Formula Fun! Part 3

AutoSpeed's own Tim White is a recent graduate of UNSW and so was eligible to be a member of Redback Racing in their first year. Tim was the team's MoTeC guru and also a driver in the acceleration and endurance events. This week we experience the highs and lows of the inaugural Formula SAE competition from the viewpoint of the winners: The University of NSW Motorsport Team "Redback Racing".

We were all a little anxious when we arrived at You Yangs early on Friday morning. Our car had been finished after an all-nighter which began Tuesday afternoon so that it could turn its first wheel on the skidpan at Oran Park on Wednesday.

Dynamic Event 1 - Skidpan

The Skidpan was first-up on Saturday morning. Some last-minute re-interpretation of the rules meant that we had to use two of our reserve drivers in this event so that the 'guns' would be available for the more important ones to follow.

Sean Martin from the engine team and Nathan Groenhout (Redback's team leader) were chosen. We were confident after Melbourne Uni's beautiful green car went out on their first run only to collect a family of witches' hats. Swinburne's car was quick but under power it exhibited a bizarre axle tramping problem where the right-hand wheel didn't just move up and down, but fore and aft as well... perhaps a result of this car's single coil-over design for the rear suspension.

The UNSW car was physically bigger than all the other cars and we suffered a disappointing result on the tight skidpan. Having said that, considering our car's size (not to mention the fact that it was only the second time our two drivers had ever sat in the car!) we ended up with a distant but not disgraced third.

As feared, despite their problems, Swinburne and Melbourne increased their lead by posting at least one good time each from their four runs. But the first dynamic event didn't count for many points - and several teams were quite pleased about this! It was the first time any of them had been subjected to the heat of competition and it showed: in the performance of both the cars and the drivers.

Dynamic Event 2 - Acceleration

After the difficulties of staying between the lines and getting the car working on the skidpan, most teams were relieved to have a simple second event.

Our car retained the standard bike clutch and controlling it off the line was very difficult. Owing to the on/off nature of the clutch, we found that the quickest way off the line was to hold the engine on the rev limiter. The pedal could then be eased out applying more throttle to maintain the revs close to the redline until the clutch was completely engaged. Since the car was quite over-tyred (considering the modest power output) and we had a slip-resistant diff, the wheelspin was not excessive and the car moved away spectacularly but cleanly.

I did the first acceleration heat. My first run wasn't too bad but the engine had a huge lack of power between 8 and 10,000 revs. I'd made some changes to the ignition map after the skidpan. Whatever I'd done - it was bad! I didn't have time to fix it before my second run so I went straight back out and ran again.......only to miss the change from second to third and post a miserable time. I sat in the car as the team wheeled it into our pit and was about to jump out and run behind the tent and hit myself when it was announced over the PA that the timing system had malfunctioned on my second run.......so I had another chance!

I jumped out of the car and grabbed the laptop. I flashed down the MoTeC file we'd used in our shakedown at Oran Park, where I'd managed to get the car to the redline in top gear (sixth) and it had pulled hard all the way. 160 km/h feels pretty quick in one of these things!

What a run! A 5.28 which put us near the top of the Australian teams.

I was elated after having redeemed myself for my first two abysmally poor runs. I briefed our second driver, Ben Lawrence, that he should try holding the throttle flat, dumping the clutch off the line. I was pretty sure that we could pick up another couple of tenths if he was a bit more brutal with the car than I was. His start looked good - until the shifter cable snapped on the change to second. After a quick repair job, Ben was back in the car for his second run. Two hand-timers clocked him at 4.9. Problem: the judges said that the car had crept over the start-line beam and that the official time was over 6 seconds.......

Swinburne and RMIT both went under 5 seconds with a 4.74 and 4.94 respectively. Maybe we could have made second on the dragstrip. Melbourne had been disqualified for excessive noise! It didn't matter that much since their best time had only been a 6.5. Nevertheless, their disqualification did help us catch up so that we were now only two points behind Melbourne on their 300 compared to Swinburne's 402. At this stage, Swinburne was beginning to look pretty unstoppable.

It was disappointing that we ended up with the 5.28 when we knew the car could do so much better - but at least we'd regained some respect after our poor showing in the skidpan event.

Dynamic Event 3 - Autocross

Each team reserved their best drivers for the event that required the most skill. The only exposure that the drivers of the autocross event had to the full course before their two hot laps was a brief walk-around in the morning. This event then became then not only a test of how the car performed, but how well the driver could adapt to an unfamiliar track. In a way this was a shame since Formula SAE is meant to be all about evaluating the engineered product itself rather than the end user.

