Innehållsförteckning för May 2024 från Racecar Engineering

Looking through the list of manufacturers competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship this year, it’s an impressive array of some of the biggest names in the motoring world. Ferrari, Toyota, Porsche, Peugeot, BMW and Lamborghini, to name just a few. There is one name that sticks out from all the others, though, and that’s Isotta Fraschini. This lesser known car company is currently experiencing what might be termed a second wind. Originally formed in 1900 by Cesare Isotta and brothers Vincenzo, Antonio and Oreste Fraschini, it went racing for the first time in 1907 and then later went on to produce luxury road cars. However, by 1949, the company had stopped making cars and instead focused on trolley buses, having merged with engine manufacturer Breda. During the 1990s, efforts…

CONSTRUCTOR FOCUS – JEDI RACING CARS Jedis posted the fastest lap of the season at two UK circuits last year, Brands Hatch Indy and Silverstone International. That news will come as no surprise to many on the British club racing scene, for this potent little racecar has been punching above its weight – currently just 350kg – for four decades now. Remarkably, during that time its design has not strayed far from the initial concept, yet it remains fast and relevant, now plying its trade in its own F1000 championship, while it also gives Formula 3 cars a run for their money in Monoposto races. Wellingborough, Northamptonshire-based Jedi Racing Cars is owned and run by father and son, John and Frazer Corbyn, although John is semi-retired and ‘now only comes…

TECHNOLOGY – 3D PRINTING Today’s Formula 1 teams manufacture over 9000 3D printed parts each season. Yet to accurately print these components requires a whole realm of engineering practices, known as Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM). This is essentially the methodology behind optimising the form and function of a part to not only achieve accurate builds, but also to fully exploit the capabilities of additive manufacturing. ‘When developing a part for 3D printing, you have to consider how it is orientated, the thickness of the layers and whether it is self-supporting, or requires supports to be altered,’ highlights Allen Kreemer, principal applications engineer at Stratasys. ‘Then you have to optimise the parameters of the printer to carefully control the bonding between the layers of powder or filament for a successful…

The rules have changed during what has been a turbulent period for the FIA and ACO, and Peugeot was unable to react as quickly to the changes as its arch rival, Toyota Peugeot has bowed to the inevitable with the updated version of its FIA World Endurance Championship contender, called the 9X8 2024. As expected, the Hypercar has been equipped with a rear wing as part of a major upgrade package for the first time. The previous 9X8 relied upon underfloor aero and a front weight bias with the car that debuted at Monza in 2022. The final race for that car was the opening round of the 2024 season in Qatar in March as the update was not yet homologated. Now good to go, the revised 9X8 is a…

A decade ago, a new era began in Formula 1. High-revving, naturally-aspirated V8 engines had had their day. Since then, manufacturers no longer talked of engines, but of Power Units. Mercedes High Performance Engines therefore became Mercedes High Performance Powertrains. In addition to the combustion engine, there was now also a turbocharger with an electric component, the MGU-H, as well as further development of the former KERS, which was now called MGU-K. At 120kW, the Motor Generator Unit-Kinetic, delivered twice as much power as KERS to the crankshaft, with the electrical energy temporarily stockpiled in the 4MJ Energy Store. The engine manufacturers agreed on these regulations around 15 years ago. Even then, electrification and high-efficiency engines were still magic words in the automotive industry. However, the Power Unit was not…

EV – FORD SUPERVAN 4.2 The first SuperVan, built for Ford by Terry Drury Racing in 1971, was a decidedly analogue affair, featuring a tube frame chassis and the engine and gearbox from a GT40 mounted in the load area. It was used as a promotional tool, even lapping the Nürburgring in a respectable nine minutes and 13 seconds, and was a roaring success for the company. SuperVan 2 followed in 1984, this time with a Cosworth DFL motor, and that was followed up with the SuperVan 3 in the 1990s, again using Cosworth power, this time an HB. Following a near 30-year hiatus, Ford has upped its efforts to employ demonstration and prototype cars, both as R&D platforms and marketing tools, leading to the return of the unhinged Transit…

The ongoing saga of Balance of Performance (BoP) took some dramatic steps in the early part of 2024. The FIA and ACO presented their new method of balancing the Hypercars to the media at the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Qatar. Shortly afterwards, IMSA announced that the method it implemented in GTD at the Daytona 24 Hours was too complicated to replicate for the remainder of the season and so, in agreement with the manufacturers, it reverted to last year’s more traditional system. The performance balancing system for the WEC’s flourishing top class was controversial last year. The engineers used first order parameters of weight, power and aerodynamic efficiency to balance the cars. Toyota, however, was better than anyone else in race conditions, notably on second…

RALLYING – 2025 RULE CHANGES Hybrid powertrains were introduced to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2022, at the behest of the manufacturers who felt they needed to race what they sold for the road. However, following a decision to closely examine what is needed to make the WRC sustainable for the future, that decision has been undone, and from next year the cars will revert to non-hybrid status. The focus is very much on sustainability, not only from a technical perspective but from a sporting one, too. Dropping hybrids means Rally1 cars will be less costly to buy, cheaper to run and the gap to the slower Rally2 machinery will be closed, allowing the manufacturers involved in that class to more easily make the step up. Taken in…

TECHNOLOGY – CONTROL SYSTEMS In the high adrenaline world of motorsport, the quest for speed, efficiency, and precision is part of the game. At the heart of this pursuit lies the complex and sophisticated realm of control systems – a convergence of mechanical innovation, electronic ingenuity and software sophistication. Today, these systems are integral to the performance, safety and competitiveness of racing vehicles. The domain of control systems and mechatronics is a broad and highly developed sub-sector in the world of motorsport. From battery controllers to chassis systems, drive-by-wire to hybrid powertrain integration, control systems have become pivotal in defining the capabilities of a modern racecar. As these systems evolve, they push the boundaries of what is technically possible and re-shape the very nature of racing. Control systems have evolved…

FIA full steam ahead on liquid hydrogen The FIA will concentrate its sustainable powertrain efforts on the promotion of hydrogen stored in liquid form. After the first FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting of the year, the global motorsport body gave further details on its preferred strategy of implementing hydrogen technology as it tries to reduce motorsport’s carbon emissions. It is looking at liquid hydrogen (LH2) because of the lower volume and weight of the storage tank vs hydrogen stored as compressed gas. The FIA deems LH2 storage to be ‘better suited to the demanding environment of motorsport competitions, where optimisation is key.’ Liquid and compressed gas are the two main types of mobile hydrogen storage, but there is no global consensus on which is best. Hydrogen has a low…