Steve Richards Motorsport

Buttons, Levers and Instruments Inside the Cockpit

The biggest single factor regarding the performance of our V8 Supercars during a race is how well the rear tyre performance in managed throughout the race.  As you can imagine 630 hp being transferred through the rear tyres can turn them to a slimy rubber mush fairly quickly if the cars handling performance is not managed inside the car.

Naturally the series regulations don’t allow the teams to adjust the car by the means of radio data stream through the engine data logging system, therefore adjustments made to the handling characteristics must be made through both the anti roll bars or the brake bias.

When Network Ten focus in on the driver cockpit you have probably seen a couple of big levers, generally located somewhere fore or aft of the gear lever.  These control the anti roll or sway bars.  Every car even our road cars have roll bars.  They eliminate an amount of roll through the suspension to retain even tyre contact with the road.  In the modern day V8 Supercar these can be adjusted to cope with performance as the tyre deteriorates during a race.

Brake balance is another crucial performance factor that needs adjustment during a race.  Unlike road cars our V8’s have the ability to adjust the split between the front and rear braking systems.  This is very important as there is no Anti lock braking systems on our cars (ABS).  As the fuel load or the rear tyre performance reduces, the weight of the car and grip of the tyre becomes a factor and more front brake must be applied.  This is done by adjusting a small dial that can adjust the amount of pressure applied to the braking system.  This neutralizes the braking balance which has an effect on tyre longevity.

So that may answer a few questions on what we do while we drive during a race.  Sometimes these items are adjusted every lap.

See you at the track.

Richo.