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Virgin's chief designer has no time for tunnel vision
Source: Agencies |
December 17, 2009, Thursday
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NICK Wirth, the technical brains behind Virgin Racing, has produced the first entirely digitally-designed grand prix car, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in a direct challenge to the old way of doing things.
He has no doubt it is the way forward even if others, including highly respected Williams engineering chief Patrick Head and Lotus team principal Tony Fernandes, have their reservations.
"(Virgin are) very convinced that is the way forward, that you can do it all with CFD," Fernandes said last week. "I am from the aviation business, mate. You can't. You've got to have a wind tunnel."
Former Simtek owner and Benetton chief designer Wirth pointed to his successes in America with similarly-designed cars.
"Obviously Patrick's used to falling because he's fallen from winning," he said on Tuesday.
"And obviously he's invested unwisely in two wind tunnels which are a bit archaic.
"I think we've done enough due diligence on this program, both in developing in Indycars and sportscars. There's no doubt it works, no doubt the technology is right," added Wirth. "I can tell you how fast our car will go around Barcelona. I won't, but I can. We know exactly where we are. What we don't know is where everyone else is going to be."
Wirth is returning to Formula One after leaving, disillusioned, a decade ago.
Chief designer
The Simtek - short for simulated technology - team folded in 1995, the year after his Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger crashed and died in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, and Wirth became Benetton chief designer before quitting in 1999.
An agreement among teams to reduce costs to the levels of the early 1990s, rekindled his enthusiasm.
"At the end of 2008 (then-FIA president) Max (Mosley) started talking about this idea of a budget cap ... I thought 'This is our world'," he said.
"I had suffered as Benetton chief designer in 1999 with all the expectations because we were world champion back in 1995.
"The reality is that we had a Mecachrome engine and went through three chief executives in 18 months and one of them spent more money on his office suite development than aerodynamics that year."
Wirth said he had been shocked by the wastage in F1, with teams throwing away tens of thousands of dollars a day on making failed parts for wind tunnel testing. His way of doing things worked out at about a fifth of the cost.
Wirth said everything was going well with the car.
"We are well ahead, the parts are coming through and the build is on schedule. We will fire the car up on about the 25th of January and will go testing at Silverstone unless it's snowing," he added.
He has no doubt it is the way forward even if others, including highly respected Williams engineering chief Patrick Head and Lotus team principal Tony Fernandes, have their reservations.
"(Virgin are) very convinced that is the way forward, that you can do it all with CFD," Fernandes said last week. "I am from the aviation business, mate. You can't. You've got to have a wind tunnel."
Former Simtek owner and Benetton chief designer Wirth pointed to his successes in America with similarly-designed cars.
"Obviously Patrick's used to falling because he's fallen from winning," he said on Tuesday.
"And obviously he's invested unwisely in two wind tunnels which are a bit archaic.
"I think we've done enough due diligence on this program, both in developing in Indycars and sportscars. There's no doubt it works, no doubt the technology is right," added Wirth. "I can tell you how fast our car will go around Barcelona. I won't, but I can. We know exactly where we are. What we don't know is where everyone else is going to be."
Wirth is returning to Formula One after leaving, disillusioned, a decade ago.
Chief designer
The Simtek - short for simulated technology - team folded in 1995, the year after his Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger crashed and died in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, and Wirth became Benetton chief designer before quitting in 1999.
An agreement among teams to reduce costs to the levels of the early 1990s, rekindled his enthusiasm.
"At the end of 2008 (then-FIA president) Max (Mosley) started talking about this idea of a budget cap ... I thought 'This is our world'," he said.
"I had suffered as Benetton chief designer in 1999 with all the expectations because we were world champion back in 1995.
"The reality is that we had a Mecachrome engine and went through three chief executives in 18 months and one of them spent more money on his office suite development than aerodynamics that year."
Wirth said he had been shocked by the wastage in F1, with teams throwing away tens of thousands of dollars a day on making failed parts for wind tunnel testing. His way of doing things worked out at about a fifth of the cost.
Wirth said everything was going well with the car.
"We are well ahead, the parts are coming through and the build is on schedule. We will fire the car up on about the 25th of January and will go testing at Silverstone unless it's snowing," he added.
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