Body weight - circuit racing

[Flying Peach]

I'm pretty new to circuit racing and wondered how much body weight matters because I'm carrying 2 stone of excess flab. I'm racing a standard mini with low hp.

[anonymous-user]

You'll be talent limited rather than weight limited. Don't worry about it.

[jon-]

Work out how much it alters your power to weight ratio and give us the numbers.

Also, join a gym

[flemke]

Not a big difference. If you're new to it, the improvement that should come in your driving over a season will overwhelm how much incremental time you're losing because of the extra weight.
If I were you, however, I wouldn't go in for hill climbing.

[Ahonen]

Flying Peach said:

I'm pretty new to circuit racing and wondered how much body weight matters because I'm carrying 2 stone of excess flab. I'm racing a standard mini with low hp.

That's about 13kg if my basic, alcohol fuelled, maths is right. In an Formula Ford that could be worth as much as, ooooh, 0.25 seconds a lap.

I wouldn't worry about it. Just enjoy it, fatso.

No offence intended, really!

[Corpulent Tosser]

As a less than svelte chap, I am sure a loss of a few kilos would help, but then the extra weight may be preventing wheelspin at the start

I agree with those above, join a gym, but unlike myself, actually go to it.

Edited by Corpulent Tosser on Saturday 19th January 05:05

[Graham]

look for a series that runs power to weight regs including the driver... then just add some BHP

[mark69sheer]

Flying Peach said:

I'm pretty new to circuit racing and wondered how much body weight matters because I'm carrying 2 stone of excess flab. I'm racing a standard mini with low hp.

two stone of excess flab in relation to a body weight of what?

80 kgs is about the highest driver weight you can carry if you really expect to be getting pole positions and winning any races.

having said that enter a series with more grunt than grip and you will do just as well as anyone else...

Gerry Marshall was a huge phenomenon in more ways than one.

[anonymous-user]

mark69sheer said:

80 kgs is about the highest driver weight you can carry if you really expect to be getting pole positions and winning any races.

That's just not true, especially in club racing. Talent is far more important. At the very top level I can think of several drivers over 80 kg eg. Justin Wilson, Alex Wurz, Montoya and I'll bet Paul Tracy is a tad over 80kg! As a rough guide 10 kg adds about 0.25 sec/lap in most cases. Midgets tend to have more of an advantage in Kart racing and small single seaters.

[lanan]

uktrailmonster said:

As a rough guide 10 kg adds about 0.25 sec/lap in most cases.

I'm suprised at you making such a statement.!!
How do you justify it ? .

Edited by lanan on Saturday 19th January 12:56

[jacobyte]

lanan said:

uktrailmonster said:

As a rough guide 10 kg adds about 0.25 sec/lap in most cases.

I'm suprised at you making such a statement.!!
How do you justify it ? .

Edited by lanan on Saturday 19th January 12:56

IIRC, it was Colin Chapman who said that losing 10lb would gain you 0.1 secs a lap.

[Racylady]

What really matters initially is the regulations of the series you plan to drive in. Is there is minimum weight for driver + car? If you're over this, you'll be losing some time but, as a newbie, it really isn't going to make that much difference. If you're under it, they'll just ballast up the car anyway!
If you're unfit, however, that will make a LOT more difference.
As others have said here, get down to the gym!

[anonymous-user]

lanan said:

uktrailmonster said:

As a rough guide 10 kg adds about 0.25 sec/lap in most cases.

I'm suprised at you making such a statement.!!
How do you justify it ? .

Edited by lanan on Saturday 19th January 12:56

Perhaps I've calculated it, since I'm a race engineer.

[lanan]

So that is the justification is it. It was a genuinely interested response, but don't worry eh..

[GreenV8S]

lanan said:

So that is the justification is it. It was a genuinely interested response, but don't worry eh..

Given all the "!!!" and it didn't come across as a genuinely interested response, I must admit.

[lanan]

I appreciate it is difficult to express intonation or tone in a posting. Which is why I added the smiling type symbols, to show it was in a friendly manner, not confrontational.

[Pork_n_Beem]

Flying Peach said:

I'm pretty new to circuit racing and wondered how much body weight matters because I'm carrying 2 stone of excess flab. I'm racing a standard mini with low hp.

Makes absolutely no difference, however, if that two stone was on the car, then well thats really bad !

[anonymous-user]

General fitness level is more important than weight, if you arnt fit enough you will find your concentration levels dropping off quicker. Gerry Marshal was a big guy who liked a pint, but his fitness was good enough to be able to drive at the limit for sustained periods without it being a problem, he was fitter than a lot of people give him credit.

If you've got any tallent, it will matter more than what you weigh unless you are making a big diference to the power/weight in a catagory that is very competitive.

[AndrewM]

Interesting thread this - I'm the wrong side of 80kg - around 100 if I'm honest. I've managed a best time at Gurston Down Hillclimb of 33.69 when I weighed 90kg. Since then, I have struggled to get below 34secs.

My car is a single seater without wings, but on slicks with about 140bhp. On the circuits, I have to agree that fitness is more important - at a Silverstone Stowe meeting in October, I managed to be second into the first corner ahead of younger, lighter, hotshoes then fell away as I got more tired later in the race. Quite simply, I can qualify at the sharp end, but I can't sustain the lap times for a long period.

My first time in the wet last year was at Castle Combe. Qualifying was totaly drenched and in my second ever race, I put the car on class pole and about half way up the grid overall. Come the dry race, I held the lead for a few laps, but my concentration suffered after a relatively short space of time due to my fitness not being up to the job.

Talent will get you further than light weight but fitness is key too. Best advice though - get out there and enjoy it!

[anonymous-user]

lanan said:

So that is the justification is it. It was a genuinely interested response, but don't worry eh..

Ok sorry, thought you were taking the piss.
It's not easy to calculate by hand, we use vehicle model simulation to calculate the effect of power, weight, aerodyamics etc. We also correlate our model with actual track testing at different fuel loads etc. For an F1 car it works out at around 0.2-0.3 sec/lap/10kg, the exact figure being track dependent. For Touring cars I seem to remember it was slightly less sensitive, usually closer to 0.1 sec/lap/10kg.