Subject: rec.autos.sport FAQ 3/8: Single Seater Frequently Asked Questions
Supersedes: <autos/sport/single-seaters_826083322@rtfm.mit.edu>
Date: 5 Apr 1996 15:27:48 GMT
References: <autos/sport/introduction_828718022@rtfm.mit.edu>
Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked
         Questions (and their answers) about comptetitive
         motorsport using single seat racing cars.  It should
         be read by anyone who wishes to post on the same
         subject to the rec.autos.sport.* newsgroups.
X-Last-Updated: 1995/07/03

Archive-name: autos/sport/single-seaters
URL: http://www.bath.ac.uk/~bspahh/rasfaq/single-seaters.html
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: May 26th 1995
Version: 1.4

This will be posted monthly to rec.autos.sport.info, rec.autos.sport.misc,
rec.answers and news.answers.  It answers some of the most frequently
asked questions (FAQs) in the rec.autos.sport.* newsgroups as well as
some others which perhaps _should_ be asked.

The latest text version of the FAQ is also available from:
ftp://mgu.bath.ac.uk/pub/rec.autos.sport/single-seaters
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/autos/sport/single-seaters
http://www.bath.ac.uk/~bspahh/rasfaq.html

If you only have electronic mail, the FAQ can also be retrieved from
mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu, listserver@grasp1.univ-lyon1.fr,
ftp-mail@uni-paderborn.de and ftpmail@ftp.edu.tw

For information on how to use FTP, send e-mail to
mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with with no subject line. In the body of the
mail put: send usenet/news.answers/finding-sources

Whilst some care has been taken in the preparation of this FAQ, a few
errors may have slipped through the net (no pun intended).  Please send
any corrections or additions to rasfaq@bath.ac.uk.



Chapter 7

1994 F1 Specifications

The full text of these FIA regulations are online:
  Sporting regulations: ftp.metrics.com://auto/f1/sporting.regs
Technical regulations: ftp.metrics.com://auto/f1/technical.regs


7.1 What is the relationship between FIA, FOCA and F1 ?

FIA politics is really grungy stuff.
  The Federation Internationale d'Automobile (FIA) is the governing
and sanctioning body for the FIA World Driver's Championship, which
is run to a set of technical and procedural regulations and
specifications known as Formula One. The FIA's competition committee,
which consists of representatives of the motor sport organising
bodies of the member countries (eg ACCUS represents the US, the RAC
represents the UK, the FFSA represents France), sets the F1
regulations, interprets them, and judges any appeals or disputes.
  The Formula One Constructor's Association (FOCA) is an organisation
of the chassis builders (constructors) who design and build the cars
that race in the F1 Grands Prix. Since the rules these days say that
a constructor can supply cars to only one team, constructor and team
are more or less synonymous.
  Max Mosley is the president of the FIA and is in charge of its
day-to-day operations.
  Bernie Ecclestone, who used to own and manage the Brabham F1 team,
is the president of the FOCA and also the vice-president of marketing
for the FIA.
  Originally, all the F1 Grands Prix were independent events,
independently financed and organised within their host countries. The
FIA merely set the technical regulations for F1, and designated
certain Grands Prix to be the qualifying rounds for the Driver's and
Constructor's Championships. Up until sometime in the 1970s, there
were other Grands Prix held besides those races included in the FIA
Championship. But the idea of non-Championship Grands Prix died out
as it became more and more expensive to hold F1 events.
  As time went by, the Constructor's Association (FOCA) took on a
bigger and bigger role in the business side of Grand Prix racing.
They organised and coordinated the sponsorship of the events, sold
the television rights, and did the logistics and financing of moving
the Grand Prix `circus' from country to country.
  Then, in the late 1970s, Jean-Marie Balestre was elected as head of
the Committee du Sport Internationale (CSI), the committee of the FIA
directly involved in supervising F1. He decided that the FIA should
take back more control over the sport. When he tried to impose his
will autocratically, Bernie Ecclestone and the other constructors in
FOCA resisted. There was a big power struggle between FISA
(Federacion Internationale du Sport Automotive, Balestre's new name
for the CSI) and FOCA in the early 1980s. Some Grands Prix got
cancelled or had their championship status stripped as a result.
  In the end, FISA and the FIA won out over the FOCA, mainly, I
think, because the teams were not unanimously behind the FOCA (not
all constructors were FOCA members), and because the sponsors, race
organisers, and others involved in Grand Prix racing prevailed on
both sides to settle things amicably. But for a while, the FOCA was
talking about forming a new F1 championship series comprising the
races that it organised, while the FIA of course was threatening to
refuse sanctioning for those races. There almost were two `World
Championship' series.
  Later on, Bernie Ecclestone was appointed marketing director for
the FIA, but he still retains his presidency of FOCA. So Bernie is
still in charge of the organisational and financial side of Grand
Prix racing, but now officially as part of the FIA instead of in an
independent organisation.
  The agreement between FISA and FOCA over control of F1 is called
the Concorde Agreement. Among other things, it says that except in
the case of emergencies, changes to technical regulations must be
announced two years in advance of the date of adoption, unless all
constructors agree unanimously to adopt the regulations earlier. This
came up in 1994 because Max Mosley wanted to introduce several major
technical changes in the wake of a series of fatal and near-fatal
accidents in F1. He made these changes without the unanimous
agreement called for by the Concorde Agreement, by claiming that this
was an emergency situation.
  So Max Mosley, as FIA president, is responsible for setting rules
and policy for F1, but he's limited by the Concorde Agreement in how
quickly and how far he can push things his way. Since Bernie
Ecclestone still controls the purse strings for Grand Prix racing, he
still carries a lot of clout.
  As for `can somebody take it away', the FIA president is elected by
the representatives from the member countries. When Max Mosley's
current term is up, he could be voted out. Similarly, I think that
the constructors could oust Ecclestone if they wanted to.


