The infamous DeltaWing race car ran the Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this past weekend in the capable hands of Katherine Legge and Andy Meyrick.
Saturday, it clocked a time of 1m10.256 in morning practice, good for second place overall and second spot in the P1 class. The team changed engines between practice and the afternoon sessions. The DeltaWing LM12 qualified with a time of 1m10.531, to start the race in third place overall.
Putting a five-second gap between himself and the third place P1 car, Andy Meyrick was looking forward to a solid race until a minor chassis failure caused the oil pump to fail on lap 16. Compared to last year, it is now powered by an Elan Power 1.9-litre turbo gasoline engine that boasts 350 horses. The tires are now provided by Bridgestone.
The aerodynamic negative lift is generated by twin vortex underbody downforce system – BLAT (Boundary Layer Adhesion Technology). The DeltaWing weight distribution is necessarily more rearward than traditionally seen with 72.5% of the mass between the wide track larger rear tires. Seventy-six per cent of the aerodynamic downforce acts on the rear of the car which has a lift to drag ratio of >5.0. Generating so little drag allows the 590kg DeltaWing to reach a top speed of more than 300 km/h with an engine power of just 350bhp.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ENGINE Type: 4 cylinder 1.9-litre Elan Power (Direct Injection Gasoline Turbo) Maximum Power Output: 350bhp at 6800 rpm Maximum Torque Output: 270 lb/ft constant from 3500 to 6800 rpm Cylinder Head: Mazda-Speed Direct injection. Engine weight: 176 lb (80kg) Exhaust system: 4 into 1 exhaust with external waste-gate TRANSMISSION Gearbox: 5-speed sequential Clutch: 2 Plate Carbon-Carbon Shift System: Pneumatic paddle shift
CHASSIS Chassis type: FIA homologated carbon fibre monocoque Front suspension: Double-wishbone, unequal length, with coil over shock units to lower wishbones. 4130 heat-treated thin wall tubular steel welded construction Rear suspension: Double-wishbone, unequal length, with pushrod/rocker actuation of coil over shock units. Motion ratio discrimination between heave and roll via fulcrum arm on rear anti roll bar axis Fuel tank: 40 litres FIA-specification gasoline fuel cell Brakes: Vented PFC Carbon/Carbon discs with 4-pot aluminium monoblock calipers Brake bias: 40% torque bias front Front brake size: 280mm diameter, 18mm thick Rear brake size: 320mm diameter, 25mm thick Front wheel size: 15" diameter, 4" wide Rear wheel size: 15" diameter, 12.5" wide Front tires: 4.0/23/R15 Bridgestone Rear tires: 12.0/24.5/R15 Bridgestone
WEIGHTS & DIMENSIONS Weight: 490kg without fuel or driver, 590kg with fuel and driver Weight distribution (front/rear): 28/72 Overall Length: 4.65m Front width: 0.76m Rear width: 2.08m Height: 1.03m Wheelbase: 3.05m Track width (front): 0.6m Track width (rear): 1.74m Minimum ground clearance (front/rear): 30mm/60mm
PERFORMANCE Top speed: 195 mph (313 km/h) 0-60mph: 3.3 sec
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