CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2011, VOLUME 21 NUMBER 9 S
20 H S H S G R I G R I
F1 field in the first half of the year. Ferrari and McLaren bounced back with wins at the British, German and Hungarian Grands Prix but, as Red Bull’s chief designer Adrian Newey turns his attention to the RB7’s successor, the RB8, he talks us through the design of an extraordinary car. In the meantime, Formula 1 has released its technical regulations that will
20 W H S A S H A S S G R I A S NEWS
come into effect in 2014. Plug-in hybrid systems, eight-speed gearboxes and small capacity turbocharged engines are all a good way forward, despite the 1.6-litre V6 formula. There are still issues to be ironed out, but the direction for Formula 1 is now clearly laid out. With the global spotlight shining so brightly on Formula 1, introducing technical innovation is extremely difficult as to get it wrong is expensive, not only in terms of race results, but also exposure. The blown diffuser saga, however, is an example of innovation gone wrong. As a performance enhancer it is brilliant, but by using more fuel and with no relevance to production cars, we come down on the side of banning the technology. This month we also turn our own spotlight on Formula Student, which had
another successful year. Teams made an incredible effort to take part. The Palestinian team, for example, had to bypass the Israeli officialdom to get the pieces of the car to Palestine, then transport the completed car from the Gaza Strip to Silverstone in the UK. The key feature for this year’s leading Formula Student cars was weight
reduction, a feature that is close to the heart of the leading designers in the sport. Competition was fierce, and we bring you full reports from around the world. Unfortunately, the German competition took place after Racecar Engineering went to press, but full details will be our website.
EDITOR Andrew Cotton
For more technical news and content go to
www.racecar-engineering.com
G S
,’ says Steve Nevey, the team’s business develop- ment manager, of the team’s cluster, R
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I A
ith a 100 per cent record in qualifying and Sebastien Vettel leading the Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship heading into the summer break, the Red Bull RB7 stole the march on the rest of the
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HRS GHRIA GI S
A S
4 News Formula 1 2014 regulations bring the arrival of electric power, eight-speed gearboxes and restricted engines
COVER STORY
10 Red Bull RB7 Adrian Newey’s RB7 continues to head the F1 pack. The man himself takes us through the design
FIRST PRINCIPLES
21 Aerobytes Simon McBeath continues his investigations into making the ADR3 aerodynamically more efficient
25 Consultant
Mark Ortiz discusses the dynamics of using toe out for turn in, and wishbone length
29 Databytes Cosworth Electronics on how to help drivers remember their best lap
77 Danny Nowlan Using simulation to model the behaviour of tyres is something of a black art. Our man shows how it is done
ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS
32 Simulators Examining three motion-based, driver-in-the-loop simulators reveals two very different approaches
42 Mosler From the East of England to the land of the rising sun, we look at Rollcentre Racing’s Mosler GT300 car
48 Skinny dipping A new process for preparing competition car bodyshells for that extra advantage over the competiton
51 VW Golf How a small independent tuner has taken on the top teams in the tough British Touring Car Championship
55 Safety in motorsport Following a pit lane fire and an injury to a team member, HPD developed a fail-safe refuelling system
10 COVER STORY How Red Bull Racing’s RB7 is dominating Formula 1
58 Formula Student 2011 Reports from Silverstone, Michigan and California, plus a look at FSAE-specification differentials
INDUSTRY AND PEOPLE
82 Industry Motorsport Vision’s unique approach to car development and Chris Aylett on a new diploma
88 Tech forum Charlie says hot blown diffusers are here to stay. Sam disagrees. Typical
93 Race moves Falken tyres come to Europe, Georg Plasa and Roy Winkelmann obituaries
42 MOSLER From GT3 to GT300. How a British firm went racing in Japan
58 FORMULA STUDENT The Germans win again, but GFR sets the pace at Silverstone
98 Bump stop
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