Vintage Racing: Lime Rock Park VS Watkins Glen

Times are tough, people. Choices have to be made and the decisions aren't always easy. Especially when deciding which of the two vintage races to attend over the next two weekends. Sure, we could hit 'em both, but for the sake of this exercise, let's say we can't.

Lime Rock Park: Rolex Vintage Festival
150 cars entered for the weekend
$45 a day, per person. Kids, don't know.
Might get a couple lunch time laps IF there are enough Lotus owners to qualify

On Track: they won't send me an entry list, but last year it was mostly stuff I have very little interest in. There will be no large bore formula cars, no GTP or CanAm cars, and very sports racers of interest. We've already established that there won't be any Lotus 47s or 23s.

Watkins Glen: US Vintage Grand Prix
650 cars entered for the weekend
$45 for the weekend. Kids free
For an extra $20 you can get laps on track, the autocross event, and the Gelnkhana old course laps!

On Track: F-5000 reunion / Triumph is the featured marque / 29 different Lotus cars entered

For now, the plan is to hit the US Vintage GP. We're going in convoy with a handful of other Lotus owners (2 Elans, 1 Sport 190) and a Porsche GT3 (to follow behind and pick up whatever falls off the Lotus). We'll report back with photos when we return.

And yes, LRP is the photo on the left. LRP is set in a beautiful valley in NW Connecticut. The photo on the right is The Glen... which sits atop a windblown hill in a decidedly less picturesque area of New York State. Aesthetic don't count in this debate.

Phil Hill 1927 - 2008 - American's Formula One Champion.

Sad, but true - the news is that Phil Hill, the first American to win a Formula One World Drivers Championship, passed away at 10:30 this morning. Hill was 81 years old and lived a long and competitive life - including winning the LeMans 24 race ('58 & '62) and was a prolific automotive journalist that contributed volumes of text to Road & Track. At a time when too many racers expired at the wheel, Phil Hill pushed on, made history, and lived to tell about it.

Got something to say, a memory, or a kind word to his family?
http://www.philhill.com/remember_2.html

He will be missed - especially for his contribution to "doing the donut" (hint, it's 28 seconds in).

Adding disk brakes to your Europa? Where is the ideal placement?

Recently the question of ideal caliper placement has been bandied about, at least in highly nuanced Europa modifying community. Factors like suspension location, rim diameter, and cooling notwithstanding, there are other, more physics-minded calculations to be taken into account. Which is why I'm never surprised to see some AutoZone hopped up Civic handling poorly. It is amazing the amount of time/money spent on ill though out modifications purchased out of the backs of car magazines.

Now, onto selecting the location for our Europa's rear calipers.

The following is from Dave/2560. Lets say that the caliper friction center is 6" from the axle center, the tire is 24" diameter, and the braking action is capable of 1G of deceleration. If the caliper were at 270° 1G of stopping torque would add 2G of down force on the bearings (Total:3G) AND 1G deceleration (pressure on the front of the bearings)(Grand total: 3.16G at 200°). However, if it were mounted at 90°, the 2G down is now up giving a total of 1G up (added to 1G deceleration, that is 1.4G at 315°). But remember that the 2G force is always 90° from the mounted position and the 1G of deceleration is always pushing the tire to the rear (pressure on the front of the bearings). To neutralize the deceleration force on the bearings the caliper should be at the 150° position. This would also bring the 90° positions excess G force down by 1. This seems to be the ideal position.

Now, try to find a caliper that will bleed properly in that position!

F1 Coverage: Street racing Valencia style

Monaco seems to be first to mind when thinking about temporary street races in Formula One - certainly more so than the US Grand Prix when it was run though the backyards of old people in Arizona. However, Valencia has little in common with the Principality... only that they are both high priced locales and run their circuits to blast along high priced waterfronts. You see, for every tight 1st and 2nd gear corners at Monaco there are long straights, wide corners, and generous braking zone with which to set up a pass or overtake before the corner. F1 officials suggest that Valencia's average speed over the lap will be around 140 mph. Compared with Monaco's 96 mph the difference is staggering.

