DeltaWing
The DeltaWing is a racing car designed by Ben Bowlby, which was first used in the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans . Involved in the development of the vehicle, originally known as Project 56 , were Ben Bowlby's DeltaWing Racing Cars as the designer, Dan Gurney's All American Racers as the designer, Duncan Dayton's Highcroft Racing as the racing team and International Motor Sports Association owner Don Panoz as a consultant. Nissan's motorsport department NISMO supported the development. The DeltaWing is an integral part of the ALMS 2013 starting field .
development
The project started in January 2009 with the aim of designing a new vehicle for the 2012 IndyCar Series . With the financial support of Chip Ganassi , owner of Chip Ganassi Racing , Ben Bowlby developed a prototype that was unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show in February 2010 . Instead of this car, however, IndyCar opted for a Dallara project in July 2010 .
Bowlby teamed up with Don Panoz to present the idea to the Automobile Club de l'Ouest , the organizer of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team managed to get an invitation for the 2012 race.
Despite skepticism about the project, the DeltaWing made its on-track debut on March 1, 2012 with the completion of a shakedown at Buttonwillow Raceway Park.
The DeltaWing started at the 2012 Petit Le Mans . Panoz said he hoped the car could run under the LMP1 and LMP2 regulations of the American Le Mans Series in 2013, or that it could replace the ORECA FLM09 in the LMP Challenge .
Technical
The DeltaWing was developed to significantly improve the aerodynamics of the vehicle and thus to improve the speed on the straights and in the corners, compared to the Dallara IndyCars on oval and street courses, but with half the vehicle weight, a lower engine power and a reduced Consumption.
As the name suggests, it has a delta wing shape, with an unusually narrow front track (0.60m) and a more traditional rear track (1.70m). There are no front or rear wings on the vehicle, the downforce is generated from the underbody. It is powered by a four-cylinder turbo engine with direct injection (1,600 cm³, 300 hp) from the Japanese manufacturer Nissan . The motor delivers a constant torque of 310 Nm at 4000 to 6750 revolutions per minute. The accelerator pedal is controlled by drive-by-wire .
The vehicle for the race in Le Mans has a 40 liter fuel tank, bespoke BBS wheels and Michelin tires, an empty weight of 475 kg and a drag coefficient of 0.24.
The braking system weighs 13.2 kg, about half the normal weight for a racing car. Another unique feature compared to other racing cars is that 72.5 percent of the mass and 76 percent of the downforce are on the rear axle. It has a movable gurney flap , which is usually not allowed, but can be used on experimental vehicles.
The radical design of the DeltaWing is designed to win back leading technology companies in motorsport to investigate new ideas to improve fuel efficiency and thereby attract public attention to the sport.
Le Mans 2012
In June 2011 it was announced that the vehicle would be given garage number 56 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This is reserved for experimental vehicles. Like all Le Mans cars, the DeltaWing is a two-seater. The driver team consisted of Marino Franchitti , Michael Krumm and Satoshi Motoyama . It qualified with a time of 3: 42.612 minutes, that was 18.825 seconds behind pole position. The car retired after an accident in the Porsche corners with the Toyota Hybrid-TS030, driven by Kazuki Nakajima . A time of 3: 45.737 minutes was achieved in the best race lap.
Petit Le Mans 2012
The DeltaWing started on October 23, 2012 at the Petit LeMans on the Road Atlanta race track in Braselton . Lucas Ordoñez and Gunnar Jeannette were used as drivers . Despite a qualifying time within the top 10, the vehicle had to start at the end of the field because it was used out of competition. Due to the design-related low tire consumption, the vehicle was able to work its way through the field and finished the race in 5th place in the LMP2 category.
proof
- ↑ a b c d Tim Considine: The DeltaWing Archived from the original on June 4, 2012. In: Road & Track . 63, No. 11, July 2012, pp. 121-124. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
- ↑ DeltaWing race car hits track for first test ( memento of the original from March 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Autoweek, March 2, 2012
- ↑ Le Mans blog: Panoz responds to DeltaWing doubters, 'Why not?' - Autoweek, June 13, 2012
- ↑ DeltaWing to start 29th in 24 Hours of Le Mans after qualifying . In: Autoweek . June 14, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from June 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ DeltaWing makes history: Top 5 at the Petit Le Mans - Motorsport-Total.com October 23, 2012
- Inside The Delta Wing Project - Speed, Robin Miller, February 10, 2010
- Exploring the Delta Wing concept - The Way It Is, Gordon Kirby, February 22, 2010
- Marshall Pruett: Project 56 . In: Chelsea Magazine Company (Ed.): Racecar Engineering . 21, No. 8, August 2011, pp. 44-48.
