Innehållsförteckning för June 2022 från Racecar Engineering

We are amid a necessary revolution in the motorsport and automotive spheres. The requirement for high-efficiency powertrain to lower CO2 emissions means race series organisers and governments alike are pushing for equally efficient solutions to the task of moving a vehicle forward. Motorsport often talks about road relevance, and has had its place in changing, or at least popularising, certain areas in the showroom. Carbon fibre trim is an obvious example, paddle shift gear change another. Likewise, when the turbo F1 era got underway in the 1980s, we saw more turbo cars built for the road. Right now, though, ecology is a huge subject, so should motorsport play its part in that trend, too? Intersection In the contemporary era, the area of motorsport that has attracted the most attention from…

Chassis: MIG-welded spaceframe constructed with T45 and ROPT510 CDS aerospace grade steel tubing, complying with FIA strength and crash testing regulations; 10mm Diolen panels for extra side impact protection Bodywork: GRP, designed as a multi-piece assembly to avoid high replacement costs after any accidents Engine: Sealed Ford 1.6-litre SE (Sigma); naturally aspirated; aftermarket ECU with single standard map; bespoke wet sump and exhaust manifold Power: 120bhp Gearbox: five-speed standard Ford gearbox with H-pattern selection Suspension: Double wishbone front and rear; single-adjustable, oil-filled coilover dampers by Protech Shocks fitted outboard Aerodynamics: Single-plane, partially-adjustable front wing; non-adjustable rear winglets Wheels and tyres: 15in Mini wheels (currently running on Nankang road tyres) Brakes: Mini discs; Wilwood aluminium front (four-pot) and rear (two-pot) calipers; bespoke stainless steel pedal box; cockpit-adjustable brake bias Dimensions: Front…

Minardi in new FIA role Gian Carlo Minardi, the former grand prix team owner who has recently taken over as head of the Imola circuit, has been confirmed as the new president of the FIA Single-Seater Commission. The Italian has also been president of the Automobile Club d’Italia Land Speed Records Commission since 2004. FIA president, Mohammed ben Sulayem, said of the appointment: ‘I warmly welcome the election of Gian Carlo Minardi as FIA Single-Seater Commission president. He is a major figure in motorsport and I look forward to working with him to further develop the single-seater pyramid around the world.’ That ‘pyramid’ starts with Formula 4 and escalates through Formula 3, 2 and into F1, but high costs to compete have led to other, more cost-effective series starting up…

Much has been written about the future of the Volkswagen Group and its prospective entry to Formula 1, but there is a lot going on in the background that garners less media coverage. In isolation, the strange choices of Audi in the last few years have gained some traction in the media but, if you link them all together, they paint an interesting picture. For example: the withdrawal of the company from Formula E when the company remains committed to selling electric cars; the cancellation of the company’s LMDh programme (officially it’s only ‘paused’) soon after confirmation that it will race at Le Mans and having taken delivery of its cars; the lack of customer support for the American market and GT racing with the R8 when there is no…

I guess one could say that, given the monstrous happenings in Ukraine – and other countries too, let’s not forget – sport of any kind can seem frivolous and self-indulgent. This is not the case, though, because professional sport entertainment provides large scale employment and much-needed mental escape from the terrible news constantly hitting our senses. Which is why the initial boycott of the recent Saudi Grand Prix, by apparently all the Formula 1 drivers, was unimpressive. The missile strike, fewer than 10 miles from the Jeddah circuit, rightly caused serious concern, but everything seemed to centre around meeting the fears of these 20 highly paid individuals. Eventually, of course, the race went ahead, but the knee-jerk boycott left a bad taste. Yes, they are the stars of the show,…

Sean Kim has been announced as the new President of Hyundai Motorsport GmbH with immediate effect, based at the company’s Alzenau headquarters. Kim replaces Scott Noh who has returned to Korea after four years at the helm. Kim will manage the company’s involvement in the World Rally Championship, the ETCR and its customer racing programme. Riedel Communications has been named as the official supplier of motorsports communications for the FIA. The partnership is the culmination of a two-decade relationship between the organisations. Riedel will supply the FIA with hardware and software technologies to take safety, sustainability and innovation across all global FIA championship series to the next level, says an FIA press release. Tag Heuer has renewed its partnership with IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The manufacturer began its…

In last month’s article on porpoising, I gave a broad overview of what the effect was, and a case study of how the approaches to dealing with it were applied to a high-downforce open wheeler. What that article lacked, however, was detail, because I was talking about a live racecar and was unable to share any particulars about the programme. So, to address this, I have taken one of the ChassisSim templates and radically increased the downforce so I can give you some actual numbers and a quantitive case study. Along the way, I’m pleased to say a lot was learned, in particular the limits of what you can actually do, and what you should be thinking about. This is what we’ll be discussing in depth in this article. First…

Interview – Andreas Roos This is a big year for BMW M, one in which it will compete for overall wins at the biggest GT3 races in the world, including the Nürburgring and Spa 24-hour races, while it will also continue the development of its Le Mans Prototype programme with a view to it making its race debut at Daytona in January. This is also the 50th anniversary of the M brand, one that will be celebrated with the launch of new models, including the M3 Touring, M2 and X M, the four-wheel drive model. Celebrations will focus around the Nürburgring 24-hours at the end of May, with a huge effort to try to win the race for the first time since 2020, when the brand won the shortened race…