Of course, like Monaco, this is a temporary circuit run on public roads - so dramatic shifts in camber, changes in road surface, negligible run off areas, and the ever-present concrete barriers that line the circuit threaten DNF in a very real way. .

Opening practice for the Valencia-hosted European Grand Prix starts Friday, August 22.

The Chapman Strut...

... is not a McPherson Strut.

Of course, neither is a McPherson strut (because some FIAT engineer named Fornaca actually invented it in the 20's). But, that's another story.

A Chapman Strut, is however quite similar, and being a strut designed by Chapman it is one device that performs multiple tasks - namely shock absorbing and wheel location. Unlike a McPherson strut, Chapman's strut is located at the rear of a car and is statically mounted so that it exhibits no influence in wheel deflection or toe. As such it resists high lateral forces amazingly well for its light weight... although it has disadvantages in terms of height and side-load.

Lotus first used the Chapman strut on their Formula 2 car, the Lotus 12. The 12 is historically regarded as a failure in terms of championship points - and it was. However, the 12 should be noted as pioneering a number of significant innovations:
- 5 speed indirect gearbox
- magnesium "wobbly" wheels
- spaceframe chassis

Behind the Badge: Ferrari

Perhaps the most famous logo in racing is the prancing horse symbol of Scuderia Ferrari.

The badge is composed with three stripes of green, white and red bent over the top of a yellow shield with a black horse above the initials SF (for Scuderia Ferrari). Ferrari road cars employ a similar but rectangular version of the badge, minus the SF designation.

So, what's the history? In a nutshell, it was after Enzo Ferrari's victory at the Savio track in Ravenna that he met the Countess Paolina, mother of Count Baracca and Italian Air Force flying ace. Baracca was know for painting a horse on the side of his planes for luck. When Baracca was killed his squadron repeated the fashion but changed the original red horse on a white cloud to a black horse on a yellow background; yellow being the color of the city of Modena Baracca's birthplace and the place where Ferrari would eventually set up his factory.

Ferrari first used the cavallino rampante when he was driving and privately entering Alfa Romeos in 1929, again during the 30's on the Alfas that his fledgling Scuderia Ferrari campaigned, and continued he practice through the 40's when he was managing the racing division for Alfa Romeo. After World War 2 and his departure from Alfa, Enzo kept his cavallino rampante logo and applied them to cars of his own construction.

Interestingly, the black horse on a yellow shield is also the Coat of Arms for Stuttgart, the city in Germany where Porsche is located.

Scoops and Spoilers: the NACA Duct

The NACA duct is a very special air inlet device that allows cooling air to be pulled into ducted chamber with a minimal flow disturbance over the larger mechanical body. Unlike, say, a hood scoop or a snorkel which stand up in clean air for a ram effect but leave an effluent wake of dirty air in their path - the NACA duct is a submerged inlet that uses a shallow ramp and curved walls as a depression within the larger mechanical body. The ramp allows air passing along the body to slip down into the duct and the curved walls help direct the air flow AND increase the air speed. Air's velocity must increase through the constriction... cause you can't leave out the equation of continuity & pressure must decrease because of our friend Energy and the conservation there of.

More simply, the design works because, perhaps more importantly, the curved walls also develop counter rotating vortices which in turn push away the slow moving boundary air adhered to the mechanical body and suck in the faster moving air.

Fortunately for race car design these aerodynamically efficient ducts are excellent for charge cooling and venting air intakes for mechanical and human components. NACA duct are however minimally effective for significant air volumes and are therefore rarely used for either jet or large bore engine systems. That work is still left to the snorkels and scoops and their superior ram air effect.

Oh, and NACA stands for National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, aka NASA's grandfather.