7.2 How powerful were the `turbo' F1 cars ?

The most powerful of the turbo-era F1 engines was BMW's in-line four
which saw over 1100bhp in race trim at 5.0 bar boost in 1985 and '86.
In his book `The 1000bhp Grand Prix Cars," Ian Bamsey writes that
`Through '85 BMW's boost kept on climbing, to exceed 5.0 bar: power
went to 1100bhp - and beyond. It had become impossible to measure:
the BMW dyno went no higher.' Also, `At Monza in 1986 Berger saw a
5.5 bar flash reading from his BMW/Mader-Benetton ... estimated over
1300bhp.'
  In the same time period, TAG/Porsche only reached 950bhp, Ferrari
910- 920bhp, and Renault over 1100bhp. Figures for Honda are hard to
come by.


7.3 How do pneumatic valve return systems work ?

The technology of all the current pneumatic valve return systems is
that of simply replacing the valve spring with a pneumatic spring,
using an inert gas (nitrogen, which behaves substantially the same as
air) as the compressive fluid. The camshaft exercises its normal
precise control of the motion of each valve, and each spring
maintains the contact force between an individual valve assembly, cam
and tappet bucket, during operation. Pneumatic valve spring systems
are thus an improved replacement for mechanical springs. They are not
a complete valve control system like a desmodromic operation - which
uses no springs.
  Pneumatic valve springs operate on a ring-main system with the
essential back-up of a compressed gas cylinder, pressure regulators,
one-way valves and an oil scavenging system. The principle reduction
in valve assembly mass is that of the upper one-third of each valve
spring. Although a nett small reduction in valve assembly mass is
possible, this is accompanied by added friction of the stem seal
ring.
  The pneumatic spring is not subject to fatigue failure, or
diminished damping, with running time. Valve lift is not constrained
by spring wire maximum stress and stress range limits. Renault
reports that the rising rate characteristics of the pneumatic spring
assists in matching spring force to valve assembly inertia force
requirements in the particular case of its V10. The fundamental
pneumatic spring advantage for very high speed engines is that the
natural frequency of the compressed gas column is in the order of
eight times that of a steel wire coil spring.
  It was Jean-Pierre Boudy, the Chief Engineer of Engine Development
at Renault Sport during the turbocharged V6 race engine era, who
invented the first pneumatic valve spring system to be used in a
competitive racecar engine. The pneumatic spring equipped Renault
engine was first raced, in a Lotus chassis driven by Ayrton Senna, at
the beginning of the 1986 GP season.
  The Honda RA122E/B (1992 V12 F1) ran at 6-8 bar (87-116 psi) with
the gas replenishment cylinder charged, initially, to approx 150 bar
(2175 psi). Honda claimed a reduction of valve assembly reciprocating
mass of 20 % with similar levels of valve gear friction(as compared
to conventional systems).


7.4 How much does it cost to run a F1 team?

The Motoring News & Motor Sport supplement for the 1994 British GP
gives some rough figures (converted to US $ ) for this.

o Drivers: The market is depressed after Prost's retirement and Senna's
  death. Berger gets about $ 13M from Ferrari, Schumacher about $ 5M
  from Benetton. Mansell got nearly $ 1.2M for a single race for
  Williams. After the top rank, the drivers are much cheaper down to
  about $ 80K for a test driver.

o Cars: After paying for the wind tunnel testing and other research,
  wear & tear and accident damage, you will be `lucky' to have spent
  less than $ 7M.

o Engines: Some teams get free engines and rebuilds from a
  manufacturer. Hart's budget is about $ 3M. Cosworth or Ilmor engines
  could cost $ 5M -- $ 6.5M.

o Tyres: Goodyear supply Williams, McLaren, Benetton, Ferrari and
  Sauber for free. The rest pay $ 600 per tyre. With seven sets for
  each car for 16 meetings and more for testing, tyres could cost $
  800K for a season.

o Fuel: Free for many teams, $ 400K for the rest.

o Travel: Flying 30 team members to Brazil, Japan twice, Canada, and
  Australia as well as hotels and hire cars will cost about $ 1.5M.

