Your favourite 'cheats' in motorsport

[rubystone]

The Hypno-Toad said:

Well Lord March obviously didn't think it was that illegal because it wasn't struck from the results & has been invited back this year.

As I said,he probably didn't know it was illegal...

[heebeegeetee]

shoestring7 said:

The inner wheels arches of the TWR Rovers were also far from std, allowing the fitment of larger wheels.

And those were the cheats that were discovered....

SS7

Was that the SD1 Rovers? I recall the TWR Rovers had a problem with wheel arches, and apparently it was suddenly discovered that the cars sold in South Africa had those very same arches.

Anyone recall Andrea de Cesaris being caught twice qualifying with empty fire extinguishers?

[BigBen]

Alfa touring cars rear wing that was allegedly standard fit on certain models of the car (156 ? ) if you ordered said model the wing came in the boot with bolts and a drill guide. Some rival team's engineers found it was impossible to fit anyway.

Mercedes in truck racing produced a mid engined race special claiming it was a possible factory option...

Ben

[jamieboy]

BigBen said:

Alfa touring cars rear wing that was allegedly standard fit on certain models of the car (156 ? ) if you ordered said model the wing came in the boot with bolts and a drill guide. Some rival team's engineers found it was impossible to fit anyway.

The 155 introduced the big wing in the BTCC.

I heard that the wing and splitter made a relatively small difference to the cars, but they distracted people's attention from the real reason they were so fast. I don't remember (I maybe never knew) what this real reason was, so the whole story might be a lie.

[DrTre]

Not strictly cheating as it was legal but I always found it weird that in the early 90's the BTCC Mondeo engine was based on a Mazda 2.5 litre V6 from the US Ford Probe ..an option that was not purchasable in the UK.

It was then stroked down to 2 litres...an option not available in the US (IIRC and stand to be corrected)

(I daresay Ford weren't the only abusers of this loophole)

Edited by DrTre on Tuesday 17th June 11:01

[Roop]

I always thought it was the 2.5 Ford V6 (ie: proper Mondeo V6) that was sleeved...?

[quote=DrTre]Not strictly cheating as it was legal but I always found it weird that in the early 90's the BTCC Mondeo engine was based on a Mazda 2.5 litre V6 from the US Ford Probe ..an option that was not purchasable in the UK.

It was then stroked down to 2 litres...an option not available in the US (IIRC and stand to be corrected)

(I daresay Ford weren't the only abusers of this loophole)
[quote]

[DrTre]

Roop said:

I always thought it was the 2.5 Ford V6 (ie: proper Mondeo V6) that was sleeved...?

Not the earliest ones, they may have swapped over to the Duratec(?) later on.

[zac510]

There was a Mazda KL-series 2.5 V6, which also came in 1.8l. There was also the Ford Duratec 2.5 V6. They are unrelated aside from the Ford/Mazda ownership link.

I don't know which was used in the Mondeo BTCC.

[deviant]

Not read the entire thread but IIRC Team Toyota Europe got in a spot of bother with the Celica GT4 and a trick induction set up that appeared to be legal until you actually took it to pieces. Was good for an extra 50BHP.

[Le TVR]

1975 Swedish GP.

A certain team run by Mosley + Herd had their pit just next to the timing beam system.

As Brambilla is nearly at the line, 'someone' just happens to drop their clipboard in front of the timing beam.

IIRC that was March's only pole.

[hostile17]

I've always thought that TTE's turbo restrictor modification and Benetton's illegal traction control - both during the 1994 season - were amongst the worst and most blatant cheats in top-level motorsport history.

[zac510]

I believe TTE got caught because it was too obvious that their cars were faster. Something had to be wrong!
If they had gained just 5hp instead of 50hp then they might have slipped through.
I've got a scanned drawing of the restrictor if anybody would like to see it (PM me).

[HiRich]

heebeegeetee said:

shoestring7 said:

The inner wheels arches of the TWR Rovers were also far from std, allowing the fitment of larger wheels.

And those were the cheats that were discovered....

SS7

Was that the SD1 Rovers? I recall the TWR Rovers had a problem with wheel arches, and apparently it was suddenly discovered that the cars sold in South Africa had those very same arches.

