Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2019 i Racecar Engineering

My thoughts on politics tend to be scathing, so I usually keep them to myself. It’s not so much of the politicians, venal banalities that they are, but more the voters themselves. After all, they are the ones that vote the scoundrels in, and so they shouldn’t really complain about the outcomes. This column is being written before one of the votes that could determine how and where the UK will align itself with Brexit, One of the multiple outcomes of all this could take us back to an increase of the paperwork that will be needed to take racecars, equipment and crew to whatever venue they will perform at. This has only dawned latterly on me, as for a considerable time travel within Europe had been seamless and bother…

Q I have been intrigued by the possibility of decoupling roll and heave in suspension systems. I understand that Porsche and Audi have been examining this concept in recent years. What do you know about this concept, and what potential do you think it has? THE CONSULTANT A In this context ‘decoupling’ roll and two-wheel heave (sometimes also called ride, to distinguish it from four-wheel heave) means using completely separate springing and damping for the two modes. There are various ways of doing this. Some predate the recent Porsche and Audi efforts. A monoshock front suspension with a slider and Belleville washers for roll springing would qualify. Some systems invented for Formula Vee rear suspension would also qualify. Porsche has used a system like this for the front of the…

We brought in EMBRAER, the Brazilian aerospace company, in late 1974 to build the data-logger for the Fittipaldi F1 car, and we used it initially at Silverstone in early 1975. It was an offshoot of the loggers it had in aircraft development. Reducing the size of the parts was a major challenge, available space being considerably bigger on an aircraft than an F1 car, and our final 9kg, 400mm x 200mm x 160mm recording box was quite an achievement. Data from the four suspension LVDTs, lateral and longitudinal g sensors, steering angle, rpm and gear position came in and was converted to a 40Hz signal and recorded on a cassette tape recorder. That caused most of  the problems, given its propensity to have the tape flutter over the recording head,…

Michelin ramped up its development programme for the next WEC season with a winter test of the LMP1 tyres at Sebring, to help provide an indication of the requirements for next year. ‘The test here was a good opportunity to test in the hotter conditions the range for next year, because we are going back to Bahrain which is very high abrasion, and also thinking about Sao Paulo where we will go in summer,’ says Jerome Mondain. ‘We have to rearrange to develop our future range taking into account the much higher temperature than we expected this year, where we didn’t go to Bahrain or any really warm places.’ One of the key developments for the new year will be the front tyre for the non-hybrid LMP1 cars. ‘When we…

Michael Masi, one of the FIA’s two deputy race directors in Formula 1, stepped in to fill the three mandatory senior officiating posts at the Australian Grand Prix in the wake of Charlie Whiting’s sudden death (see obituary page 96). Masi was race director, starter, and the FIA safety delegate at the event. Andrew Roberts has joined motorsport, automotive and technology PR firm Influence Associates as its chief operating officer. Roberts comes to Influence from Bentley, where he had been director of global communications since 2014. He has also worked in senior PR roles at Mercedes-Benz UK and Land Rover. Martin Young has been appointed team manager at F3 Asian Championship outfit Absolute Racing. Young comes to the team from Fortec Motorsport, where he had held the position of team…

Williams chief technical officer Paddy Lowe has left the post in the wake of the team’s disastrous start to the season. Lowe’s tenure at Williams began at the start of the 2017 season, when he replaced Pat Symonds as the team’s tech boss and also became a shareholder in the organisation. He joined from Mercedes, where he had helped it to three championship victories in a row. Lowe had been under pressure after Williams was forced to miss two days of pre-season testing following car build delays. This was compounded when it was discovered the car was running with some illegal parts, including a seventh member in the front suspension when only six are permitted, and mirrors which fell outside of the regulations. On top of this it has proved…

Having specialised in endurance racing for most of my career, I have become used to attending races with empty grandstands. The easy entry to the track on race morning may be a Holy Grail for those involved in more popular aspects of the sport, but when you realise the consequence of no spectators, the reality is different. No team or driver can bring sponsors to the track or they may see through the stories you have told to secure their money, and as a writer you realise that you cannot justify to your family why you missed another wedding, or funeral. That is not to say that the show was poor; looking at the FIA GT Championship in the early 2000s, the cars were fantastic, the racing was wonderful and…

Only those of a schadenfreude disposition can have enjoyed the very public fall from grace suffered by Williams technical director, Paddy Lowe, an engineer with a high reputation and considerable experience at the forefront of Formula 1 (see page 96). Lowe is not the first to go as part of Williams’ recent adoption of professional football club habits and its frequent hiring and firing of managers. Even so, it is difficult to understand how an F1 car can be conceived these days that is more than two whole seconds off the front-of-the-grid pace. Especially when it has one of the best power units. This is despite all the previous design and engineering data and digital simulation technology available, and the wealth of information that Lowe must have accumulated while at…

