DeltaWing

The DeltaWing is designed by Ben Bowlby racing car, which had its first use in the 24- hour race at Le Mans in 2012. Involved in the development of the originally designated as Project 56 vehicle were Ben Bowlby DeltaWing Racing Cars as a designer, Dan Gurney's All American Racers as a designer, Duncan Dayton's Highcroft Racing as a race team and International Motor Sports Association - owner Don Panoz as a consultant. Nissan's motorsport division NISMO has supported the development. The DeltaWing is an integral part of the starter panel of the ALMS 2013.

Development

The project began in January 2009 with the goal to design a new car for the IndyCar Series in 2012. With the financial support of Chip Ganassi, owner of Chip Ganassi Racing, Ben Bowlby was able to develop a prototype, which was unveiled in February 2010 at the Chicago Auto Show. Instead of this car is IndyCar decided in July 2010, however, for a project of Dallara.

Then Bowlby teamed up with Don Panoz to introduce the idea of ​​the Automobile Club de l' Ouest, the organizer of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. There, the team managed to get an invitation for the 2012 race.

Despite skepticism about the project had the DeltaWing its on- track debut on 1 March 2012 with the completion of a shakedown at Buttonwillow Raceway Park.

With the DeltaWing a start at Petit Le Mans in 2012 is planned. Panoz said he hoped that the car could drive 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 by the aerodynamics of the vehicle to improve significantly, thereby improving the speed on the straights and in the corners compared to the Dallara IndyCars on oval and road courses, but with half the weight of the vehicle, a lower engine performance and a reduced consumption.

As the name suggests, it has a delta wing shape, with an unusually narrow front track (0.60 m) and a more traditional rear track (1.70 m). Of the vehicle is missing any front or rear wings, the output is generated from the sub-floor. It is powered by a four-cylinder turbo engine with direct injection (1600 cc, 300 hp) from the Japanese manufacturer Nissan. The motor provides a constant torque of 310 Nm at 4000 to 6750 revolutions per minute. The accelerator pedal is driven via drive -by-wire.

The vehicle has for the race at Le Mans, a 40 liter fuel tank, custom BBS wheels and Michelin tires, an empty weight of 475 kg and a drag coefficient of 0.24.

The brake system weighs 13.2 kg, about half the normal weight for a race car. Also unique in comparison to other racing cars is that 72.5 percent of the mass and 76 percent of the power take-off is applied to the rear axle. It has a movable Gurney Flap, which is not allowed in general, but can be used on experimental vehicles.

The radical design of the DeltaWing to leading technology companies to recover for motorsports, to explore new ideas to improve fuel efficiency and thus to gain the public's attention for the sport.

Le Mans 2012

In June 2011 it was announced that the car gets the garage No. 56 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This is reserved for experimental vehicles. Like all Le Mans car is the DeltaWing a two-seater. The driver's team consisted of Marino Franchitti, Michael Krumm and Satoshi Motoyama. It qualified with a time of 3:42,612 minutes, which was 18.825 seconds behind the pole position. The car retired after an accident at the Porsche Curves with the Toyota Hybrid TS030, driven by Kazuki Nakajima, from. In the best lap time of 3:45,737 minutes was achieved.

Petit Le Mans 2012

The DeltaWing was launched on 23 October 2012 in the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta racetrack in Braselton. As a driver Lucas Ordonez and Gunnar Jeannette were used. Despite a qualifying time in the top 10 the vehicle at the end of the field had to start because it was used out of competition. Due to the design-related low consumption tires, the vehicle was able to work through the field to the front and finished the race in 5th place in the LMP2 category.

Evidence

  • Inside The Delta Wing Project - Speed ​​, Robin Miller, 10 February 2010
  • Exploring the Delta Wing concept - The Way It Is, Gordon Kirby, 22 February 2010
  • Marshall Pruett: Project 56 In: Chelsea Magazine Company (ed.): Racecar Engineering. 21, No. 8, August 2011, pp 44-48.
2012 24 Hours of Le Mans Nissan Motor Company Drive-by-Wire Braselton, Georgia Lucas Ordóñez Le Mans Prototype
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