Our first driver, Andrew Fearby, a go-karter who'd proven himself in our time at Oran Park, went out and set a blistering lap time of 66 seconds. Everyone was stoked: it was the quickest Australian time from our first run. I personally was also greatly relieved: the engine was running well.......not a bad effort for only 90 minutes on the dyno the weekend before to set both fuel and ignition maps from scratch! Fearby went out for his second run but, yet again, the shifter cable snapped and he went no faster. Some team members were sent out to find some new cable before the endurance event the next day! Michael Jance, the suspension designer, went out for the second heat and got close to Fearby's time but didn't quite match it. It didn't matter.

We were happy with what turned out to be the 2^nd-fastest time in the local competition. We were beaten by a few tenths by Monash... and their tiptronic gears would have been giving them a shift that we could only dream of with our crappy and fragile cables!

Rochester put in a 61-second lap - pretty sobering stuff which shows just how far we have to go to catch up to the Americans.

And so the RB-2000 made it through its first day of competition and we were sitting in a very pleasing 2nd place with 448 points. Swinburne were still way out in front on 510. We'd overtaken Melbourne who'd had a shocker in the autocross, posting a best lap of 81s and now on 315 points. Their car was set up way too soft. Compared to all the other cars, it looked to be riding (and handling) like a Cadillac. Monash was making up ground with 421. RMIT had also put in a good lap of 69 seconds and were now on 387. Deakin was struggling: they hadn't turned up to the skidpan or the autocross and were out of the running on 171 points.

Things were looking pretty good for Redback Racing until we hit the practice track late in the afternoon to choose the fourth driver for the endurance event. Fearby and Mick would drive the first heat, with myself and either Nathan or Ben in the second. We sent both Ben and Nathan out for some practise laps. Ben looked confident in the car and Nathan was okay......until the front right wheel suddenly became detached from the car!

The rose joint on the lower wishbone had failed. Fortunately, nothing else had been damaged although a closer inspection revealed that the three other rose joints on the front end were also showing signs of strain. After a run up and down pit lane appealing to the other teams for a "loan" of some spares, we replaced the rose joints, had a quick look over the rest of the car and put it to bed. It was off to the local to celebrate the first successful day of competition in what we hoped would be the long history of Redback Racing!

Dynamic Event 4 - Endurance

The team's hangovers were all forgotten once we arrived at the track and wheeled the car out for its biggest test yet. The car would need to travel further today on the track than it had done in total until now. A big ask!

Analysis of the previous day's data logging revealed two very different driving styles from out two lead drivers. Fearby was much smoother on the throttle (yellow line) and in fact never used full throttle, even on the straights. In theory, that meant that he could go faster (even if just by half a second, owing to the 20mm restrictor) by putting his foot in harder.

Mick, on the other hand, used the throttle like a digital switch. A lot more power was put to the ground, but this was not reflected in his lap times which were slower than the smooth-as silk Andrew Fearby's.

The logger also revealed a problem: we'd be struggling to finish each 22-kilometre enduro with our small fuel capacity. Refuelling was not allowed at the driver change. I spent every spare minute that morning reviewing the data log files from the day before, checking mixtures and taking fuel out of the map.

Mick suited up to do the first stint of our first heat. The engine ran okay in practise with its new super-lean map but we would still need to take precautions with fuel. Mick waited on the start line to be let onto the track (only three cars were allowed at any one time) with the engine stopped. Although it meant we'd go out with a cold and maybe rough-running engine, we couldn't afford to burn any of our five litres of Optimax to keep it warm.

The green flag dropped. The R6 plant roared to life and the car left the pit apron in a swirl of tyre smoke, entering the track just behind the visiting Rochester car.

Mick was going hard and was tailing the Rochester car for six laps. Not a bad effort considering that Rochester consistently finishes in the top three in the American competition, of which there are 100 starters! But maybe Rochester had the smarter drivers. The RB-2000 slowed on the seventh lap. The engine sounded fine as Mick revved it up and down, looking for drive......but none of its 50kW was getting to the ground. We were out of the first heat. Fearby was devastated but at least he would replace Ben to drive alongside me in the second heat.

