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

And here is what’s actually being said on the Williams website regarding flywheels in general. From the very beginning, theirs has been entirely electric.

The next evolution involved electrically-driven flywheels. Because they don't rely on a CVT system, they manage to sidestep the issues of extra weight and lost efficiency. There is also another significant perk when you compare them to their mechanical counterparts: maintaining vacuum integrity is much simpler since there isn't a need for a high-speed mechanical seal.

mistybear87 said:And here is what’s actually being said on the Williams website regarding flywheels in general. From the very beginning, theirs has been entirely electric.

The next evolution involved electrically-driven flywheels. Because they don't rely on a CVT system, they manage to sidestep the issues of extra weight and lost efficiency. There is also another significant perk when you compare them to their mechanical counterparts: maintaining vacuum integrity is much simpler since there isn't a need for a high-speed mechanical seal.

No, Williams was developing a purely mechanical KERS for the '09 season, but they ended up pulling the plug on using it in races due to too many technical hurdles.

The final major edge the FW31 holds is its KERS. This system captures kinetic energy during braking—energy that usually just goes to waste—and stores it in a mechanical flywheel spinning at upwards of 40,000rpm. The driver can tap into that stored energy whenever they hit the boost button. Under today's rules, what does that actually get you? An extra 80bhp for about 6.6 seconds every single lap.

.......

The FW31 utilizes a flywheel system, largely engineered and patented by Williams Hybrid Power. With enough durability to last through the entire season, each flywheel should provide the FW31 an advantage in terms of weight distribution. Does this change the game? Perhaps.

Williams is making moves. The latest update from the team shows they are leaning heavily into the technical advantages provided by the FW31 an advantage in terms of weight distribution. It’s all about that balance. They are integrating the Flybrid technology to really sharpen the edge. Is this the turning point? The focus remains on optimizing how the Williams Hybrid Power system interacts with the chassis. Every small tweak counts when you're chasing performance at this level. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see if these adjustments translate to the track.

Jason Campbell70 said:No, Williams was developing a purely mechanical KERS for the '09 season, but they ended up pulling the plug on using it in races due to too many technical hurdles.

The final major edge the FW31 holds is its KERS. This system captures kinetic energy during braking—energy that usually just goes to waste—and stores it in a mechanical flywheel spinning at upwards of 40,000rpm. The driver can tap into that stored energy whenever they hit the boost button. Under today's rules, what does that actually get you? An extra 80bhp for about 6.6 seconds every single lap.

.......

The FW31 utilizes a flywheel system, largely engineered and patented by Williams Hybrid Power. With enough durability to last through the entire season, each flywheel should provide the FW31 an advantage in terms of weight distribution. Does this change the game? Perhaps.

Williams is making moves. The latest update from the team shows they are leaning heavily into the technical advantages provided by the FW31 an advantage in terms of weight distribution. It’s all about that balance. They are integrating the Flybrid technology to really sharpen the edge. Is this the turning point? The focus remains on optimizing how the Williams Hybrid Power system interacts with the chassis. Every small tweak counts when you're chasing performance at this level. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see if these adjustments translate to the track.

I'm not entirely convinced that "mechanical" refers to how the energy is actually harvested and released. It seems more like it was just about the storage phase.

At least, that’s my takeaway from this clip from back in 2009.🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09knBT2gqqU

Darlington race results. JJ snagged a 200-lap win for Hendrick... pretty impressive.

Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 3h25m45.000s
2. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota + 0.781s
3. Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Chevrolet + 1.164s
4. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota + 1.389s
5. 5. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota + 2.037s
6. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford + 2.442s
7. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford + 2.701s
8. Kasey Kahn Hendrick Chevrolet + 2.872s
9. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford + 3.213s
10. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota + 3.303s
11. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota + 3.479s
12. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford + 3.947s
13. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet + 4.016s
14. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet + 4.068s
15. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge + 4.086s
16. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet + 4.163s
17. Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet + 4.265s
18. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet + 4.480s
19. Almirola Petty Ford + 5.035s
20. Mark Martin Waltrip Toyota + 6.085s
21. Kurt Busch Phoenix Chevrolet + 7.748s
22. Casey Mears Germain Ford + 1 lap
23. Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Chevrolet + 1 lap
24. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt-Ganassi Chevrolet + 2 laps
25. David Gilliland Front Row Ford + 2 laps
26. Landon Cassill BK Toyota + 2 laps
27. Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet + 3 laps
28. David Ragan Front Row Ford + 4 laps
29. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota + 4 laps
30. Reed Sorenson FAS lan Ford + 5 laps
31. Danica Patrick Stewart Haas Chevrolet + 6 laps
32. Travis Kvapil BK Toyota + 6 laps
33. AJ Allmendinger Penske Dodge + 11 laps
34. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt-Ganassi Chevrolet + 23 laps
35. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet + 29 laps
36. David Reutimann BK Toyota + 54 laps

