RE: DeltaWing: What Happened Next
Tuesday 23rd April 2013
After Nissan’s high-profile withdrawal earlier this year, we’re glad to be able to report that the DeltaWing project, which took our award for outstanding engineering geekery last year, continues unabated. Ben Bowlby’s extraordinary creation has returned to the track, now powered by an Elan 1.9-litre four-pot turbo, and is currently involved in its first-ever full season of the American Le Mans Series, competing in the LMP1 category for the first time.
Sebring retirement was disappointingThe DeltaWing’s life post-Nissan hasn’t had the most auspicious start, though. Following a rushed effort to find a new engine supplier, the team was only able to fit in two days of testing at Road Atlanta before the opening round of the series, the Sebring 12-Hour. Despite constant work by the team, the freshly-liveried DeltaWing was forced to retire in only the second hour of the race due to an engine glitch. “There was a gremlin we didn’t recognise,” said Don Panoz, DeltaWing Racing Cars’ managing partner. “Time caught up with us. It happens.” Still, we suppose it’s a preferable result to the dramatic wipe-out that partially destroyed the car in testing at Road Atlanta last year.
Coupe will race next yearDevelopment of the car is forging ahead behind the scenes, too, as the unveiling of a coupe version shows. This features a completely new tub and a wider cockpit, among a series of tweaks that will enable it to comply with the 2014 LMP1 regulations. What you can’t see from the outside, though, is that the driver is now centralised in the cockpit, rather than on the left- or right-hand side. “We’ve elected to put the driver in the middle as another way of differentiating this coupe from other ones,” says Elan engineer Simon Marshall. “It’s best for us to put the driver in the middle to protect them. It’s going to be good for visibility as well.”
DeltaWing: What Happened Next
Nissan might have left, but it's onwards and upwards for DeltaWing racing team
Sebring retirement was disappointing
The team, however, is looking to the future, with its eyes now firmly on the next round of the series at Laguna Seca, to be held on May 9 to 11. And in the meantime, they’ve been busy getting more testing miles under the car’s tyres, notably with British driver Katherine Legge at the helm. There’s talk of Legge becoming a regular driver for the team, which would undoubtedly add another strand of patriotic interest to the DeltaWing story. “[The DeltaWing] is completely different to anything else out there and definitely different to anything I’ve ever driven,” she said of the test. Harris, too, spoke highly of it after his time behind the wheel.
Coupe will race next year
How well the coupe fares in next year’s season will depend largely on the successful development of the Elan engine this year; we’ll be watching with interest.
Discussion
There's a fairly hefty bit of columnage in Racecar Engineering in this months rag focussing on the engine development and why it went a bit nasty on them. Yet more on why there should be a completely new formula for them too and why they'd be competitive...
All getting a bit tired though - yes it is interesting but hardly the most interesting thing in motorsport which is what you'd think it is based on the sheer volume of discussion in the last two years.
All getting a bit tired though - yes it is interesting but hardly the most interesting thing in motorsport which is what you'd think it is based on the sheer volume of discussion in the last two years.
"We’ve elected to put the driver in the middle as another way of differentiating this coupe from other ones"
Not sure what point he's making with this quote? The other coupes have offset driving positions because of the ACO's demands for two seater cars (Which came about at the end of the LMP900 era when they wanted the cars to represent 'Sportscars').As far as I'm aware the 2014 regulations still demand two seats...
Not sure what point he's making with this quote? The other coupes have offset driving positions because of the ACO's demands for two seater cars (Which came about at the end of the LMP900 era when they wanted the cars to represent 'Sportscars').As far as I'm aware the 2014 regulations still demand two seats...
brogenville said:
Lotus élan engine? Can this really be the old Isuzu engine they have in the state of the art delta wing?
As great as that would be...its actually the Elan engine from the Elan Motorsports.http://www.elanmotorsports.com/index.php?option=co...
SimonBeeeeer said:
"We’ve elected to put the driver in the middle as another way of differentiating this coupe from other ones"
Not sure what point he's making with this quote? The other coupes have offset driving positions because of the ACO's demands for two seater cars (Which came about at the end of the LMP900 era when they wanted the cars to represent 'Sportscars').As far as I'm aware the 2014 regulations still demand two seats...
Mac F1 style setup possibly? Perhaps thats why they need it wider. Nothing about the old car would stop you putting the seat in the middle otherwise.Not sure what point he's making with this quote? The other coupes have offset driving positions because of the ACO's demands for two seater cars (Which came about at the end of the LMP900 era when they wanted the cars to represent 'Sportscars').As far as I'm aware the 2014 regulations still demand two seats...
georgetuk said:
brogenville said:
Lotus élan engine? Can this really be the old Isuzu engine they have in the state of the art delta wing?
As great as that would be...its actually the Elan engine from the Elan Motorsports.http://www.elanmotorsports.com/index.php?option=co...
EDIT: Writing, not journalism.
Edited by HereBeMonsters on Tuesday 23 April 14:52
P4ROT said:
Yes, think you're right- 345 bhp from 1.9 is pretty amazing...
Not really The Cosworth YB being a little bigger at 2.0 can produce 500-600 in race trim. The old IMSA Toyota Eagle produced 1000hp from 2.1ltrs.There are Hayabusa bike engines at 1.3ltrs producing more power than that.
The Elan engine is not overly stressed for a race engine and should return good economy which is the main aim.
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