BAR to push F1 speed limit in October
Just how fast can a Formula One car go?
Designed to go as quick as possible on everything from hairpin bends to long straights to sweeping turns, an F1 car must be set up as a compromise to cope with a range of different challenges.
But if an F1 car was set up for straight-line speed only, how fast would it go?
The BAR-Honda team will attempt to find out when it tries to set an official Formula One land speed record in October on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The car, which will be a completely legal F1 car capable of passing technical inspection and entered in a Grand Prix, will be driven by test driver Alan van der Merwe.
BAR's sporting director, 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran, is no stranger to speed, having regularly raced at speeds faster than 220 mph in North America.
"To imagine a F1 car running there is bizarre and totally offbeat," de Ferran said of the Salt Flats, "but this is what it is all about. It's a challenge for us all, but the spirit of the land speed record and the people we have met since we started this project are also a reminder to us of the pioneering spirit that symbolizes our own sport."
In order to set an official record, the car must maintain an average speed over a measured mile and then within one hour average that same speed again in the opposite direction over the same mile length.
BAR-Honda's goal is to achieve at least a 400 kph [249 mph] average speed to set the record. While F1 cars have briefly reached speeds of 370 kph [230 mph] at the fastest point on high-speed tracks such as Monza in Italy, maintaining a higher speed for a full mile in the demanding conditions of the Bonneville Salt Flats presents a host of challenges.
While flat, the surface is bumpy. Because it is so light, the F1 car suffers from a lot of wheel spin. The salt is caustic and corrosive to the F1 car's metal parts. The car wanders from side to side down the 30-yard-wide seven-mile-long track. In an initial test on the Salt Flats, van der Merwe said it was the most difficult thing he had ever done in a racing car.
"If a F1 track was this bumpy we'd pack up and go home," he said. "It is not the usual sensation of speed that you get on a racing track because there are no reference points."
Guy Savage, BAR-Honda's deputy technical director, is overseeing the project.
"We are constantly asked how fast a F1 car can go," he said, "and the truth of the matter is that we don't know because they are not built to go fast. They are built to accelerate, corner, and brake.
"It is a very difficult job because the harder we push that car forward, the more the forces of drag pull us back. So we have to strip the car down completely while still keeping it legal. The tyres and wheels account for 75 percent of the total drag of the car, and this will be the main hindrance to the car's top speed."
The car will run with the bare minimum of aerodynamic downforce aids such as wings and flaps. Extra ballast will be added to stabilize the car at speed.
Bonneville rain delays BAR record attempt
BAR have been forced to postpone their attempts to take a Formula One car through the 400 km/h barrier after heavy rain at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA.
The team were due to begin running this week, with South African driver Alan van der Merwe at the wheel of a specially-prepared (but still track legal) version of BARÂ’s current 007 car.
However, with surface water - as much as an inch in places - looking unlikely to clear in the coming days, the team have abandoned hope of making any attempt this week. They will remain on standby and plan to return as soon as conditions improve.
"This is a short term disappointment to the team, but the very nature of attempting to run a car at speeds in excess of 400 km/h on a natural surface means it is always susceptible to bad weather and we were fully prepared for this eventuality," said BAR sporting director, Gil de Ferran. "We will be rescheduling our record attempt once our observation team returns to Brackley, but are determined to get back out to Utah again as soon as possible."
Judging when that will be, however, is no easy task, as long-term weather forecasting for the area is notoriously difficult, thanks to the Salt FlatÂ’s unique micro-climate.
"Unfortunately, BAR Honda is the latest victim of the unpredictable weather in this area," said Mike Cook of the Southern California Timing Association who is assisting the team on its attempt.
"It may come as some consolation for the team to know they aren't alone. Throughout the prestigious history of land speed record attempts here, many have been adversely affected by the weather. It's almost a spiritual rite of passage for record setters at Bonneville and will represent a test of the team's mettle. But having met them all, I know they'll be back to set the record."
Even ‘good’ conditions could prove very tough on a Formula One car. Despite their name, the surface of the Flats is anything but, and sets up huge vibrations through the chassis. The other major problem is grip - on a previous trial run, Van der Merwe struggled to steer in a straight line, describing it afterwards as the most difficult thing he had ever done in a racing car.
from autosports magazine:
BAR has set an unofficial world record speed for a Formula 1 car during testing at the mojave airstrip last week. Alan van der Merwe hit 413.205km/h (258mph) during his best run at the Californian facility as the team continued its preparations for cracking the 400km/h mark on the Bonneville salt flats next year.
The most noticable aerodynamic modification to car as seen from the photographs, is the absence of a rear wing. Instead, a single tail fin has been mounted at the rear, centered right along the car's centerline, much like an aeroplane's tail fin.
why must it be done on the salts? isnt it a rough terrain?