I've heard a slightly different version (or given the state of those Rovers, it could be a different story altogether). The scrutineers had wind of something, and took a close look at the upper strut mounting at the rear, which they suspected had been moved. With drawings not available, they looked around the car park for a production car to compare. They found just the one, and got the owner to come forward. It belonged to some bloke called Tom Walkinshaw, and the dimensions were identical to the race cars...

[egomeister]

HiRich said:

heebeegeetee said:

shoestring7 said:

The inner wheels arches of the TWR Rovers were also far from std, allowing the fitment of larger wheels.

And those were the cheats that were discovered....

SS7

Was that the SD1 Rovers? I recall the TWR Rovers had a problem with wheel arches, and apparently it was suddenly discovered that the cars sold in South Africa had those very same arches.

I've heard a slightly different version (or given the state of those Rovers, it could be a different story altogether). The scrutineers had wind of something, and took a close look at the upper strut mounting at the rear, which they suspected had been moved. With drawings not available, they looked around the car park for a production car to compare. They found just the one, and got the owner to come forward. It belonged to some bloke called Tom Walkinshaw, and the dimensions were identical to the race cars...

I've heard similar tales with TWR, although the car was located at a local dealer...

[BigBen]

A couple of F1 teams used a launch control system based on the EM pulse from the jump start detectors on the grid, i.e. driver could floor it but go no where until the jump start detectors were switched off which happened to coincide exactly with the lights going out, rather than the several hundered milliseconds later it took other drivers to react.

[hostile17]

BigBen said:

A couple of F1 teams used a launch control system based on the EM pulse from the jump start detectors on the grid, i.e. driver could floor it but go no where until the jump start detectors were switched off which happened to coincide exactly with the lights going out, rather than the several hundered milliseconds later it took other drivers to react.

Wow, that's pretty complex stuff. If that's a true story, then hats off to the engineers who developed it!

[zac510]

BigBen said:

A couple of F1 teams used a launch control system based on the EM pulse from the jump start detectors on the grid, i.e. driver could floor it but go no where until the jump start detectors were switched off which happened to coincide exactly with the lights going out, rather than the several hundered milliseconds later it took other drivers to react.

There was another one that involved a light beam pointed at the red light - when the red light turned off it was 'go' . Do you recall which team that was?

[BigBen]

zac510 said:

BigBen said:

A couple of F1 teams used a launch control system based on the EM pulse from the jump start detectors on the grid, i.e. driver could floor it but go no where until the jump start detectors were switched off which happened to coincide exactly with the lights going out, rather than the several hundered milliseconds later it took other drivers to react.

There was another one that involved a light beam pointed at the red light - when the red light turned off it was 'go' . Do you recall which team that was?

Funnily enough my information came up from talking to an F1 engineer and asking why noone had ever used the system you describe. I think neither came under cheating but were removed post rule 'clarification' by the FIA.

Both would be fairly easy to impliment, the jump start one is fantastic because it is so difficult for scrutineers to detect. (don't think the EM pulse was particularly small so should have been quite easy to do)

Ben

[team-misfire]

DrTre said:

Not strictly cheating as it was legal but I always found it weird that in the early 90's the BTCC Mondeo engine was based on a Mazda 2.5 litre V6 from the US Ford Probe ..an option that was not purchasable in the UK.

It was then stroked down to 2 litres...an option not available in the US (IIRC and stand to be corrected)

(I daresay Ford weren't the only abusers of this loophole)

Edited by DrTre on Tuesday 17th June 11:01

But didn't they sound amazing !

[AMD87]

DrTre said:

Not strictly cheating as it was legal but I always found it weird that in the early 90's the BTCC Mondeo engine was based on a Mazda 2.5 litre V6 from the US Ford Probe ..an option that was not purchasable in the UK.

It was then stroked down to 2 litres...an option not available in the US (IIRC and stand to be corrected)

(I daresay Ford weren't the only abusers of this loophole)

Edited by DrTre on Tuesday 17th June 11:01

Didnt MG do that with the ZS's?