Innehållsförteckning för September 2025 från Racecar Engineering

The next generation of Formula 1 cars arriving in 2026 will introduce different demands on braking systems and fresh challenges for the car designers. As one team engineer put it to Racecar at this year’s Spanish Grand Prix, brakes have become technologically consistent and dependable, the last major overhaul coming at the dawn of the hybrid powertrain era in 2014. That’s not to say complacency has crept in, though, because other regulatory updates have taken place and teams haven’t stopped in their quest to instil driver confidence with precise pedal feel. However, the upcoming rule changes are set to give teams a lot to consider and potentially make braking systems more of a talking point, and a headache, than they have been for many seasons. Key factors influencing brake design…

Ferrari has high expectations of its new 296 GT3 Evo, which was launched at the 24 Hours of Spa and has clearly taken inspiration from a couple of the Italian company’s more recent GT projects. Just shy of 200 of the original 296 GT3s have been sold, many of them for competition, while others have gone to museums and collections. Regardless, this is possibly Ferrari’s most successful race programme. The Ferrari GT3 project has undergone significant changes in the last 10 years. Italian company, Michelotto, was replaced by ORECA for the 296 programme, and the French company has had its hands full meeting demand since it first started to build the cars three years ago, for delivery in 2023. Design and development was handled from Maranello, in association with ORECA…

The arrival of torque sensors as a tool for Balance of Performance (BoP) seems like a straightforward solution to curbing the escalation of engine development. At first glance, having a prescribed power curve and a maximum power limit, both precisely monitored by an accurate sensor, should do just that. After all, it is all well and good dynoing engines prior to a season and producing a graph saying they are within the rules, but the smallest changes in real-world conditions can quickly render any such standards null and void. This, however, is motorsport and, if there is a line to be pushed, you can be sure it will be pushed, from every direction. Racecar Engineering’s own Lauren Mills came up with the perfect analogy: working with BoP and torque meters…

US tyre company, Goodyear, which provides rubber to the LMGT3 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship, introduced a new hard compound for the fifth round of the 2025 season in Brazil. The Goodyear Eagle hard LMGT3 tyre is designed to better handle double stints on highly abrasive circuits. ‘At Le Mans, we heard from many teams that the tyre could have lasted longer than four stints, but they were changing tyres prematurely due to driver changes and drive time limits,’ says Mike McGregor, Goodyear’s head of endurance racing EMEA. ‘Teams were running the tyre for four stints even on the test day, when we would normally expect them to run a tyre for two, maybe three stints, due to the track not being rubbered in until later in the…

‘That painful experience [at the Spanish GP in 2024] was good learning for us. It was a test case to then allow us to put value on the importance of the characteristics of aerodynamic delivery over just general load’ Tim Goss, chief technical officer at Racing Bulls In a press conference ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, round six of the 2025 Formula 1 season, Yuki Tsunoda was asked (as he has been many times) about his struggles adapting to the Red Bull RB21. The Japanese driver had taken up the poisoned chalice of the second Red Bull seat; having contested the opening two rounds with Racing Bulls, he replaced a struggling Liam Lawson at the former champion team, only to immediately inherit the New Zealander’s lack of fortune. ‘[The]…

The plan is to have the car take part in the IMSA-sanctioned test in November this year… [and] the company is targeting a race debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring in March [2026] The new Lamborghini Temerario GT3 was launched at the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, just weeks after the car it will replace, the Huracán GT3 EVO2, scored the biggest win of its 10-year career. The Huracán, run by Grasser Racing Team, took victory at the 24 Hours of Spa, ahead of a record field of 74 starters at the Belgian endurance classic. That topped major North American victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2018-2020, the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2018 and 2019 and at Petit Le Mans in 2023 and 2024.…

The 2024 edition of Formula Student UK was a one-horse race in favour of Edith Cowan University from Australia, which won by more than 200 points and was the only team to exceed 800 points. Twelve months later, five teams exceeded that figure, suggesting the overall level had been raised in terms of design competence and preparation. Indeed, 41 per cent of the 59 cars taking part made it on track after passing scrutineering, compared with 36 per cent last year. Eleven cars tackled every track event, up from seven, while the average total score across the top 10 teams increased by 160 points. The impression from walking the paddock was that more teams were better prepared and had carried out multi-faceted validation programmes including FEA, CFD and track testing.…

French constructor, Ligier, has launched a new, carbon monocoque GT car built for endurance racing. The JS2 RS meets with 2025 LMP3 static load tests and is powered by a Ford 3.5-litre, twin-turbo, EcoBoost V6 producing 650bhp. It features a Sadev SL90-20 Evo gearbox with sequential shifting, Öhlins TTX36 dampers and Brembo brakes with six-piston calipers. ABS is managed by Bosch, the ECU by MoTeC. Ligier says it has worked hard to keep costs under control, while also increasing safety features for the non-professional drivers it hopes to serve. The JS2 RS costs €255,000 (approx. $296,500) plus taxes. Simultaneously, Ligier has continued to develop the junior JS2 R, which has sold more than 120 units. It now sports a normally aspirated Ford 3.5-litre V6. Having both direct and port fuel…

What springs to mind when you read the term GT2? If you followed motorsport in the late 2000s, you might instinctively think of the class that raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Conversely, you might know GT2 as a recent phenomenon; a category created by SRO Motorsports Group that runs on the GT World Challenge Europe support bill. Both interpretations would be valid, though only one is currently active. The SRO GT2 formula, of no technical relation to its extinct namesake, was launched just before the Covid pandemic and had its first season as part of the GT2 European Series in 2021. Now in its fifth campaign, it has just attracted a new manufacturer in Ginetta. This has been welcome news for the SRO’s boss, Stéphane Ratel, who…

Motor racing is supposed to be about making a car faster, and yet these days technical development is tightly restricted in most categories, and performance balancing is rife. Thankfully, there are still people involved in the sport who enjoy the challenge of relentlessly honing their machines, and there are still series where this sort of development is allowed. One such person is Mike Jenvey, and one such series is Equipe Sports Prototypes. Jenvey’s introduction to racing was through his father, Richard, a well-known sportscar driver in his day who raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979. Jenvey junior followed in his footsteps and has now competed for 25 years, initially in Formula Vee, and then in Sports 2000 with the Gunn he now campaigns in much-modified Jenvey…

The presidency of the FIA is up for grabs. At the end of 2025, there will be an opportunity to challenge sitting president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, for the position. Following the decision of Carlos Sainz not to enter the race and focus on his own racing ambitions, former FIA steward, Tim Mayer, stepped out of the shadows in July to launch his campaign for presidency, amid a flurry of media activity. Mayer has a tough job ahead of him to convince the 245 voting ASNs (National Sporting Authorities) that he should be given their support. To do this, he must persuade the ASNs around the world that his vision of what the FIA should look like deserves their vote, but that will be both time consuming and costly. ‘I am…