While some things once thought central to motorsport have disappeared, on a fundamental level it remains an engineering exercise at heart. It’s no surprise then that some tools and processes are still intrinsic to the very make-up of the sport. For example, many of the products provided by McLaren Applied Technologies (MAT) are universally applicable to motorsport, and Formula E, Formula 1, NASCAR and IndyCar all have this in common – specifically, the toolsets Graphical Development Environment (GDE), System Monitor, and ATLAS, which stands for Advanced Telemetry Linked Acquisition System. Block buster At the lowest level of commonality, GDE provides model-based development blocks that enable rapid development of custom low-level code that is auto-generated. In NASCAR, the blocks are used for traditional engine control, but also provide oversight for scrutineering,…

Chassis Carbon fibre composite monocoque with Zylon side anti-intrusion panels, based on Force India VJM11. Power unit Mercedes-AMG F1 M10 EQ Power+ 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged engine plus energy recovery system. Transmission Mercedes Formula 1 (2018 spec), composite casing with metallic cassette insert, semi-automatic with eight forward speeds and one reverse. AP Racing multi-plate clutch. Suspension Aluminium uprights with carbon fibre composite wishbones, track-rod and pushrod (front), pullrod (rear), inboard chassis mounted torsion springs, dampers and anti-roll bar assembly (front), full hydraulic package (rear). Brakes 920E brake calipers and in-house design brake by wire system with carbon fibre discs and pads. Electronics FIA single ECU (by McLaren) with in-house electrical harness. Dimensions Width, 2000mm; Length, 5600mm. Weight Overall vehicle weight 743kg (including driver, excluding fuel) Weight distribution between 45.4 per cent…

Chassis Production multi-material, aluminium-intensive spaceframe, manufactured at the Performance Manufacturing Center in Ohio, alongside production Acura NSX vehicles. Engine Acura 3.5-litre, 75-degree, twin-turbocharged DOHC V6, using the same design specifications as the production NSX, including the cylinder block, heads, valve train, crankshaft, pistons and dry-sump lubrication system. Transmission Paddle-operated, 6-speed sequential gearbox; rear-wheel-drive. Safety equipment Steel roll cage, carbon fibre driver’s seat shell, 6-point safety harness, fresh air intake system, on-board fire suppression system. Fuel capacity 25.888 US gallons (98 litres). Dimensions Length 4470mm; width 2210mm; height 1219mm (without rear wing).…

The two racecars in our current wind tunnel project represent the smaller, lighter, nimbler approach to Time Attack, which, at the top level in the UK at least, still seems to be dominated by potent Mitsubishi Evos and Subaru Imprezas. The Caterham R400 belongs to David Long, who won the 2018 Super Lap Scotland Pro class, while the Noble M12 RSR took Simon Roberts to victory in the 2017 UK Time Attack Club Pro class – he was the runner up in 2018. While both cars represent the light and nimble approach, albeit one is smaller than the other, they are quite different in their aerodynamics. David Long only recently fitted wings to his Caterham, and the single element front wing was entirely new for our test session. As we…

‘You have got to take care of your partners, you have got to remain relevant, but you also have got to give your fans what they are looking for’ Outside of philosophy seminars there are few activities that dwell quite so obsessively on what they actually are as much as motorsport. Witness the never-ending debate in Formula 1 about whether it’s a sport or a business, entertainment or high speed development lab. IndyCar, on the other hand, seems to know exactly what it is, and this can be encapsulated, according to its president Jay Frye, in two words: ‘fast and loud’. The US series is going through a bit of a purple patch at the moment, with ever growing TV numbers and race day attendances, and more teams competing. Which…

The Formula 1 paddock was rocked by the news that Charlie Whiting, for so long a key player in almost every facet of the running of F1, had died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism at the age of 66, just a couple of days before he was due to unleash the field for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in his role as official starter. Race starter was just one of Whiting’s jobs in F1, and he was also responsible for writing both the technical and sporting regulations, and for policing them, as well as being in charge of each grand prix in his capacity as race director, and also assessing circuit safety and the suitability of future grand prix venues. All this was a far cry from his start as…

We are certainly in a period of exceptional change. And there’s no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the most fun in business occurs during a period of change or business growth. Beyond that, it’s also an important time for businesses to take stock and wisely choose their direction of travel for the next few years. As I write, neither Europe nor the UK have a clear view as to what our future trade relationships will be, except that they will change. In addition to this, our relationships with our politicians in the UK are going to be substantially affected for years to come, creating a different climate in government with regard to its relationship with businesses. The damage done by the past two years of debate, consultation, argument –…