Aston Martin and Red Bull Are Plotting a Road-Registered Hypercar Faster Than Formula 1

#1607, 02 June 2016, page 36. Newey'd Have a Crack by MATT BURT pics MAX EAREY Aston Martin and Red Bull are plotting a road-registered hypercar faster than Formula 1 or most of us, the new road road-going sports car. “I built a full-scale wind tunnel car being created by Aston model of [my car]; that’s as far as it got, but it helped to Martin and Red Bull exists get me my first job in motor racing,” he says. only as green swooshes Newey finds F1’s current chassis regulations in a teasing picture (seen restrictive, so he’s also kept an eye on road car design. over page) that hints at a “I’ve always remained interested in road cars,” he says. F sleek vehicle but doesn’t “I enjoy driving; my treat to myself when we won the tell us much. But in the F1 championship in 2010 was to buy an Aston Martin fertile minds of designers Vantage, and I have a DB4 GT that I use on sunny days. Adrian Newey and Marek So I’ve always admired Aston and I’ve always been Reichman, the AM-RB 001 is already a technologically interested in small, efficient sports cars.” advanced car of astonishing capability, able to jostle Reichman’s first road car was an Austin Healey through traffic and beat an F1 car for outright pace. Sprite, so it isn’t surprising that his and Newey’s The project has progressed as far as a full-sized visions are closely aligned. Even though a mid- model and partners Aston Martin, Red Bull and engined car wasn’t in Aston's product plan, Reichman motorsport outfit AF Racing are still feeling their had thoughts about how one might look and created way. Newey, long considered F1’s foremost technical the DP 100 Vision Gran Turismo in 2014 for the Gran thinker, and Reichman, responsible for shaping the Turismo computer game. Now both designers had a new generation of Aston Martins, have forged a fruitful chance to create a car with few technical restrictions. relationship. Discovering they think along similar “The first time we met, Red Bull’s vision wasn’t 100 lines was a huge bonus as they set about creating an miles apart from what I was thinking about if Aston all-new car that will serve as a ‘legacy’ road car for Martin was to do a ‘mid-ships’ car,” Reichman says. Newey and a halo vehicle for Aston. Newey and Reichman won’t reveal much about Road car design has lingered in Newey’s imagination the car’s definitive shape but their wide grins suggest since his formative years. “My dad was a great tinkerer,” it will be a jaw-dropper. Reichman confirms the he says. “He had Mini Cooper Ss and Lotus Elans, and car will “tell you it is an Aston Martin through its did his own maintenance. He had a little workshop proportions” but won’t look like any previous Aston. where he'd modify them and I used to help him.” “The proportions are near-perfect,” he explains. “It is Newey began sketching his own cars and “using dad’s perfectly balanced in terms of performance, chassis workshop to fold up bits of aluminium and fibreglass, balance and occupant versus engine packaging.” making my own designs” and his final-year university The car will have two seats and a mid-mounted project explored how ground-effect aerodynamics – internal combustion engine. Words such as "purity" all the rage in F1 at the time – could be applied to a and "lightweight" are used and the power-to-weight #1607, 02 June 2016, page 36. Newey fi nds F1's current regulations restrictive, so he's kept an eye on road car design Best clues to the speed and potential of the AM-RB 001 lie in the Red Bull X2010 (above right) and Aston Martin DP 100 (below right), both created for Gran Turismo by Newey and Reichmann respectively d motorofficial f motor_mag 37 #1607, 02 June 2016, page 38. Ambiguous sketch (above) the only concrete evidence the AM-RB 001 exists so far; meeting its performance targets will make it the world's fastest production car by a country mile Special editions like the Vantage GT8 (above left) are keeping Aston's lineup fresh until new models arrive; Newey one of motorsport's sharpest minds but F1's current rules have him looking for new challenges #1607, 02 June 2016, page 38. ratio is expected to nudge 1:1. Specifics are few, so let Newey’s past creations, which have utilised ground- your imagination run riot because clearly Newey and effects, ‘active’ aero, ‘blown’ diffusers, and even ‘fan Reichman have. There are budgetary constraints, but car’ technology, the latter pioneered by Chaparral with a projected price of $4m-$6m, the AM-RB 001’s in CanAm and Brabham in F1 and featured rear- creators can consider exotic materials, powertrains, mounted fans that sucked air out from underneath the and construction methods – provided Aston’s Q car to reduce pressure and promote downforce. division can turn them into reality and build 99 cars. Then there’s traction control, active suspension, We can expect the shape to be informed both by anti-lock brakes, all-wheel drive… Little wonder Newey’s passion for clever aerodynamic and technical Newey feels liberated and Reichman is relishing the solutions and Reichman’s latest vision of Aston ‘no limits’ approach. “A lot of modern cars don’t have Martin design language. Think Newey’s dramatic Red these starting points. They are often based on an Bull X2010 and X2014 Gran Turismo concepts and existing car or something the company needs to do. Reichman’s aforementioned DP 100. This car is a unique approach.” There will be two AM-RB 001s: one road legal, the Extra power is likely to come from a hybrid set- other an extreme track version that will chase that up that’s essentially a simplified energy recovery headline-grabbing, F1-bettering lap time. The road system used by an F1 or LMP car. “Hybridisation car will have “two characters”, says Newey. “The easy offers interesting areas to explore and which, perhaps, thing would be to design a road-goingoad-going LMP1 (Le haven’t been done before with that technology,” Mans Prototype) car, but if it felt like one of those Newey hints. Owners will have to build up experience on the road, I would feel we have failed,” he says. of driving it at high speeds. “We’re trying to create a car that’s capable of extreme “At the same time, Marek and I would like a car performance, but equally if you’re stuck in a traffic jam that you can commute in if you want to,” says Newey. it’s a comfortable place to be.” Sounds impossible, but the pair’s relaxed demeanour Reichman says to expect a carbonfibre body, but it suggests they’ve studied the CFD figures and know will be more than a road-going racing car. “An LMP1 what the AM-RB 001 should be capable of. car has a brutish nature because its form language The ‘001’ suffix implies it could be the first in a is following a certain function,” he says. “Becauseecause series and while coy, Newey is encouraging about it doesn’t have the constraints of having to follow further joint projects. “Sometimes when you put a formula, we can put the mixture of the artsts of two companies together, it is a shotgun affair, and aerodynamics and beautiful design together.” sometimes it just works very easily,” he says. “This is Beyond that it is all speculation. How will it eclipse in the very easy category; we seem to have the same an F1 around Silverstone? Clues could be found in thoughts and ideas.” M "The easy thing would be to design a road-going LMP1 car; but I would feel we have failed" .

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