We had an agonising half-hour wait for the other cars to finish the first heat before our car could be towed in. On looking at the car it only took a few seconds to identify a BIG problem. One of the half-shafts had not been inserted into the diff centre properly. The splines had all sheared off and there was no way we would be able to track down a spare in the hour before we were to line up for the next heat.

The team huddled and brainstormed. A solution!

Fortunately, the splines had sheared off the sprocket-side half-shaft. We discarded this half-shaft and bolted the driveshaft flange directly to the sprocket. This shouldn't create any major problems: so long as the Torsen diff worked as it should! In theory, all of the power that entered the diff (the balance remaining from that which went directly to the shaft bolted to the sprocket) would be directed to the non-sprocket side half-shaft. The sprocket side of the diff, from which the half-shaft had been removed, should lock.

The mods were finished with six minutes remaining before the test track was closed and all the cars would need to form up for the second endurance heat.

Fearby and I each did a minute or two in the car, checking that the diff's transfer of drive wouldn't upset the car too much when the throttle was lifted and the brakes applied (and vice versa).

The car was refuelled and I sat in the pit apron waiting to be let onto the track. It was kind of sobering that I had to drive the car the furthest distance it had ever been and then hand it over to Fearby to do the same. Further to this, I was so busy with the fuel map in the morning, I hadn't even walked the track!

I sat on the line with the engine stopped to save fuel. Ten seconds before the flag dropped I pressed the little black button. When it came time to go I eased the car off the line.......not knowing just how much life was left in it. The pit board showed that the team was disappointed with my opening 90-second lap......just a little slower than the 66 that Fearby had pulled in the autocross but hey......it was an unfamiliar track and we had a sick car!

I settled into 71's and 2's.......the car felt okay at this speed. All I had to do was bring it in for the change in one piece. I would have desperately liked to push harder and prove myself but would have felt pretty stupid had the car broken. The board came out for me to pit and I went in. What a relief!

To allow the scrutineers time to check the car out between stints, the rules state that everyone's stop must be at least three minutes long. We were pretty relaxed with the changeover! After strapping Fearby in I glanced at the tank: well over half left. The "enduro" fuel map, the cold-starts and the gentle driving looked as though they would get us home.

Fearby went out and lapped in the high 60's. I was a bit anxious: I thought the car would be a little over-stressed at these speeds. I'd smelt a lot of brake pad burning on my last few laps and I'd told Fearby about this at the stop so he was aware of the problem. Three laps from the end and the car was trailing an increasing amount of smoke. I thought the back brakes must have been on fire. Not before time, the chequered flag came out and Fearby wheeled the car into the pit. Success. The smoke had actually turned out to be from oil dripping onto the extractors as a result of the cam-cover gasket having blown out: nothing too serious!

Swinburne had broken a driveshaft in their first heat and didn't score a point. Melbourne had blown a head gasket but still managed to finish. It didn't matter: they'd only salvaged 50 points compared to our 301. Monash struggled with their innovative (though not well developed) pneumatic shifter and didn't finish. RMIT recovered from an earlier diff-related failure to set the quickest time for the event and had gained 48 points on us. That put them on 737 points, only 13 behind us with another 50 up for grabs depending on who had used the least fuel! It was getting very tight at the top.......

Dynamic Event 5 - Fuel Economy

We wheeled the car to the refuelling area. Not only had we finished the race, we'd used less fuel than ALL the other teams - including the Americans!

The 50 points from the economy event pushed us over the line in the final pointscore, just ahead of RMIT.

The lack of sleep and the bared knuckles had finally paid off. Our fears of disappointing both sponsors and fans had dissolved.......it was time to try dissolving some of our elation at the bar!

In next week's final instalment in our series on the running of Australia's inaugural Formula SAE event, we get up-close and personal with the RB-2000 and see what made it a winner.

The Results FINAL STANDINGS Static Events Team Presentation Cost Design Total Swinburne 74 77 150 301 Deakin 57 64 50 171 Monash 52 70 79 201 Melbourne University 75 81 124 280 RMIT 61 70 56 187 University of NSW 47 70 116 233 Dynamic Events Team Skidpan Acceleration Autocross Endurance Economy Total FINAL POINTS PLACE Swinburne 50 51 108 0 0 209 510 3 Deakin 0 0 0 0 0 0 171 6 Monash 10 61 150 0 0 221 422 4 Melbourne University 20 0 16 P>50 0 86 366 5 RMIT 0 75 125 350 24 574 761 2 University of NSW 11 55 149 302 50 567 800 1