TECHNOLOGY FOR MOTORSPORT The International Journal ™ FUEL CELLS F1-POWERED THINK TANK HILLCLIMBER A look at what fuel New Martin Ogilvie- containment technology designed Predator can contribute breaks cover November 2005 · Vol 15 No 11 www.racecar-engineering.com UK £4.50 · USA $8.95 Taking the heat Could thermal imaging be the death of the temperature probe? Aero hints and tips Ways to avoid drag Driver-friendly clutch Tactile take-up technology Ecotec engine 1000bhp off the shelf 1 1 9 770961 109050 See us at SEMA Booth 24275Better Plumbing. Better Performance. Stainless Steel Braided CPE Hose HS-79 Hose with Nomex Braid Lightweight 4-ply Construction Tight Bend Radius. 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Triple Sealed Hose Ends with you’ll get it all from XRP. Dual Angled Seats and Patented, Aerospace Approved Nipple & Cutter Design per MIL-DTL-83798 UNITED STATES XRP, Inc. [email protected] tel 562 861 4765 fax 562 861 5503 ® EUROPE James Lister & Sons [email protected] tel 44 (0) 121 525 5800 fax 44 (0) 121 553 5951 THE XTREME IN RACECAR PLUMBING 2005 Contents NOVEMBER Features 32 Hot rubber Cover story Thermal cameras could change the science of taking tyre temperatures. We test the theory 38 The science of ambition Graeme Wight junior’s hillclimb car shows reality Sam Collins need never get in the way of a good idea 32 48 Ecotec friendly An all aluminium, four-cylinder, DOHC engine from GM aimed directly at motorsport 54 Aero bite size The minutiae of aerodynamics. How the most insignificant component can have an effect 62 Cushioning the blow AP Racing’s new clutch system aims to take the strain out of getting off the line Raceworld 05 Write line – Does a competitor’s death prove the current rally format is unsustainable? 38 Simon McBeath 06 Debrief – Red Bull takes over at Minardi, FIA gets into CFD and LMP900 gets a reprieve 18 Race people – Geoff Goddard of Geoff Goddard Engines Ltd is On The Gas 23 V-Angles – Paul Van Valkenburgh remembers how tyre testing used to be 27 Column – Mike Breslin on the rise and fall of motor racing circuits 31 Forum – More feedback on Formula Student and a dressing down for an Autocad fan Raceshop 69 Buyers’ insight – Fuel cells, their development, manufacture and application 75 Tech spotlight – 3D-connexion makes light work of CAD with its new, intelligent controller GM 77 Racegear – All the latest products 48 83 Database – Full motorsport supplier listings 93 Aerobytes – Simon McBeath examines how to make the most of waste exhaust gases 97 The Consultant – Is there ever such a thing as too much left percentage in oval racing? FOR SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS TURN TO Advantagee CFD Subscriptions PAGE 67 54 Or visit www.racecar-engineering.com www.racecar-engineering.com November 2005 Racecar Engineering 3 INTERSPARES MOTORSPORT LTD Unit 4, Rockfort Industrial Estate Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 9DA Tel: +44 (0)1491 827460 fax: +44 (0)1491 827469 Export Specialists Email: [email protected] See us at SEMA Booth # 24533 4 November 2005 Racecar Engineering Write Line Pit Crew veryone in the Racecar Engineering offi ce was stunned to hear of the Vol 15 No.11 death of Michael Park, Markko Martin’s co-driver, on the Rally GB. Editor Charles Armstrong-Wilson Thankfully we have not lost a World Rally competitor since the death Deputy Editor Sam Collins of Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto in 1986. However, events over Art Editor E Barbara Stanley Borras recent seasons have exhibited a number of alarmingly heavy accidents. Chief Sub Editor Mike Pye Fortunately the crews have all survived, most without serious injury, but each Editorial Assistant Katie Power incident has left an uneasy feeling that things could have been worse. Contributing Editors Tragically that has now happened. Paul Van Valkenburgh, Allan Staniforth Technical Consultant Why these accidents are happening is something I have pondered on before Peter Wright Group Art Editor in this column [V13N2], but the subject is probably worth revisiting. Patrick Morrissey Contributors The last time there was a fatality, world rallying was in the grip of Group B, George Bolt Jr, Mike Breslin, Dan Carney, Charles Clarke, Simon McBeath, Mark Ortiz, the rules that allowed enormous freedom for constructors. Low production Martin Sharp, Ian Wagstaff Photography requirements to achieve homologation opened the door