Lotus 47GT-74

During the winter of 1966, Lotus debuted the type 46 Lotus Europa. A relatively attractive car, it was quickly on pace in the Lotus tradition of added lightness and nimble handling. Unfortunately, the 1470cc Renault 16 motor that powered it was, um, a bit anemic. But, at about 1380 lbs the type 46 put it to good use - especially with it's pioneering mid-engine layout. Yes, the Europa was only the second mass produced mid-engined sports car (after the Matra d'Jet)... before Ferrari and Lamborghini caught on.

And, as Colin Chapman knew that on-track success yielded sales results the 46 would be quickly pressed to earn its keep. But not with a measly 82hp!

Enter the Type 47GT.
While numerically after the type 46, the 47s started hitting the track before the 46s hit the show room. While visually similar and dimensionally identical the 47 had significant changes under the skin to make it an effective track weapon. Out with the Renault and in with a 165hp Cosworth modified motor mated to a Hewland FT 200 gearbox. The rear suspension was also radically redefined to accept the magnesium rear uprights and radius arms from Lotus' then current formula cars.

The 47 was immediately successful and took first & second places in their debut race, the BOAC 500.

Today, perhaps due to the low build number, there are few being run in vintage racing.
Which brings us to today's subject, type 47GT-74.

I have been following this car on and off for the past 6 years as it was owned by Ed Mettleman and stationed in nearby CT at Lee Chapman Racing. It never seemed to get the attention that it deserved and seemed to have a number of DNFs due to mechanical woes. This always confused me as all of the components are fairly well understood. In period the Tecalemit-Jackson fuel injection had a nasty habit of burning the cars to the ground - but these were routinely replaced with Webers.

Well, the car has been sold, to whom and for how much - I don't know. But I do know that it is now a stablemate at GMT Racing in Danbury CT. I spoke with JR at GMT yesterday and he informed me that the new owner already has 4 events completed in the car - but reports that he is very unhappy with the handling of the car. I would be interested in knowing more about this particular malady - but looking at the other cars that GMT runs might be a good indication that their set up is off based on their baseline experience.

Unfortunately the car will not run at the vintage races this fall at Lime Rock. But, I hope to see it again in person soon and would very much like to document more of the car's history.

UPDATE 08/15/08: apparently Simon Wilson-Taylor is the current custodian of this vehicle. Good luck Simon - I'd like to think that you'll ring me when you are done with it.

Drive to NYC... 180 miles & back safe and sound (and sweaty and tired and nearly deaf).

This AM I had to follow my wife to a doctor's appointment - I took the
Lotus as I've been using it a lot lately (300+ miles this weekend!).

After the appointment I had to head off to work - I usually take the
train 70 miles into Manhattan. I was between stations and the Dr.
office was just off the Taconic Parkway, so I thought I'd follow it
south to the next station... then the next... then the next. By the
time I got to Croton I called in to see when the next train was and
got the response 58 mins. So, I drove in.

Getting into the city at that hour was a breeze. The car ran
flawlessly and I managed to avoid 99% of the road hazards and pot
holes. My car is set up for the track and rather stiffly sprung - so
once into the city it was fairly unpleasant. It was hot too.

In the parking garage I got the premium spot next to the Ferrari, 911,
and high end MBs... car visible from the street - must be good for
business as they put all the lookers there (when I drive my 84 533i
into the city they part it in the 4th circle of hell and it takes 30
mins to get it out).

I checked the traffic cams online before heading out - and all looked
good. And, I made it out the West Side H'way and over the George
Washington Bridge to the Palasades without any traffic. However, the
Major Deegan feeder from the Palasades to the NYS Thruway as stop and
go for 20 miles. Car and driver temperatures got hot, really hot, but everything kept
humming along and I eventually broke free of the rolling parking lot
when I hit the Harriman toll plaza. From there home it was 90 mph the
entire way. Or, according to my speedo 45mph. I checked against the
mile markers and my speedo/mile counter is EXACTLY 50% off.

I made it home in one piece, my ears hurt from the SuperTrapp, I lost
10 lbs in water weight, and I got about 30 mpg for the entire trip. Seriously though, my pants were soaked - I looked like I'd entered a wet t shirt contest (and lost) even my shoes had sweat stains it was so hot.