o Freight: The top 10 teams get two cars and five tonnes of equipment
  transported by FOCA for the races outside Europe but you still need
  trucks for the European races. For the teams outside the top 10, or
  bigger teams which take extra equipment, the bill could come to $
  1.5M.

o Staff: Most teams have between 50 and 150 staff to design, build, and
  run the cars, run the business etc. This anything upwards of $ 5M.

o Testing: Essential to remain competitive. Budget for $ 2M+

o Equipment: CAD systems, CNC lathes etc. They can be used for several
  years, but a new team needs them right away. Start at $ 1M -- $ 2M.

o Total: A reasonable top 10 team with no engine, fuel or tyre deals
  and a couple of drivers who cost $ 1.5M together, will cost $ 23M,
  just to go racing. Teams at the back of the grid probably spend less
  than $ 10M. Teams at the front spend $ 50M, at least.


7.5 How is F1 Prize Money Shared Out ?

It has probably changed, but according to David Hayhoe's book in 1988
the purse for a race was distributed as follows:
  From the starting grid for that race, 0.4 pole ... 0.08 the race
distance: 0.459 results. At the chequered flag, 2.448 ... 0.864
  Using the results from the previous two half seasons, 17.5
championship and 17.5 Appearance money is also paid.
  This seems to be spread out over the field a lot more than in other
forms of racing.


7.6 How did Ron Dennis come to run McLaren ?

Ron Dennis started out as an apprentice at Thomson Taylor's, a famous
British business in the motor trade. When it was taken over by
Chipstead in the late Sixties Ron ended up as a mechanic on the Cooper
F1 team (Chipstead had just bought Cooper), and later moved to Brabham
as head mechanic, although as Sir Jack was retiring Ron found himself
doing a lot of the work of a team manager. He left in about '71 to set
up an F2 team with Neil Trundle (Rondel racing) -- the team was
renowned for its competence in preparing cars; it ran Brabhams
successfully for a while then commissioned the Motul F2 car (with
backing from the French oil company of the same name). This was quite
successful and there was talk of a Motul F1 car designed by Ray Jessop
for 1973 but the oil crisis hit and the money evaporated. The car later
became the Token (Tony Vlassopoulo and Ken Grob backed its completion;
Ron had nothing more to do with it AFAIK); Tom Pryce made his F1 debut
in it.
  Ron then set up a number of F2 teams running March chassis -- the
Marlboro Ecuador team (which wasn't successful), then Project Three
Racing (which was). Project Three gave rise to Project Four, another
successful F2 team which I think also ran F3 cars in the late 70s/early
80s and also did a lot of the build programme for the BMW M1 ProCar
series.
  For more info on Ron Dennis:
http://dcpu1.cs.york.ac.uk:6666/pete/racing/rd.html
  McLaren was founded by New Zealander Bruce McLaren in the sixties.
Tyler Alexander and Teddy Mayer took over McLaren after Bruce's death.
They had some success, taking the World Championship with James Hunt in
1976. However Team McLaren did horribly in 1979 and '80. Project Four
was backed by Marlboro and Ron took on John Barnard to design a
carbon-fibre F1 chassis; at the time McLaren, who were also Marlboro
backed, were deeply uncompetitive and at the insistence of Marlboro the
Project Four team merged with McLaren to form McLaren International.
Ron and McLaren's Teddy Mayer were originally joint principals of the
team but eventually Mayer went his own way, leaving Ron to take charge.
The MP4/X designation of McLaren F1 cars these days stands for
`Marlboro Project Four'.
  For more info on McLaren:
http://dcpu1.cs.york.ac.uk:6666/pete/racing/mclaren.html


7.7 How did Frank Williams get into Formula One ?

Frank Williams used to do a bit of FJ/F3/F2 racing in the early/mid
Sixties but ended up spending most of his time running cars for other
people; he also ran a fairly successful business dealing in secondhand
racing cars.
  Frank ended up running quite a successful F2 team, notably a Brabham
for Piers Courage. In '69 Courage, who'd previously experimented with a
private BRM in F1, ended up driving a Cosworth DFV-engined BT26 in F1
for Frank. This apparently displeased the Brabham works somewhat since
(A) Frank had bought the car ostensibly to run in old Tasman series
with a Cosworth 2.5l DFW. Frank had the DFW rebuilt as DFV's and
entered F1 on Dunlop tires. (B) Piers managed two excellent second
places with it.
  A connection with De Tomaso saw an F2 car appear followed in in 1970
by a De Tomaso F1 (designed by Gianpaolo Dallara). This was just
beginning to work when Courage was tragically killed in it; various
other drivers took turns in it for the rest of the 1970 season but De
Tomaso lost interest. In '71 and '72 Williams ran F1 Marches (notably
for Henri Pescarolo) backed by Politoys and others, but commissioned
his first F1 car from Len Bailey -- the Politoys FX3, which although it
only appeared very rarely, became the ancestor of the team's own cars.
  1973 saw the Williams team racing under the name Iso Marlboro -- the
italian Iso sports car team backed his programme -- with heavily
updated variants of the FX3 called the IR; drivers varied throughout
the season. '74 and '75 saw further-revised cars under the FW04
designation -- the only decent result was a second place by Laffite at
the Nurburgring. Walter Wolf, the Canadian multimillionaire, bought 60
of the team for '76; the team purchased much of the redundant assets of
the Hesketh outfit which had folded at the end of '75 and the
Wolf-Williams FW05 was in fact a thinly disguised Hesketh 308C; the
season was a disaster and Williams soon escaped. In '77 he ran a March
761B for Patrick Neve; although it didn't score points in the
background Williams had Patrick Head working on the FW06 for the '78
season, which, with Alan Jones at the wheel and considerable Saudi
Arabian backing, marked the beginnings of Williams Grand Prix
Engineering as a successful team...
  For more info on Frank Williams:
http://dcpu1.cs.york.ac.uk:6666/pete/racing/fw.html


