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 car manufacturers as a…

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, but what…

Racecar looks at the safety upgrades made since Of the 70 monocoques supplied to teams in that first year [2011], 27 of them are still in service and being raced When Dallara landed the contract to provide IndyCar with its spec car for the 2012 season, the Italian manufacturer could not have dreamed that over a decade, and more than 125 monocoques, later, it would still be providing pretty much the same design to the premier US single-seater category. That is not to say that the design, originally labelled IR12 and later changed to DW12 after the unfortunate passing of British driver, Dan Wheldon, who was instrumental in the development of the car, has gone unchanged. A series of accidents in racing conditions have resulted in real world lessons learned, and they have…

‘It cuts out all the costly research and development to find an unfair advantage by chasing down an engine with a particular characteristic. It means you can be competitive with whatever you bring’Nigel Arnfield, technical director at M-Sport 2022 marks the start of a powertrain revolution for the TOCA-organised British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). The category becomes the first Touring Car series in the world to adopt hybridisation, supplied by Cosworth. Also new this year is an all-new customer engine package. For the decade since 2011, Swindon Powertrain had supplied a competitive ‘TOCA Engine’ to the series, with proven durability and strict cost controls, available to all BTCC teams who do not wish to carry out their own engine programme. But from 2022, that position has been taken by Cumbria-based M-Sport, awarded a…

‘You cannot improve the performance because you have a BoP, so the only thing you can do to improve performance is not power or downforce, it is driveability’Leonardo Galante, technical lead for motorsport activities at Lamborghini The relationship between track and production cars has taken another step closer for the Lamborghini Squadra Corse team, which in May launched the Huracan EVO2. This is the car that will carry the company’s hopes in GT3 racing for at least the next three years, and it is a world away from the existing car that is competing in series around the world in customer hands throughout 2022. Based on the STO, the new GT3 car features aerodynamic styling from the production-based model, including the engine air intake over the cockpit, a fin on the rear…

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 track - 1727mm; rear track - 1720mm; wheelbase…