NEWS dtm 2012 • nascar injection • Lms changes • DTM DTM’s new look on show
BMW and Audi are the first manufacturers to break cover with their 2012 DTM challengers, BMW unveiling its two-door M3 and Audi switching from its supremely successful A4 to the A5 coupé.
The M3 has already tested
ahead of its unveiling at the Munich round of the series mid-July, and an intense test programme is scheduled as the manufacturer seeks to make a successful return to the DTM for the first time in nearly 20 years. The M3 is still in the early
stages of development and BMW Motorsport director, Jens Marquardt, commented, ‘Getting a new racing programme up and running is a bit like doing a jigsaw. New pieces are added almost every day, and we must put them together to create the big picture.’ DTM stalwart, Audi, has announced that it is to switch its focus from its four-door A4 model to the two-door A5 coupé, codenamed the R17. Head of Audi Motorsport, Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, said, ‘We’ve got exactly the right model in the A5. We’re convinced that we’ll be able to
NASCAR NASCAR fuel injection tested
NASCAR’s new fuel injection system has been track tested for the first time, with five cars fitted with the McLaren- developed system taking to the oval at an open test at Kentucky Speedway. Despite initial reluctance, fuel injection is to replace carburettors in the NASCAR Sprint Cup next year and five teams took the opportunity to run the system on a car each – Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing, Roush Fenway Racing, Penske Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing. The cars were tested alongside current Cup cars fitted with the familiar Holley carbs, with the injected cars proving
marginally slower than their carburettor-fitted counterparts. ECR engine builder, Danny
Lawrence: ‘Right now, we’re working on fuel flow and driveability, making sure that when they mash the gas, it’s a really smooth transition… we also want to make sure we don’t hurt our engine.’ TRD’s Dave Wilson agreed:
‘Full-throttle load is the easiest thing in the world to tune to. It’s all the part-throttle stuff – getting on pit lane smoothly, getting out of the garage smoothly – that is absolutely essential, and that we can’t replicate in a dyno environment.’ NASCAR took the recorded data from the teams following
the Kentucky test and its Sprint Cup Series director, John Danby, was impressed by the technical transparency an ECU offers. ‘There’s obviously the ability to log and record everything that happens during the process. We don’t have to stand over their shoulder to watch anything. We can walk in tonight, hook up [and] walk off with what we need to look at.’ McLaren Electronic Systems
and Freescale Semiconductor produce the ECUs, while Holley makes the throttle bodies. The ECU systems cost teams in the region of $26,000 (£15,875). The next scheduled session will be at the open test in October on the re-paved Phoenix track.
continue Audi’s success story in the DTM with it.’ The new technical
specifications for the DTM have been worked out by the German Motorsport Association (DMSB) and the DTM umbrella organisation, ITR. Audi says much of the focus has been on improving safety. ‘Our engineers have been involved in bringing up safety in the DTM, which had already been high before, to the highest possible level,’ said Ullrich. ‘At Le Mans this year we
learned again that our concept of designing safety structures is a very good and appropriate one.’ Striking features of the new,
lower-cost formula include a move away from the intricate aero offerings of current DTM cars from Mercedes and Audi. There is no sign of the complex fan of wings aft of the rear wheels that adorn current cars, though there is a very large rear wing with distinctive, curved, ‘swan neck’, supports on both the BMW and Audi.
LE MANS
LMS ditches LMP1
The Le Mans Series has announced sweeping changes to its format for 2012, with the exclusion of the LMP1 cars and the inclusion of an entry level GT class, alongside LMP2, LMPC, GTE Pro and GTE Am classes. Teams rejected proposals to shorten the races to 500km or four hours. A questionnaire was circulated to existing LMS teams at Imola at the start of July, asking which will compete in 2012, in which category and cars they would be competing, and offering a choice of tracks on which to race. No race dates have yet been announced, but organisers have hinted that they will race on top European circuits, and races will be separate from the European rounds of the WEC.
CAUGHT The new Audi R17 DTM concept shows how the 2012 challengers will look
Toro Rosso F1 driver, Sebastien Buemi, was excluded from qualifying for the German Grand Prix after an irregularity was discovered with the fuel in his car – but he was allowed to start the race from the back of the grid. The team said the issue was triggered by a fuel pressure problem. ‘During Friday’s FP1, Buemi’s car had a fuel pressure problem, which then became worse at the start of FP2, which is why he did not do a timed lap in that session,’ Toro Rosso explained. ‘After FP2, the entire fuel system on his car was changed. When the fuel sample was taken from his car after qualifying, it did not match the one provided to the FIA prior to the start of the season. The team believes that some part of the new fuel system contained a chemical that contaminated the fuel and caused the non-conformity.
PENALTY: demoted to back of the grid
September 2011 •
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