Worse, I forgot to get water before getting into the car -- so I had nothing to drink.
I picked up a 6 pack of Bass at the Hess just down the street and cracked the first two while I pulled into my driveway - my four year old daughter had to drag my steaming, slumped body out of the car.On the Thruway, at speed, I noticed a pronounced bit of a vibration - so this AM I check out the right front suspension. The verdict is a worn tie rod end, boot is torn, and that's where the slop is. I've know about the mis-matched tie rods (left has no boot / no grease fitting) and I've been looking for a reason to swap these out and regrease the trunnions. Now I have it.

But, I won't be driving into Manhattan again any time soon. I got away
with it today, but I much prefer the twisty roads in upstate NY to the
grind of the grid.

Lotus ::: Project Eagle

Here it is - the new Lotus! And this one's a 2+2 with a 3.5-litre Toyota V6 good for nearly 280HP. Seems like its got a whole lot more kit too, including Alpine sound system with Bluetooth and iPod connections, standard air, traction control, ABS and leather seats and trim. Not exactly added lightness. The business end of the suspension gets 350mm four-pot AP racing brakes, Eibach springs & Bilstein dampers.

Looks wise, it's a huge reminder of the M250 concept car that got binned a few years ago. And that's a good thing. I like it a whole lot better than the Europa S - which isn't available in the states anyway.

Available in the US = yes, Patrick Dempsey is rumored to be receiving the first one. Odd given his association with Mazda?

Price = $90K-ish
Top speed = estimate 165

0 - 60: estimate 5 seconds

By the time we get to Woodstock

... we'll be 70 miles strong!

Saturday afforded the opportunity to go on a massive drive, converting the normal 27 miles to Woodstock to over 70 miles. Half the mileage on the way home, but twice as fun and three times as many corners and twice as fast. Lotus alchemy? Nah, just a carefully planned series of backroads. In fact, we only hit one stretch of road that was in any way occupied in any noticeable way.

The road less taken - New Paltz to Woodstock: 299 - 44/55 to Kerhonkson
Granit Road to Accord
209 back to Pine Bush
Route 3 to Cherrytown
Route 3 to Krumville
Route 3 to Olive/28A
28A to Boiceville/28
28 to Mount Tremper/212
212 to Bearsville & Woodstock

The road less taken - Woodstock to New Paltz:
212 to 375
375 to 28
cross 28 to Dug Hill Road
Dug Hill Rd to Hurley Mtn Road
Hurley Mtn Road to Tongore Road
Tongore Road to Clayton "pegleg" Btes Memoril H'way
to Lucas turnpike
to 213 to Mohonk road (over Mohonk Mtn)
to Mtnrest Road
Home

Why Free costs more than Not Free!

The following article might go a long way into understanding why there is a second Internet bubble coming - and how so many more people in the interactive space seem to possess a unique lack of qualifications.
READ IT

I find it interesting, and a little disturbing, to see pre-bubble trends repeating themselves in such an obvious fashion; huge investments into a crowded development/market-space focused on a single product type that is promising to make everyone rich. WidgetBucks, like so many social networking / web 2.0 start up is nothing more than an e-commerce referral/pyramid scheme glommed onto an ad network.

I also believe that there is a dangerous trend in what should be a tactical stronghold. Let's call it, "Why Free costs more than Not Free".

A social ad network knows that they offer little value beyond the immediate service of displaying ads/widgets in a context that should be more relevant to a user... based on assumed points of interest. So, they seek to bolster their value, and one way is by offering ideation, creative, and development services. Unfortunately, they often devalue these services by not representing their true costs - they call it "added value" and would argue that it's a competitive advantage. Advertisers are supposed to do the math and figure that they are getting top notch creative services for free. And, everyone likes Free. Or so they think.