7.8 National Racing Colours

      Australia : Green and Gold
      France : Blue
      Italy : Red
      Germany: White
      Japan : White and red
      USA : White and blue (sometimes with Red)


Chapter 8

1994 IndyCar Specifications

(The following information is largely -- and in some cases solely --
from the IndyCar 1994 Media Guide)
  The season championship is for the PPG Cup. Because the series
includes the races governed by IndyCar (Championship Auto Racing Teams)
as well as the Indianapolis 500 (governed by the United States Auto
Club), please refer to the series champion driver as the PPG Cup
Champion. There is technically no IndyCar champion since such a
champion would count points only from IndyCar-governed events (and not
the Indianapolis 500).


8.1 Chassis

The 1994 rules allow the cars to have a maximum length of 195 inches,
with 190 inches being the required minimum. The maximum allowed width
is 78.5 inches measured by projecting a line from the outside rim
surface through the hub center. The maximum height of the car from the
highest point to the lowest point is 32 inches. The maximum rear wing
height is 32 inches at the superspeedways and 36 inches on short ovals
and road courses. The cockpit must have a minimum opening of 30 inches
by 14 3/4 inches. An unfueled car, complete with lubricants, coolants,
tyres, etc. must have a minimum weight of 1550 pounds.


8.2 Aerodynamics

Andy Brown from Galmer gave Racecar Engineering the following figures
for the Galmer G92, the car which won the 1992 Indy 500.

                Downforce  Drag      L/D    Cd    Speed for measurements
Short Oval      3460 lbs   1310 lbs  2.64  1.397  165 mph
Street Circuit  3040 lbs   1070 lbs  2.84  1.141  165 mph
Speedway        2835 lbs    972 lbs  2.92  0.669  220 mph

Fuel consumption is higher on a street circuit such as Long Beach
than on a short oval such as Phoenix: consequently the car has to be
set up so that it pulls less drag.
  By way of comparison, in the days before cab roof fairings, a Cd
figure of 1.0 was typical for a high-drag truck. These days trucks
are down to the region of Cd = 0.6 The figures quoted for the 1991
Indy 500 winning Penske PC20 in speedway trim were 3010 lbs downforce
at 220 mph with 1075 lbs drag (Load/Downforce, L/D, = 2.80)
  Brown commented: `I'm always a little cautious of comparing figures
from different wind tunnels because experience has shown them all to
vary slightly. The L/D figure is usually close though, and I'm
pleased to see that ours is better than that quoted for the PC20.
Provided we're both telling the truth, that is !'
  Note: The downforce is approximately double the weight of the car,
so the car could drive upside-down with a suitable bit of road.


8.3 Tyres

IndyCar racing tyres are Goodyear Racing Eagles, weighing 16.29
pounds, depending on whether they are rain or dry tyres, and whether
the tyre is for the front or back of the car. The tires have a rim
diameter of 15 inches and are either 10 inches wide (for the
`undriven' tire) or 14 inches (for the `driven' tyre). The cars are
limited to two-wheel drive, with the choice of front or rear-wheel
drive being optional. Teams are limited to 28 tyres per event at
short ovals and road courses, and 44 tyres per event at 500 mile
events.


8.4 Engines

Allowable engine options:

   1. Turbocharged 4-cycle overhead camshaft engines Maximum of 8 cylinders,
4 valves per cylinder Maximum of 161.703 cubic inches Allowed 45 inches
of turbocharger boost pressure (Chevy, Ilmor, Ford, and Honda engines
are this type)

   2. Turbocharged 4-cycle single non-overhead camshaft engines Maximum of 8
cylinders, 2 valves per cylinder Maximum of 209.3 cubic inches Allowed
55 inches of turbocharger boost pressure (Buick, Menard, Mercedes, and
the Greenfield GC209T are this type)