The next one up in the NASCAR season is the All-Star race over at Charlotte. Just a heads up—this one doesn't actually count toward the points...



Capacity 140,000
Opened 1960
Surface Asphalt
Length 1.5 mi (1.5 miles)
Turns 4
Banking Turns: 24°
Straights: 5°

Catch all the live Indy 500 practice sessions over at http://racecontrol.indycar.com/.

I am seriously looking forward to the Indy 500—anyone got a feeling on who’s taking the win this year? I'm personally pulling for the captain...

neonfox65 said:I am seriously looking forward to the Indy 500—anyone got a feeling on who’s taking the win this year? I'm personally pulling for the captain...

Well, you aren't wrong there; more often than not, that trophy ends up being hoisted by someone from Penske or Ganassi.

I’d still give Andretti Autosport a fighting chance, and don't sleep on Panther Racing—they've been showing some seriously impressive results lately. Plus, we have Ed Carpenter in the mix as a driver-owner, which always adds an interesting layer to the field.

Maybe even Tony Kanaan over at KV could pull it off? If I had to narrow it down, I’d say there are about ten drivers total who actually have a legitimate shot at walking away with the win.

--------------------------

It’s been interesting watching the practice sessions; there have been very few yellow flags so far, mostly just due to debris on the track. Honestly, though? It makes me a little nervous. Between the brand-new cars and this being their first big oval race, I can't help but worry we might see a lot of contact out there.
Behind the scenes, there is actually a bit of a scramble happening to try and hit that legendary number 33 for the race, simply because they are running short on engines.

Hey neonfox65, how on earth are you planning to survive through May 27th, Monaco, Indy, and then heading into Charlotte? You really have to pace yourself, man—you can't just go all out at once!🙂

Here is the official list of registered drivers and their respective teams.

http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway...0EntryList.pdf

Drew Bennett68 said:Catch all the live Indy 500 practice sessions over at http://racecontrol.indycar.com/.

Just a heads-up for everyone watching from the States—practice sessions run daily from 6:00 PM to midnight Eastern Time.

We've got Fast Friday coming up, followed by Pole Day on Saturday and Bump Day on Sunday.

If you want to see the full breakdown of the week, you can find the complete schedule right here:http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway...heduleIndy.pdf

Here’s a quick cheat sheet for you:

Date(s) Day(s) Event
May 10 Thursday Rookie Orientation
May 12–18 Saturday–Friday Indianapolis 500 Practice
May 19 Saturday Pole Day Time Trials
May 20 Sunday Bump Day Time Trials
May 25 Friday Carb Day
Indianapolis 500 final practice
Pit Stop Challenge
May 27 Sunday 96th Indianapolis 500-Mile race

Anyone know which networks or satellite channels are doing 24-hour coverage of Nurburgring this weekend?

Drew Bennett68 said:Hey neonfox65, how on earth are you planning to survive through May 27th, Monaco, Indy, and then heading into Charlotte? You really have to pace yourself, man—you can't just go all out at once!🙂

🙂🙂🙂🙂

Michael Lee4 said:Anyone know which networks or satellite channels are doing 24-hour coverage of Nurburgring this weekend?

I'm sure someone will drop a useful link in here eventually:

http://forum.wiziwig.eu/threads/7382...EAMING-DISCUSS

Hey neonfox65, do you happen to know anything about NASCAR? Like, what's the deal with that hose sticking out from the top of the helmet while they're driving? Is it some kind of air supply or something like that?

I'm thinking about air...

Tomorrow's the big DTM race over at Brands Hecu

Incredible track... too bad they aren't running the GP layout. It was pouring rain last year... absolute chaos 😁

Qualifying starts at 2:00 PM—can BMW pull off another pole position? That's really the big question now... 🙂

Zak Veal is heading back for two road course races in the Nationwide series with Penske

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99669