In my opinion, the position that ad networks should take is that their networks are only as good as their ability to contextual creative AND the execution of said creative. This would strengthen their position, especially if they were able to point to specific partner relationships and developments, and were able to use THOSE examples as the strategic advantage. Suddenly you have something tangible to tout, advertisers understand their fee structures, and the medium and the message suddenly have value again. I think that often people hear Free and think "this doesn't cost anything, what a bonus" -- what they should hear is that they've been given something without value.

So here is the downfall, ad networks give something away for nothing and in the process devalue both the commodity and the relationships. They do it to gain marketshare. But then so do their competitors. Since you can't go back and start charging for something that used to be Free the only way to keep an advantage is to lower your costs OR innovate new developments and BOTH deplete the ad networks bottom lines. The bottom falls out when you realize that a $10M investment has resulted in some very expensive "tweaking the algorithms" so that the company can remain competitive in a flooded marketplace. So you spend the rest of your cash trying to buy up the competition and plug the leaks. If you are smart you'll have taken a modest investment, pocketed most of it, and waited for the gluttons to offer you $5M to be acquired.

And all of this could have been avoided & positions strengthened (possibly) if you'd represented real costs to advertisers. Well, you'd have to do away with human nature and the compulsion toward Free, but that should be easy. In fact, there must be a widget that does just that.

What! A Post that has nothing to do with cars, racing, or wanderlust? Go here then to be entertained.

Lime Rock Park - American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix

We're going to LRP tomorrow for the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix.
The immediate plan is to leave here around 7am and high-tail it over the backroads to the CT track. To make the drive interesting I'll be pressing for the lead in the Europa, followed closely (no doubt) by my friend Peter's Elan and a neighbor's Elise Sport 190.

LRP has just finished a $5M repaving project (concrete was still being poured on Tuesday!) and this is to be the first event at the reglorified Road Racing Center of the East. Here, take a lap with David Brabham:



What's on the race card:

Formula BMW
Although it's the lowest rung on the BMW ladder to Formula 1 it's not an entry level formula as all of its front runners have years of experience in karts, Formula Ford, and other smaller bore wings & slicks categories. Racers are as young as 15 and BMW takes a keen interest in grooming these drivers for futures in competitive motorsports. In addition to driver development, Formula BMW spends a lot of time with training for media relations, race car engineering, diet and exercise. The cars are equal so it comes down to driver talent and team preparation. BMW pours some of its own money back into the series by sponsoring 5 drivers in each series @ $5oK each. BMW have a long history in driver development and given their record you're more than likely to spot future Formula One talent here.


IMSA Lites
Admittedly, I know very little about this feeder series - but the concept is simple. Like its big brother, the American Le Mans Series, this is a mixed class series made up of various small bore sports racers. There are three classes with essentially similar chassis/body configurations but different horsepower ranges: 170hp / 185hp / 205hp. On a track like Lime Rock this could mean highly aggressive passing opportunities and lots of working through traffic - and making traffic work for you. Drivers learn to deal with cars of different braking, cornering, and closing speeds all on the track at the same time... just like ALMS. Base costs for cars alone range from $30K - $90K so levels of commitment and preparation also pay a huge factor. These racers will be a mix of drivers with more talent than money all jocking for full time sponsored ALMS rides.


American Le Mans Series
These are large bore sports racers, the offspring of dedicated factory developments, seasoned professional drivers, a history back to the glorious days of the CanAm and in the modern linage of the Le Mans Prototype class. Drivers like Michale and Marco Andretti will clash with current and former IndyCar winners, ex-Formula One aces, and sportscar champions from Le Mans. The budgets are nearly limitless, the horsepower is extreme, and on a tight track like LRP its going to take total commitment just to complete one lap in this highly competitive field. Lucky for us there are TWO races - each an hour long. LP1 and LP2 classes will be equally matched, so the new Acura and Porsche prototypes might take down the mighty Audi R10. GT classes will see battles between Aston Martin, Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette, and BMW.

Photos from the event - when we get back.

F1 Coverage: Mechanics of the Deal - Alonso to Ferrari

Santander, a Spanish bank, has announced that it will be terminating its sponsorship of McLaren Formula One next year - a deal that, according to the German magazine Sport Bild is worth up to €25m per season.