   3. Normally-aspirated 4-cycle single non-overhead camshaft engines Maximum
of 8 cylinders, 2 valves per cylinder Maximum of 366 cubic inches (none
of this type, although I guess the NASCAR Winston Cup engines might
actually be legal)
  Any engine not meeting specific criteria for definition as "race
proven" will be considered "developmental." The manufacturer is
permitted to utilize this engine during competition in any quantity and
at any cost the manufacturer may determine.
  USAC has also reserved the right to change turbocharger boost
pressures on any engine type at any time.
  Turbines were finally banned in the early 1970's. If you can get a
diesel to run on methanol, diesels would still be a legal :-)
  Horsepower figures are difficult to ascertain, as these figures are
kept closely guarded by teams but are typically 700 to 850 horsepower,
depending on turbocharger settings. IndyCar tests have clocked cars
accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in 2.2 seconds, and from 0 to 100 mph in
4.2 seconds. Engines are typically rebuilt after 400-500 miles of use.


8.5 Fuel

IndyCars are fueled by methanol, sometimes called wood alcohol. It is a
non-fossil fuel produced commercially by hydrogen and carbon monoxide
under pressure and is supplied to IndyCar by Valvoline. IndyCar chose
methanol because of its high octane rating and because water is and
extremely effective fire fighting agent -- when mixed with ethanol,
water will quickly dilute it to the point of non-flamability. One of
the main dangers of methanol is that its flames can not be seen in
daylight. Cars must have a minimum fuel efficiency of 1.8 miles per
gallon and have a maximum fuel capacity of 40 gallons.


8.6 How much does it cost to run an IndyCar team?

The following information is quoted from the IndyCar Racing, Feb 93.
These represents the startup cost of a team. Buses and transporters do
not have to be bought every year. A chassis can be sold second hand at
the end of the year.

Engine rentals             $2,250,000  Workshop Equipment:          $130,000
Spare Parts:               $1,350,000  Development parts:           $125,000
Two chassis:                 $960,000  Workshop Expenses:           $125,000
Payroll and taxes:           $540,000  Travel & lodging:            $110,000
Hospitality bus:             $320,000  Insurance:                   $100,000
Transporter:                 $320,000  9 Sets of wheels              $80,000
6 Test sessions              $220,000  Entry fees:                   $25,000
Pit Equipment:               $185,000  Freight:                      $25,000
Hospitality expense:         $160,000  Uniforms:                     $25,000
Electronics & telemetry:     $150,000                               ========
                                       TOTAL:                     $7,200,000


Chapter 9

Qualifying for the Indy 500

Qualifying at the Speedway is unique. The fastest 33 cars from the
the four days set aside for qualifying start the race. The actual
starting order depends on the day that the qualifying time was set.
This means that the fastest cars do not necessarily start from the
front of the grid.
  The Speedway opens for practice on the first Saturday of May.
Practice is daily from the opening day to the last day of qualifying.
The track is open for practice starting at 11:00am (EST) and finishes
at 6:00pm (EST) or at the discretion of the USAC officials. The first
two days of qualifying are scheduled for the weekend two weeks before
the race. The second two days of qualifying are scheduled for the
week before the race. These days are called the `Time Trials'. There
is one last day of practice held on the Thursday before the race
called Carburetion Day. In the old days, this was the last day of
practice where the mechanics would adjust their cars carburetors.
Carburetion Day sounds better than Fuel Injection Day, don't it ?


9.1 Which cars start the race ?

The fastest 33 cars in qualifying start the race. Officially, its the
cars that qualify, and not the drivers. This means that a driver
could start the race in a car that was qualified by someone else.
This happened in 1993 when Scott Goodyear took over a car qualified
by Mike Groff.
  With 33 spots in the field, and a lot more than 33 drivers trying
to qualify, usually at some point on the 3rd or 4th day, the field
fills up. At this point, the car in the field with the slowest speed
is said to be on the bubble. If someone qualifies faster than the car
on the bubble, then that car is bumped from the field. A bumped car,
cannot be used to try to requalify. The driver can try, but has to
use a different car.


