2012 Racing Season: NASCAR, Indy, F1, and more

DTM is hitting the track at Daytona International Speedway this weekend



Leading the pack overall right now is Gerhard Paffet (Mercedes-Benz)

Just caught the qualifiers—BMW locked up the front row, with Spengler taking first and Farfus right behind him in second. Paffet is leading the championship, with Rockefeller in that Audi right on his heels... looks like we're in for one hell of a race.

I was watching the NASCAR Nationwide race earlier—man, what a wreck right at the end http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv5YYOekRoQ
Joey Logano ended up taking the win though.

I might take a quick look at the race, but honestly, it’s mostly just because I’m bored.

NASCAR isn't boring 🙂

Anyway, BMW took the win in DTM.

Woohoo! My favorite, Bad Brad, took the win! 🙂

Audi racing in Belgium, 6 hours at Spa-Francorchamps

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99398

How bad do you have to be to get left 37 laps behind?

Nathan Jones98 said:How bad do you have to be to get left 37 laps behind?

Is it really all that surprising to see those gaps in the LMP2 class? Honestly, the "standard" entries were lagging about 9 to 16 laps behind the winner in the LMP1 class, which makes sense when you think about it. Then you have the GT class, which is even slower, and those LMP2 cars caught somewhere in between the GT field were likely struggling with their own set of issues. It’s also worth remembering that, unlike in Formula 1, these teams actually try to repair the damage to the cars whenever possible—even if it means dropping 15 laps in the process. Isn't that just the beauty of endurance racing? 😉

Did this winning Audi use Williams KERS?
I was watching while the Audi e-tron cars were leading, though I'm not entirely sure if they ended up taking the win in the end.

Tyler Bennett5 said:Did this winning Audi use Williams KERS?
I was watching while the Audi e-tron cars were leading, though I'm not entirely sure if they ended up taking the win in the end.

Not quite. They held the lead during the rain, but once the track dried out, those "standard" Audis just pushed right past them. In the end, the e-tron finished second and fourth.

Still, it was a pretty tight race. One of the e-trons was handled by some less experienced drivers, and the other one ran into trouble in the pits—they had to swap out the front end because of a light malfunction, which cost them at least 45 seconds.

Ultimately, I think it all came down to driver experience and how quickly they transitioned to slick tires, which usually go hand in hand, don't they? 😉

The KERS in the Audi e-tron... how similar is it to the KERS used in the Porsche 911 GT3?

Heading to Darlington Raceway, "The Lady in Black," this Saturday night...



Capacity 75,000
Opened Labor Day 1950
Surface Asphalt
Length 1.366 mi (1.4 miles)
Turns 4 Banking Turns
Turns 1 & 2: 25°
Turns 3 & 4: 23°
Front straight: 3°
Back straight: 2°

Jason Campbell70 said:The KERS in the Audi e-tron... how similar is it to the KERS used in the Porsche 911 GT3?

They are essentially the same thing. The e-tron features all-wheel drive where the motor handles the rear axle, whereas the KERS powers the front axle—and that's only at speeds above 75 miles/h (depending on the regulations). Unlike what you see in Formula 1, here the KERS is allowed to discharge 500 kJ of energy (roughly 70 horsepower) between two braking events (or corners, if you're braking for every single one)

mistybear87 said:They are essentially the same thing. The e-tron features all-wheel drive where the motor handles the rear axle, whereas the KERS powers the front axle—and that's only at speeds above 75 miles/h (depending on the regulations). Unlike what you see in Formula 1, here the KERS is allowed to discharge 500 kJ of energy (roughly 70 horsepower) between two braking events (or corners, if you're braking for every single one)

So, nothing from a pure kinetic-mechanical system then?

Jason Campbell70 said:So, nothing from a pure kinetic-mechanical system then?

Are you referring to the mechanical connection between the flywheel and the shaft? I honestly have my doubts about whether that kind of setup will ever truly take off in the future...

mistybear87 said:Are you referring to the mechanical connection between the flywheel and the shaft? I honestly have my doubts about whether that kind of setup will ever truly take off in the future...

Yes, without the conversion (and energy loss) of kinetic energy into electricity, and vice versa.

That would actually make sense, unlike the current setups we see in the Audi and the Porsche.

Jason Campbell70 said:Yes, without the conversion (and energy loss) of kinetic energy into electricity, and vice versa.

That would actually make sense, unlike the current setups we see in the Audi and the Porsche.

Perhaps, but a system like that usually has to be custom-developed for every single car. What we're looking at here is more of a plug-and-play method that only needs minor tweaks.
Sure, there are losses involved, but I highly doubt they're significant enough to make anyone seriously consider switching to a purely mechanical system...

mistybear87 said:Perhaps, but a system like that usually has to be custom-developed for every single car. What we're looking at here is more of a plug-and-play method that only needs minor tweaks.
Sure, there are losses involved, but I highly doubt they're significant enough to make anyone seriously consider switching to a purely mechanical system...

But didn't Flybrid, and later especially Williams, go head-to-head with a completely mechanical KERS?

Jason Campbell70 said:But didn't Flybrid, and later especially Williams, go head-to-head with a completely mechanical KERS?

Actually, no. It was just the energy storage that was mechanical.
In both cases, the power delivery to the axle was handled via wiring and an electric motor. 😉

EDIT: Actually, I might be off there. Flybrid originally envisioned a completely mechanical setup linked directly to the gearbox, but as for the Williams one... I'm not entirely certain myself.