It would seem that Santander's money has been well spent by McLaren as reflected in their results over the past two seasons - so why would Santander jump ship after only 2 seasons? Well, Santander's sponsorship of McLaren coincided with Fernando Alonso's signing with the team from Woking. Although, if you follow F1 you know that Alonso left after only one year to return to Reault from where he'd enjoyed two previous championships.

Driver contracts are easy, although expensive, to get out of. Corporate level sponsorship... not so much. I don't believe that the Santander contract specifically tied their deal to McLaren with an Alonso contingency, but F1 can be incredibly nationalistic at times and there is very little reason for the Spanish bank to be associated with a British team employing British and Finnish drivers.

Alonso, meanwhile, has been biding his time mid-field in a rather dull Renault. Similarly, Felipe Massa has been circling at or about the same grid locations in Scuderia Ferrari's fabulous F2008 - and his wet weather drive at Silverstone was embarrassing.

Ok, back to the Santander story line - not interesting news that some bank pulling their sponsorship? Well, what is interesting is where they are going - Ferrari. And from that, the implications of the deal seem to indicate that Ferrari have agreed a deal with Alonso for 2009.

Interesting... Alonso will leave Renault at the end of 2008 to become Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari team-mate in 2009. Two world champions at Ferrari!

Ferrari traditionally announces its driver line-up for the next season at the Italian GP at Monza, in September. But for now, all intelligence points to Alonso being fawned by the Tifosi in 2009. And Ferrari may well have signed Santander to pick up his €30m retainer.

Tobacco Sponsorship

A few days ago I mentioned that Lotus introduced tobacco sponsorship to Formula One - 1968 / Imperial Tobacco's Gold Leaf brand of smokes. Due to in-place advertising restrictions on tobacco brands sponsorship became the dominant marketing force for tobacco manufacturers. The growth was explosive, the tobacco money was huge, and the impact lasting. Given the expansive tobacco budgets pit lane quickly became a contest between those with and those without - and operating budgets swelled to as much as $300M a year. Coincidentally, these boom years coincided with amazing developments in engine technology, aerodynamic understanding, Non-tobacco teams simply couldn't compete on the smaller budgets.

In 1976 however Germany outlawed tobacco sponsorship, followed in 1984 by Great Britain and France in 1992. Oddly, as the global shift in tobacco marketing headed to greater restrictions, more tobacco manufacturers sought refuge in the world of Formula One. As a result, the very savvy Bernie Ecclestone was able to create a temporary safe haven and get exemptions for teams for a number of years.

Craftily, as car designers and engineers find their way through the rule books looking for loop holes and the unique advantage, so too have Formula One marketers sound escape clauses for marketing tobacco products without promoting them. The first instance of this that I can remember was redesigning both the camel image and the Joe Camel likeness for placement on the cars at banned races.


Significantly more successful is the wordplay iteration that Jordan F1 created for Benson & Hedges by modifying their script-based logo:
"Bitten & Hisses" in 1997 - mascot was the snake Hissing Sid
"Buzzing Hornets" 1998 - 2000 - mascot was a hornet
"Bitten Heroes" 2001 - mascot was a shark
"Be On Edge" (BENSON & HEDGES) from 2002 onwards

Marlboro, the long term sponsor of Scuderia Ferrari as taken a more graphically subliminal approach. Because of the now European-wide ban on marketing, they are not allow to display their image, likeness, brand assets, or logo anywhere on the car or uniforms. They have however substituted the spelled out Marlboro for black bars, kept the red and white color scheme, but replaced their white chevron with white boxes. No one can claim that there is anything remotely brand oriented, and yet the identification is unmistakable. Since Marlboro's contact runs till 2011 it remains to be seen what innovative ways they will market their brand in the highly regulated world of tobacco advertising. Oh, the budget for 5 years = $1B

Bump Steer

Since we are talking about cornering and steering, let's discuss bump steer. Simply put, bump steer is the effect that immediate toe and camber changes have on wheel and steering angles. Generally speaking it happens, obviously enough, after hitting bump. In road cars the driver feels this as a wriggling of the steering wheel, but because they are not at the limits of adhesion, driving heavily damped suspensions, riding on massively compliant tire sidewall, little drama happens. In a race car the effect can be perilous.

