tominoko ‘Under’ Suzuki in the Pro class at the World Time Attack Challenge at Eastern Creek Raceway, Australia. This car is a fire-breathing monster, with pretty advanced aero; we are talking 900bhp and CLA…

Peter Bonnington, the race engineer for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, missed the Mexican Grand Prix to undergo a medical procedure. Marcus Dudley, usually Hamilton’s performance engineer, took Bonnington’s place for the race, while Dom Riefstahl, who usually heads up the race support team at the factory, took on the performance engineer duties. Nelson Cosgrove is to replace John Doonan (see Interview) as Mazda’s director of motorsport in North America. Cosgrove arrives at Mazda from Toyota Racing Development, where he spent nearly five years in a variety of senior technical roles. Before TRD he worked at NASCAR operation Joe Gibbs Racing, as its engineering director and then its chief technical officer. Andrew Cowan, the former Mitsubishi Ralliart World Rally Championship team principal, has died at the age of 82. Cowan guided…

Mack Gouge and his Columbus, Georgia-based Team 7 Racing Inc organisation has been signed up by the Trans Am Race Company to help the burgeoning US race series attract new sponsorship deals. Ron Watson, the founder and later president of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA), has died at the age of 72. Watson is to be replaced by long-time board member George Levy. Aston Martin factory driver Maxime Martin will launch his own GT team next season. The Martin Racing Team, which will be based near Charleroi Airport in Brussels, Belgium, will enter a pair of Aston Martin Vantages in both the European GT4 and the ADAC GT4 championships. Martin Down, the man behind the Getem FF1600 marque, well-known for the pace and success of its cars…