Industry News
News for 26th April 2006
EEMS aiming to widen use of fuel metering technology
Motorsport Development UK’s Energy Efficient Motor Sport initiative is offering teams competing in the 2006 British Touring Car Championship free use of fuel metering technology that is intended to allow cars using different fuels to compete on equal basis.
EEMS Project Leader Dr Steve Bunkhall said, "This is part of EEMS ongoing studies to find a sustainable approach to regulations and to encourage greater fuel efficiency in motorsport. Limiting the maximum fuel flow means that teams would have to find the most energy efficient approach to be competitive. 'Energy equivalent flow' will clearly define equivalency issues and open the way for alternative fuels to compete fairly alongside petrol in mainstream UK motorsport.
"Environmental pressures are already changing the automotive world. There is an opportunity for UK Motorsport, with its world class expertise and experience, to lead the way to a greener automotive future by showcasing more energy efficient racing that is still exciting to watch and participate in, at the same time reducing the environmental impact of motorsport itself,”
The fuel metering technology is being offered free of charge to all BTCC teams to prove its reliability and effectiveness. EEMS' ambition is for the fuel flow limit to be adopted in the future to make energy efficiency key to competitiveness.
There is also the possibility of alternative fuels being provided in the future. Representatives from EEMS are taking soundings from BTCC teams and sponsors about widening the use of environmentally friendly fuels, exploring the feasibility of underwriting the conversion of cars and the provision of fuels such as bio-ethanol and bio-diesel.
GPMA CVC F1 deal still pending
An agreement between the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association and CVC Capital Partners, the owners of the commercial rights of the FIA Formula One World Championship, that would prevent the GPMA setting up its own breakaway racing series in 2008, has still to be concluded.
A report in the UK’s Sunday Express newspaper says that Bernie Ecclestone has withdrawn a proposal for the manufacturer backed F1 teams to receive a 60% share of the profits of Formula One unless the manufacturers themselves sign such an agreement.
In most other forms of motorsport the teams representing manufacturers sign commercial rights agreements rather than the manufacturers themselves. On this basis, according to the Sunday Express story, Ecclestone is only prepared to offer the manufacturer supported teams a 50% share in F1 profits.
An un-named source quoted in the Sunday Express story said that the manufacturers would not sign any 50% agreement and that they view the reduced share as a 'deal breaker' as previous discussions had been on the higher figure.
New chief designer at BMW-Sauber
The Hinwil, Switzerland based BMW Sauber Formula One team has hired Jorg Zander as its new chief designer.
German born Zander will be responsible for the design of the team's 2007 car, beginning in July, and will report to BMW Sauber technical director Willy Rampf.
Zander first job in Formula One was with the Cologne, Germany based Toyota Motorsport team that he joined in 1999. In 2002 was recruited by the Brackley, UK based BAR-Honda organisation and in September 2005, joined the Grove, UK based WilliamsF1 team. In March 2006 Zander left Williams citing personal reason for his departure.
BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen who heads the German manufacturer’s Formula One programme said, "The development of the BMW Sauber F1 team continues to move forward, and that includes adding a chief designer to our staff line-up. We are certain that in Jorg Zander we have found the right man for this pivotal position. His experience will be an important asset to us."
Zander said, "The BMW Sauber F1 team is in its set-up phase, which presents a major challenge. It isn't just a matter of technology but of laying down the structures and processes as well. Drawing on my experience, I would like to do my bit to support the team on its way up."
FIA vice-president John Large passes away
Australian John Large who was the honorary president of the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) and an FIA vice-president has passed away at the age of 67.
Born in Tasmania, Large ran successful pharmaceutical and computer companies in Australia while also competing in rallying a discipline in which he won the Australian national championship. Large was elected as the president of CAMS in 1983 and in 1993 he was appointed as an FIA vice-president under Max Mosley having previously been the Australian delegate and a Vice President of FISA, the competition arm of the FIA, when the organisation was headed by Jean-Marie Balestre.
MIA to host parliamentary visit to British GP
The UK’s Motorsport Industry Association is to host a visit by the UK's All Party Parliamentary Motor Group to the Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone in June.
The MIA’s CEO Chris Aylett said, “It is vital that our country’s leaders see firsthand what a major part Britain plays in this ultra-competitive environment. They need to appreciate the unrivalled level of expertise Motorsport Valley has to offer and thereby appreciate the need for ongoing investment in our industry.”
For further details contact Peter Burns at peter.burns@the-mia.com
Mansell kart plan opposed
Ex-Formula One World Drivers Champion Nigel Mansell plans to expand the facilities at a UK karting track at Dunkeswell near Honiton, Devon have run into opposition from local residents.
Mansell’s plans for Dunkeswell Kart Circuit at Dunkeswell Aerodrome include upgrading to the circuit to a standard that would allow it to host international races, the building of a shop selling accessories and memorabilia, as well as a clubhouse/restaurant/ bar, a workshop and new pits.
Other aims include the establishment of a corporate karting operation offering tuition and racing and the use of the facility as a base for Mansell’s two sons who currently take part in the Formula BMW racing series.
Nearly three hundred people have registered their opposition to the proposals after an anonymously printed leaflet circulated in the area urged people to object to the application. The leaflet read, 'Do you care? The development will create a massive environmental impact, a monstrous blight on the skyline, intolerable noise all week long and the smell of high-octane fuel in the wind.
'All this in the middle of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.'
A group of residents in the nearby village of Sheldon have hired a legal firm to object on their behalf, on the grounds of visual intrusion, noise and disturbance, traffic, impact on local business, disturbance of wildlife and impact on human rights.
The Dunkeswell Parish Council has asked for more information about the proposals before deciding whether to support or oppose the application.
Euro 5 standards accompanied by emissions data provisions
The proposed new Euro 5 vehicle emissions limits adopted by the European Commission recently are accompanied by comprehensive provisions on access by repairers to emissions-related technical data, which has to be available to the aftermarket in unrestricted and standardised form, reports the Automotive Distribution Federation’s spring Eyes & Ears newsletter.
Independent repairers are to be granted non-discriminatory and prompt access to the relevant data online, with the EC planning to implement the OASIS data standard to aid document retrieval.
The inclusion of information provisions through the OASIS standard represents an important step towards the realisation of OASIS, which was developed in 2003 by the vehicle industry and aftermarket companies under the auspices of the European Commission, according to Hartmut Röhl, president of the European independent aftermarket trade federation FIGIEFA.
Mr. Röhl tells the ADF’s newsletter the OASIS programme as ‘blocked at the end of the day by vehicle makers for political reasons’. FIGIEFA had earlier criticised the EC’s CARS 21 automotive competitiveness working party for a lack of focus on aftermarket issues, but welcomed the inclusion of aftermarket provisions in the new Euro 5 proposals.
These will now be debated by the European Parliament and Council of Ministers before coming into effect, most likely in 2008. Some European Parliament members have already suggested that Euro 5 should be implemented in conjunction with advance notice of an agreed, more stringent, Euro 6 limit.
- Reporting information arrangements between haulage associations and individual cities in some continental European countries, the SMMT’s CV Newsbrief said yesterday that some truck operators were moving straight from Euro 3 to Euro 5-compliant vehicles; Daf recently launched a new coach capable of meeting Euro 5 emissions limits by dint of a selective catalytic regeneration (SCR) system.
(ADF Eyes & Ears, spring 2006, CV Newsbrief, 25 April).
