This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
LE MANS PROTOTYPES ‘If you have the hole just cut


into the body there is a lot of air coming out of them, damaging the overall efficiency of the car,’ explains Christopher Reinke, technical project leader of Audi’s LMP programme. ‘There is also a huge drag factor, so you want to have as clean airflow as possible out of those holes by integrating them into the front wing (fender) in a way you can increase efficiency. ‘The small strakes prevent


the air from spilling out the side and interrupting critical flows in other areas. Note that there is quite a lot of airflow between


the front wing and the main section of the monocoque. This is very important for the rear of the car and the wing. If the flow from the hole spills there, it destroys the airflow. The problem is that the flow from the holes is really messy and turbulent from the wheels and brakes. We need to look at the rear wing to stop these dirty flows messing up the flow onto the rear wing. If you


let those flows interfere, you simply lose the outer edge of the rear wing.’


UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES While the holes are a regulatory change, they have influenced many other parts of the car and some clear design trends are starting to emerge, especially at the front. Both the Pescarolo 01 and the Lola B08/60 have adopted convex front ends,


“It’s a really interesting area of aerodynamic development”


part of a trend started by the use of wider front tyres. ‘If you introduce any changes to the car, like the holes or the tyres, it involves a bit of development, but for the LMP1 we have really developed the bodywork around the holes. As a result, I think almost all of the bodywork surfaces have changed in some way or other,’ Sole adds. ‘The outboard corner is critical to the whole car and we are always working to improve it. Just looking at the front corner, you see a lot of variances because people are looking at managing the flow over the rest of the


1


4


2


5


3


1. Zytek retained some louvres on its air extractors, and added a split exit to smooth the flow 2. Dome ran with an interim solution at Spa similar to the Lola solution 3. The curved tail of the hole is likely to enourage


10 www.racecar-engineering.com • July 2012


6


the messy flow away from crucial areas like the rear wing 4. Oak Racing used a deep groove to channel air for the same purpose 5. ORECA use an interesting sculpted plate in the hole 6. HPD developed its holes in CFD


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89