for very powerful, LAT, Tony Tobias Business Development Manager fast cars. However, they also proved dangerous and were banned Tony Tobias +44 (0) 20 8726 8328 Mobile 07768 244880 Fax +44 (0) 20 8726 8399 following the Toivonen crash. But the cars competing today are at least as [email protected] quick over a stage mile, Advertisement Sales Executive Andy King +44 (0) 20 8726 8329 even if they are more [email protected] Group Advertisement Manager predictable and Kevin Attridge forgiving. Publisher RALLY STAGES ARE NOT Gavin de Carle But speed is not the General Manager “LIKE RACING CIRCUITS Niall Clarkson only issue. Rally stages Managing Director Paul Williams are not like racing Editorial & Advertising Racecar Engineering, Focus Network, circuits. They lack run- ” Leon House, 233 High Street, Croydon, Surrey CR9 1HZ, UK off area, crash barriers or gravel traps. Instead they have ditches, banks, long Tel +44 (0)20 8726 8364 drops and, worst of all, trees. Even at a relatively modest speed, the Fax +44 (0)20 8726 8399 E-mail [email protected] concentration of force a tree generates on a rally car ’shell is considerable. It Back Numbers John Denton Services, Unit 1 A1 Parkway. South Gate Way, is impossible to make the car strong enough to resist this force in all cases Orton South Gate, Peterborough PE2 6YN, UK Tel +44 (0)1733 370800 because if the car doesn’t deform then the sudden deceleration will prove Fax +44 (0)1733 239356 fatal. Nor is it practical to remove all the trees or wrap them in crash barriers. Worldwide News Trade Distribution Marketforce (UK) 5th Floor, Low Rise, Kings Reach Apart from the logistics, the trees are an intrinsic part of what makes a forest Tower, Stamford Street, London SE1 9LS, UK Tel +44 (0)20 7633 3300 a forest. Take them away and you change the nature of the event. Worldwide Subscriptions Racecar Engineering Subscriptions, PO Box 272, Hayward’s Heath, The alternatives are to take the cars out of the forests and put them in a West Sussex, RH16 3FS, UK Typesetting & Repro Planart Ltd more controlled environment. We already do that and call it Rallycross. Or, Print Text Benham Goodhead Print we change the emphasis of the sport of rallying. At the risk of sounding like an Cover BR Hubbard Printers Printed in England ISSN No 0961-1096 old git, years ago world rallies were very different events. Lasting for four or USPS No 007-969 Racecar Engineering fi ve days, going through the night on occasions, they had punishing schedules is a Focus Network publication, published by and covered hundreds of miles between stages. They had a strong endurance IPC Country & Leisure Media Ltd element and gaining results called for an ability to keep going and avoid Racecar Engineering, incorporating Cars & Car Conversions and Rallysport, trouble. They forced a degree of caution and margin for safety in both the is published 12 times per annum and is available on subscription. Although due care has been teams and the crews. Today’s events are more like sprints, always run in taken to ensure that the content of this publication is accurate and up-to-date, the publisher can daylight and with very limited road mileage. accept no liability for errors and omissions. Unless otherwise stated, this publication has not tested Consequently, all resources can be channelled into products or services that are described herein, and their inclusion does not imply any form of producing the best possible stage times. Crews drive endorsement. By accepting advertisements in this publication, the publisher does not warrant on the absolute limit with no margin and the crashes, their accuracy, nor accept responsibility for their when they happen, are huge. contents. The publisher welcomes unsolicited manuscripts and illustrations but can accept no Rallies are not races, they can never deliver a neatly liability for their safe return. © 2005 IPC Media. All rights reserved. packaged three hours of entertainment on a Sunday Reproduction (in whole or in part) of any text, photograph or illustration contained in this afternoon. Let them return to being endurance events publication without the written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. Racecar Engineering and promote them in the same way as Le Mans or the (USPS 007-969) is published 12 times per year by rallies of the 1960s and ’70s. That way the emphasis IPC Media Ltd in England. Periodicals postage paid at Green Brook NJ 08812.