9.2 How are the qualifying days organised ?

A run consists of each car running alone on the circuit for one or
two warm-up laps followed by four timed laps, over which the average
qualifying speed is calculated.
  Each car can only complete the four timed laps once. During a
qualifying run, there is a team member positioned along the pit wall
who carries a yellow flag. At any time during the qualifying run,
that team member may stop the qualifying attempt by waving a yellow
flag (this is called waving off the attempt), indicating that the
team does not wish to accept that qualifying attempt. Once the car
takes the checkered flag at the end of the 4 timed laps, that's it.
The car has qualified with that particular run's average speed. It
can make no more qualifying attempts.
  Waving off a qualifying attempt during the warm-up laps carries no
penalty, but you can only take the green flag that starts the timed
laps 3 times. You can wave off an attempt after the green flag flies
only twice. If you wave off during the timed laps on your third
attempt, that's it, and you get no more attempts to qualify.
  The night before each day's qualifying, the teams that wish to
qualify cars the next day register their car numbers with the
officials, who then determine the initial order of qualifying
attempts for that day by lottery. On the qualifying day, they go once
through that order. When a car's number comes up, the team must
either make a qualifying attempt then and there, or step out of the
qualifying line. Qualifying attempts are made until the gun sounds at
6:00 pm. If they didn't get all the way through the initial order,
they do the rest of the order first thing next day, but those who
qualify in this way are grouped with the previous day's qualifiers
(thus, every car gets one shot at qualifying on any particular day).
If the officials get all the way through the lottery order and it's
not 6:00 pm yet, qualifying is thrown open and any not-yet-qualified
car can make an attempt by presenting itself at the line.
  So each of the 4 days, they hold the lottery, go through the
lottery order, then comes free qualifying where any car can present
at the line and make an attempt, until 6:00 pm. If a car is rolling
before the 6:00 pm final gun, it is allowed to finish it's
qualification run. The car can be starting its warm-up laps too, it
only has to be rolling away from the inspection area when the gun
sounds.
  Before a qualifying run can be made, the car must be inspected to
check that it meets all the rules. It takes only a few minutes for
this to be completed but it can yield a bit of drama just before 6:00
pm on Bubble Day. A line usually forms at the tech inspection area at
this time.
  If a car's qualification attempt is interrupted by the track
officials to clear up debris, the car is allowed to refuel and move
to head of the technical inspection line to try again without an
attempt being charged to it.
  If a driver wishes to qualify a different car (let's say that
Adrian Fernandez qualifies his backup car, but discovers that his
primary is running 10 mph faster, for example), then that driver must
withdraw his/her current car from the field, or let another driver
drive it. If a car is withdrawn, it may not attempt to requalify.
  If a car has qualified, the engine cannot be changed for one of
another make. You'd have to requalify in a completely different
chassis with a new engine make


9.3 How is the race starting order decided ?

The first days qualifiers are locked into position in front of the
second day's qualifiers who are locked into position if front of the
third day's qualifiers, etc. The qualified cars are arranged from
fastest to slowest among that day's qualifiers. In this way, faster
cars will sometimes end up behind slower cars.
  Pole Day is the first day of qualifying which has traditionally
given the Pole Sitter. The car on pole position can still be bumped
from the field, but it is not very likely. In this case, pole
position would go to the fastest car from the second qualifying day.
  If a car is bumped from the field. The new qualifier (car) will be
inserted into the starting field based on the speed and the day that
the car qualified -- it does not take over the position of the bumped
car.
  If someone starts the race in a car that was qualified by another
driver, they start from the back of the grid.


9.4 How big is the track at Indy ?

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a 2.5 mile square oval. The
straights are 50 feet wide. Two of the straights are 3,300 ft long,
the other two are 660 ft long. There are four turns, each of which is
1,320 feet long 60 feet wide tarmac. The 2.5 mile circuit is measured
3 feet from the inside white line. The turns are banked at 9 degrees
and 12 minutes. Eleven three car rows start the Indy 500.


9.5 How can I get tickets for the Indy 500 ?

     1. Often somebody will sell a couple for face value on r.a.s sometime in
the spring.

     2. Get a friend or a friend-of-a-friend to invite you (this is sort of
what I did the first time)

     3. Buy from scalpers (not cheap, but legal; I include travel agencies
that provide tickets in this, although they may not gouge like the
guys standing on 16th street waving handfuls of tickets).

     4. From the ticket office itself:
Your request needs to arrive more-or-less immediately at the IMS. I
plan to submit my renewal at the box in front of the museum/ticket
office the day after the race By more-or-less immediately, I mean the
week after the race is the only window of opportunity to get tickets
via the IMS ticket office. Requests may not be submitted until the day
after the race is initially scheduled (remember, rain can cause a delay).
  For a first time ticket buyer, you will only be able to get seats in
the infield. There are stands in each corner, named terraces: turn 1
terrace, turn 2 terrace, turn 3 terrace, turn 4 terrace. There are
stands on the short chute between 1 and 2. There are wheelchair
accessible seats in the short chute between 1 and 2 as well. The other
infield seats are above the pits and start/finish; you will not be able
to get seats there either.
  You do not need the form in the program. Take a piece of paper and
list your preferences in order for the seats that you actually have a
chance of getting. Include a check or US postal money order for the
amount. If you use a check, be forewarned that a bounce will cause the
cancellation of your order and that it may take the speedway 6 to 9
months to actually open your envelope and process it (can you say
`hurry up and wait?') use a postal money order if there is any prospect
that you might lose track of a check. Do not use money orders with
short expirations on them.
  This year and last year, infield terrace seats cost $ 25/seat; there
is a good chance that they'll go up to $ 30 next year, so it's best to
make that assumption when you plan your payment.
  If you get tickets, then you will find out when a thick grey envelope
arrives with a return address of Speedway Indiana. I'm not sure what
you get if you're just receiving a refund check. This envelope may not
arrive until a month or so before the race, and it will be your first
indication you actually got tickets. you might consider making travel
plans and saving up a little extra money to buy tickets the expensive
way, just in case. Air travel into and out of the area books up early.


