BUMP STOP


Round and around the table


PIT CREW Editor


Andrew Cotton


Deputy editor Sam Collins


News editor Mike Breslin Design


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Ortiz, Martin Sharp, Simon McBeath, Ian Wagstaff, Paul Weighell


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ISSN No 0961-1096 USPS No 007-969


Head of business T


he director of Lotus Motorsport, Claudio Berro, is no stranger to committee meetings. In a recent interview, he told me, ‘Every time you have an idea, it goes around the table and, when it comes


back to you, it has cost you another million Euros and is completely different to what you originally proposed!’ This, I assume, is what happened to the Global Race Engine – a brilliant idea that was to cater for IndyCar, Formula 3, the WTCC, WRC and even Formula 1 and Le Mans. The engine proposed was a four cylinder, turbocharged unit that could be between 1.6 and 2.0 litres. It fitted with the way manufacturers were thinking – downsizing while maintaining the same power output, or even being faster. The 1.6-litre turbo was the new 2.0-litre hot hatch, and was to be sold as a premium product. It was an idea championed by Audi’s chief of motorsport engines, Ulrich Baretzky. His idea went around the table, supported by the VAG and PSA groups, and arrived back as a 1.6-litre V6 for Formula 1, a 2.0-litre six cylinder at Le Mans, a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine for the BTCC and a 2.2-litre V6 for IndyCar. This wasn’t cost saving, and it narrowed the market for manufacturers looking for cost-effective racing solutions. With these decisions taken, a new plan was hatched


for Le Mans. The idea to balance energy carried by a car was simple, and brilliant. It had widespread support among the engineering community, manufacturers and marketing folk, too. Anyone who wanted to run their car on petrol, diesel, rocket fuel or milk would start on a level playing field. There would be no more balance of performance arguments. Diesel would carry the same energy as petrol, bio-ethanol, hybrid or hydrogen. The only regulations would concern safety. On the back of this, Nissan seriously considered an


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LMP1 programme, and others were expected to join in. Audi wanted to build a lightweight car, and hoped for a limit of 650kg without a hybrid system. It would have used a smaller engine, used the energy efficiently, and delivered a thermal energy recovery system on which Baretzky and his team have been working for years. In short, it was the Delta Wing idea, rolled out to any manufacturer who wanted to join in. While the regulations are yet to be released, at Sebring, the opening round of the World Endurance


Championship and the American Le Mans Series, details of the bullet points issued by the ACO started to emerge. The rule makers appear to have bottled their ambition, and instead are heading back down the route of balancing performance, thereby reducing endurance racing to another sustained period of arguments, politicking and, frankly, boredom from the general public. Engine capacity is to be limited to 5.0 litres, with a minimum weight of 850kg. What? That is not an innovation, that is an invitation to disaster. Such a heavy car would demolish any gains in going to a small capacity engine and, bizarrely, the most efficient way forward would be a large capacity engine. Coupés would be de rigueur, although, sensibly, the


“it narrowed the market for manufacturers looking for


Germans recommended the field of vision be regulated to ensure drivers can see where they are going. Tyre sizes will be reduced to 14in, but Dunlop and Michelin both had to fight against a plan for a narrow tyre wall. With the downforce generated by the LMP1 cars, they needed a bigger tyre to cope, and the ACO appears to have accepted this plan. A fuel flow meter


cost-effective racing solutions”


will help restrict performance, and new regulations will reduce


the amount of energy used over two laps by around 40 per cent. Hybrids will still have an advantage, and I understand there will be three classes – one at 8MJ in which the manufacturers will have to compete, one at 4MJ and one at no megajoules at all, for privateers. The plan for a GTE Hybrid category appears to have been opposed by major manufacturers, as does a plan to have GT3 cars in place of GT2. That, apparently, sent Corvette into orbit, and its threat to withdraw from the category seems to have been taken seriously. Meetings were held at Sebring and manufacturers


are busy trying to drag the rule writers back to the energy-based formula. The commission, led by Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, has said publicly that they hope to announce the regulations by Le Mans. A series of meetings are now planned ahead of Le Mans to iron out the problems, and the credibility of Sportscar racing rests in the hands of these committees. Berro may hold his head in his hands.


EDITOR Andrew Cotton


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• Racecar Engineering, incorporating Cars & Car Conversions and Rallysport, is published 12 times per annum and is available on subscription. Although due care has been taken to ensure that the content of this publication is accurate and up-to-date, the publisher can accept no liability for errors and omissions. Unless otherwise stated, this publication has not tested products or services that are described herein, and their inclusion does not imply any form of endorsement. By accepting advertisements in this publication, the publisher does not warrant their accuracy, nor accept responsibility for their contents. The publisher welcomes unsolicited manuscripts and illustrations but can accept no liability for their safe return. © 2012 Chelsea Magazine Company. All rights reserved.


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98 www.racecar-engineering.com • May 2012 August 2008


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