Technically what happens is that the tire is connected to the chassis via suspension arms - so as the wheel travels vertically up/down it travels in a single arc that is the compromised sum of the arcs of the two suspension arms. With each degree of movement the effective length of the arms change. This reduction will pull the toe-in/toe-out measurements to a measurable degree. If the car is on the mechanical and aerodynamic limit of there will be no available driver inputs to correct the inevitable loss in traction and the driver must move into compensation mode - all with a corresponding loss in speed or track position.

Mechanically, since it can be measured, bump steer can be accounted for - and race car set up begins with this type of balance and trade off. Does the chassis engineer try to design/adjust-out the bump steer, do they make other adjustments to compensate for it, or do they try to use bump steer to their advantage? Bump steer is a complex function of the relative lengths of the A-arms to the steering rod, the angles they all go through when deflected, and the caster/camber angles the chassis designer built into the car. Bump steer cannot be totally eliminated, but by changing the angle of the track rod relative to the A-arms, the tendency to move the wheel assembly can be minimized.

Your friend Ackermann - or how turning happens

Ackermann Angles
So, you wanna go around corners do you? Well, if you've got 4 wheels and you've ever driven around in grass, mud, or wet pavement you've clearly seen what looks to be 4 tires going in different directions or arcs as you turn. Go ahead, check it out. The reason for this is that in order to complete a turn the inside and outside of the tires have to take different arcs - inside turning tighter than the outside. To achieve this your front wheels need to turn in different radii and to achieve that, you need Mr Rudolph Ackermann (before RA horse drawn cars kinda plowed through turns).

Technically what needs to happen is the wheels' steering pivot points need to be arranged both inboard and off the centerline of the steered axle... imagine a small hockey stick shape connected to the center of your wheel.






Many forms of racing however use anti-ackermann for different reasons. Dirt track cars may use it because they use the throttle to turn the car into the corner then balance the car with throttle attitude and counter steering - where you'd be on opposite lock and turning right through a left-hand corner. Formula One cars will use anti-ackermann on tight street courses, like Monaco, because their peak lateral forces happen at higher slip angles as the tire increases load. Roll and camber may also play a part if the inside tire is not heavily weighted in transition.

Gold Leaf Team Lotus - colors, sponsorship, and marketing in motorsports

For those of you not in the know, Team Lotus introduced the modern concept of sponsorship, to Formula 1 racing in the late 1960's. The brand, Imperial Tobacco's Gold Leaf brand of cigarettes.
What was at first received as vulgar billboarding of these race cars soon became the norm, and away went the national team colors that used to adorn cars from greats like Lotus, BRM, Honda, and McLaren. Ferrari, in keeping their Italian Rosso Corsa are really the only team to keep that flame alive.

Here are some samples of that epic shift, played out on the sides of formula cars, sports cars, and race car transports.

Wanna go racing?

I've been a bit remiss in getting out my racing bug for some time - in fact, I only made it to Lime Rock twice last year. Short sessions in the BMW and the Lotus just weren't enough. I've been thinking about breaking out the F-5000 car and renewing it's career - but it's a costly beast to run.

Then I was thinking that I should just cage the Europa, you know, for safety reasons. But it'd also allow me to run the few hillclimbs in the area and take that vintage racing. I've got the build spec and several examples to draw from... but then this came along and presented itself as a purchase option.
It's good to have options - but the costs are a stretch.

Night life

So this is the Europa at night - first night home. It being a Lotus it, of course, needed work right off the trailer to the tune of a seized front caliper. Whipped the old one off, mounted a spare, re-used the old pads, buttoned it up and there it sits.

Hard to believe that this was a year ago.

And here we are today.