9.6 Qualifying for other IndyCar Races

On road courses, qualifying takes place in two sessions over two days
on the Friday and Saturday before race Sunday. Each session is split
into two halves, the slow half and the fast half. All drivers in each
half can go out any time they want to, so more than one car will be on
the track at a time. Timing is handled electronically by a sensor in
the car. On Friday, slow and fast drivers are determined by order of
finish in last week's race. On Saturday, they are determined by
Friday's times (thus it's possible to run in the slow group on one day
and the fast group on the other). Drivers are ordered on the grid in
order of the fastest time they were able to turn in their qualifying
sessions. Thus, the pole winner will always have turned the fastest
lap, unlike the Indy 500 where this is not guaranteed.
  There's a couple of other contingency rules for determining the
IndyCar grid. If Saturday qualifying gets rained out or for some other
reason isn't held, the grid is determined based on Friday's qualifying
times. If there was no Friday qualifying session, the grid is based on
the fastest time recorded during practice. If there were no practice
sessions, the drivers are gridded based on the current PPG Championship
points standings. If the grid is determined based on practice times or
the points standings, then the PPG Championship bonus point for fastest
qualifier is not awarded for that race.
  A different procedure is used for the ovals. For the New England 200
at New Hampshire International Speedway:
  All qualifying takes place in a single session on the Saturday before
the raceday. Cars qualify one at a time, in an order determined by a
lottery. Each qualification attempt consists of one warm-up lap and one
timed lap. The team can wave off a qualifying attempt at any time up to
the checkered flag on the timed lap, in which case they go to the back
of the line of drivers waiting to qualify. The grid for the race is
ordered by fastest timed laps for each qualifying driver.


Chapter 10

Points Systems

10.1 How does the F1 points system work?

The first six finishers get 10, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points respectively.
Pole position and fastest laps get no extra points. All 16 races count
towards the drivers and constructors championship.
  FOCA gives subsidised travel for the top ten teams. The exact value
of this as well as the prize money for the teams is a closely-guarded
secret. For the first half of the season, the teams are chosen by the
previous year's constructors championship. From the ninth race onwards,
the results from the last half of the previous season are combined with
those from the first half of the current season.


10.2 How does the IndyCar points system work?

Finish Points       Finish Points       Finish Points               Points
 1     20            5     10            9      4    Fastest Lap in   1
 2     16            6      8           10      3    Qualifying
 3     14            7      6           11      2    Led most laps    1
 4     12            8      5           12      1

The extra points for being the fastest qualifier and leading the most
laps can both go to the same driver. For this reason you sometimes see
a driver conquering 22 points, which means, he won the race (20), got
the pole (1) and led for more laps (1). At Indianapolis, the fastest
qualifier might not be on pole position.


Chapter 11

Miscellaneous

11.1 What are the IndyCar flag rules ?

Blue flag with the yellow stripe (stationary): displayed to slower cars
indicating that a faster car is attempting to pass. It is not a move
over command on road courses (not sure what it means on ovals). It is
merely advisory, although drivers can be called in for not checking
their mirrors.
  Yellow flag (stationary): displayed when there is a car stopped off
line. it is also displayed at the flag station prior to waving yellows
as a backup. There is no passing allowed from the flag to the incident.
  Yellow flag (waving): displayed when there is great danger such as a
car stopped on the line (or just about anywhere on the pavement at a
natural terrain road course). Again, no passing until you pass the
incident.
  Double stationary yellow: displayed on road courses indicating a full
course caution.
  Yellow flag with red stripes (stationary) (aka surface flag, debris
flag, hazard flag or oil flag): displayed when there is oil, water,
debris, etc on the course. Anything that could create a hazard.
Normally kept up for 1 lap until everyone has seen it, then it is
dropped.
  Black flag (from designated black flag station and the bridge):
displayed when they want the driver to report immediately to his/her
pit. Reasons vary from rule infractions to a mechanical problem that
requires immediate attention. If the black flag is displayed from all
corner stations, the session/race is red flagged and immediately ends
until the course condition that causes the red is cleared.
  White flag with a thin red cross: displayed when a safety truck is
between that station and the next station. White flag (stationary) is
displayed at the station prior to the waving white. It is also
displayed for 2 stations for a slow moving race vehicle.
  White flag at the start/finish line: last lap.
  Checkered flag: displayed at the end of the race.
  Green flag (from the bridge): starts or restarts a race.
  Green flag (from a corner station): displayed if its been waving
yellow for more than a lap.
  Red flag: displayed only from the bridge to stop a session or a race.


11.2 Andretti vs Mansell

In 1993, Michael Andretti was faced with an unfamiliar car which was
reported to be tricky to drive. He did relatively little testing. He
had little time to learn many of the circuits on the race weekends.
Whether his lack of success was due to a combination of these factors
or from a lack of talent has been debated at length.
  In 1993, Nigel Mansell was faced with an unfamiliar car which was
well sorted. Apparently it was comparatively easy to drive on ovals,
where Mansell was most successful. He was able to do a lot of test
miles. He had little time to learn some of the circuits, and struggled
at some of these. Whether his success was due to a combination of these
factors or from his talent alone has also been debated at length.
  The 1993 Newman/Haas Cosworth engine had more power at the top end
than the 1993 Penske Illmor engine, while the Penske's had more torque
on the way up to the top gear. This explains why Mansell did so well on
ovals but didn't show as strongly as much as was expected on street and
road courses.


