Thursday 10th July 2008

British GT - The Race Engineer

Brookspeed race engineer Andy Balfour tells us how to get the best out of a car and the drivers...

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Andy Balfour

The Avon Tyres British GT Championship visits Brands Hatch this weekend where Brookspeed Team Trimite’s James Gornall and Jon Barnes will be looking to clinch the series. They have done a great job this season but behind every good driver pairing is a dedicated race engineer working with them to get the best out of the car. Brookspeed’s Dodge Viper Competition Coupe has proved both quick and reliable this season and race engineer Andy Balfour is one of the men behind the teams success. Below he answers some of our questions…

• So what does your job entail?

As race engineer for Brookspeed Team Trimite my job is split into two main parts, prep and maintenance of the car in between race or test meetings, and at the circuit trying to get the best out of the car and drivers.

• Before an event what do you have to do to get the car ready?

Prior to every race weekend the car has to be inspected very carefully to spot any potential problems and hopefully rectify them before they become an issue. A racing car has a much harder life than a road car so this usually means that the car is taken to pieces so everything can be crack checked and inspected for wear. Added to this is the fact that most of the major components have a usage life. If we know something is likely to fail at 30 running hours we will change it at 25. Obviously all this needs to be logged and recorded. Any race engineer will be able to tell you when any component was fitted to his car and when it is due for replacement. Added to this any faults or accident damage from the previous meeting must be rectified.

• The Viper is a bit of a beast, all 8.3 litres of V10 power - does that come with any special requirements for set up? 

The Brookspeed Viper

The biggest problem we have with the Viper is less the power of the engine and more about where it is in the car. As with all front engine rear wheel drive cars all that weight up front makes the car naturally understeer in the corners and oversteer out of them when power is applied. There is a reason why F1 cars have evolved into a mid-engined layout.

• We often hear drivers complaining about balance, why is it so difficult to achieve this?

Put simply understeer is when the front of the car doesn’t want to turn into the corner and oversteer is when the rear tries to steer the car. There is not much a driver can do to overcome understeer other than deliberately trying to unsettle the car and induce oversteer or by going into the corner slower, both of which cost time. Oversteer is easier to control by applying opposite lock. A good balance would have the car turning and exiting the corner neutrally. This is the fastest way and has the added benefit of wearing the tires and driver less. It is, though, a hard thing to find as set up is often a compromise and as front and rear tires will always wear at different rates the balance will shift during a race.

• British GT is a three day event, with practice on Friday what are you working on?

The Viper's engine is removed

Friday is probably the most important day of the weekend for the team, as it gives us time to work with the car to optimize setup for the weekend. We will arrive at the circuit with a base setup worked out from data from the last time we were there, but it will always need fine tuning to suit the way the track is on that weekend.

• On race day what sort of tweaks are you looking to do?

On the Saturday morning test and during qualifying we will still be working on set up and even if the car is good we will still try things to see if we can gain an improvement. But come the race we will leave the car as it is, because even if the car isn’t right changing anything at the last minute is too big a risk

• What is the most important part of the set-up to gain advantage?

As the Viper has a natural understeer we always work on getting that fixed as much as possible. And because of the understeer, front tire wear is always a problem, so making them last for the hour race is a priority. But the biggest advantage the car has, is its brakes so setting the car up to work well under braking, as that’s when most overtaking moves happen, is always at the top of the list. Tire pressures though are the most important part of set up for any race car, to high and the tire will be great for the first few laps but then go off, too low and the grip will never come in, so we work hard with the help of the Avon Tyres engineers to get this right, as it varies from track to track and even with the weather.

• 
  Jon Barnes
  How do you know if/when you have got the car just right?

There is always room for improvement, but it is a very satisfying sight to see your car at the front in a race.

• Do you get any strange requests from your two drivers James and Jon?

To be honest they are a good pair to work with. They both give good feedback on the car and they are both very fast and mature drivers. They do tell me jokes on the radio sometimes though. Dicing for the lead at a hundred and lots and still have time for a funny comment.

• When do you most feel the pressure of racing?

Having to call when to pit is always hard, get it right like we did at Rockingham in the first race and we gained 16 seconds on the car behind us. But get it wrong and it can cost the race.

• Finally, who's going to win the championship and why?

Without speaking too soon, I think we have a good chance this year. Our strength lies in having two very able drivers, quite possibly the strongest line up in the series. Also while the car isn’t the fastest over one lap, some of the other cars usually have a good second on us, it has a good consistent race pace.

[PATTERNPART]

Nice article. Not a glamorous job. I guess job security isn't great either. But, if you love cars and motorsport there can't be many better avenues. And it must be great when your team wins. Not many highs where I sit (admin in manufacturing). I'm jealous.

[Dragaan]

Nice article. I even have some rare pics of Andy smiling! lol

[Ahonen]

Please learn to spell 'tyre' correctly. An article written for a UK-based website should at least have UK spelling. Change the Word spell checker to UK English and make some attempt to proof read before uploading.

Congrats to Brookspeed for wrapping up the title at the weekend, by the way.

[xspencex]

Thanks for this... and well done Andy and the rest at the team for winning the British GT Championship at Brands last weekend!!

[andybracing]

Just seen this it was sent me by a friend, i forgot i wrote it.
Laugh at the coments and am sorry about my spelling, beeing dislexic dosent stop you knowing about cars tho. Thank god for spell check what ever language.
And you right about it beeing a fickle job, brookspeed is no longer racing in BGT due to sponsers feeling the globle pinch.