11.3 What are the pros and cons of gravel traps, tyre walls, armco &
walls?

When a car leaves the circuit, the aim is to slow it down as smoothly
as possible to reduce the peak deceleration on the driver. The car and
debris should also be kept out of the way from the oncoming traffic if
at all possible. The kinetic energy of a car is proportional to its
weight and to the square of its velocity.
  The physics of the situation is comparatively simple. Generally a fit
driver can survive 50G impact if they are well restrained and so long
as it doesn't last for too long To slow a driver from 185MPH without
exceeding 50G, the shortest time in which you can stop the car is 1/6th
of a second which takes 22 feet at a steady 50g deceleration.

   185 miles per hour    = ((185*1609 m) / 3600 s) = 82.7 metres per second

   decrease in velocity  = deceleration * time
   deceleration time     = (82.7 m/s) / (50 * 9.8 m/s^2) = 0.169 seconds

   deceleration distance = ((decrease in velocity * deceleration time) / 2)
   deceleration distance = (82.7 m/s * 0.169 s)/2 = 6.98 m = 22.9 feet

It doesn't much matter what you crash into, as long as the driver is
protected from intrusions and that crucial 50G is not exceeded.
Realistically, whatever you hit is not going to slow you uniformly,
so you need to spread it out even more.
  There are different ways to slow the cars, some of which are better
for some types of accident. The optimum solution for one type of
vehicle might be very bad for another.
  Large grass run-off areas are cheap and easy to maintain and are
one of the best solutions for motorbike accidents. However, they mean
that the areas for spectators have to be set back a long way from the
track. They are obviously not an option at street circuits.
  Gravel traps are commonly used on Formula One circuits. They work
very well for single seat racing cars and motorbikes. However, they
are not so effective for heavy saloon cars, as in NASCAR, where there
is a lot more energy to lose in an accident. Gravel traps are useless
when a car gets airborne. They also trap cars that stray into them so
that marshalls will not be able to push cars away from dangerous
positions. This means that tow trucks or cranes have to be available
for each and every race which makes them an expensive solution for a
long circuit - a problem if you want to run low budget racing series
at a profit. If a car manages to rejoin the track after visiting a
gravel trap, the circuit may get covered with gravel.
  Tyre walls are a cheap way of cushioning walls. They work well for
low to medium speed crashes, but if a car hits one at high speed, it
can be bounced back onto the circuit, possibly into the following
cars. The car may also get snagged on the tyres and get thrown into
violent spins and rolls which may launch debris towards the
spectators. High speed crashes may also dislodge tyres from the wall
into the oncoming traffic. This problem can be solved by using
water-filled barriers instead of tyre walls like at Mickey Thompson
stadium off-road races. Another alternative is a large block of
expanded polystyrene. These are easy to move around for temporary
circuits.
  Armco and concrete walls are good where cars hit them at a shallow
angle -- on a super-speedway for instance. The aim is not to absorb
the whole of the impact, but to deflect the car back along the track
to lose speed slowly. They are bad when a car hits them at a sharp
angle. The worst accidents on super-speedways occur when a driver
tries to correct oversteer by steering towards the wall. If he
regains grip, he gets sent into the wall at a sharp angle which then
causes a series of violent spins and rolls. Armco (crash barriers)
can absorb some impact. However, the barrier is still solid around
the supporting posts. Sometimes, single seat racing cars have been
able to `submarine' underneath the barrier which causes a very rapid
deceleration. Both types of barrier are bad for motorbike accidents.
  Catch fencing was used for a while in the 1970s. Stretches of wire
netting was strung between lightly fixed posts. They worked well for
closed wheel cars, but if the nose of a single seater dipped
underneath the fencing, the drivers neck was left in a very exposed
position. They were particularly dangerous for motorbike accidents.
  If adequate crash protection cannot be provided at a corner, the
track can be modified -- to allow extra run-off area or to slow the
cars with a chicane.


11.4 Where can I send condolences to the Family of Ayrton Senna ?

Milton & Neide Senna da Silva
Rua Dr. Jose Manuel # 67 17mo andar
Sao Paulo, S.P.
BRAZIL   0123200


11.5 What Helmet was Ayrton Senna Wearing When he Crashed?

Ayrton raced with both Bell and Shoei helmets. However on May 1, he
was wearing a Bell. This is shown in Ayrton Senna, by Christopher
Hilton, 1994, p96 has a the picture captioned "Farewell" which was
presumably taken in the last moments before the Imola start.

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The rec.autos.sport.* FAQ                                    rasfaq@bath.ac.uk
