Archive-name: autos/sport/single-seaters
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 24th June 1994
Version: 1.0

This will be posted monthly to rec.autos.sport.info and to news.answers.  
It answers some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) in 
rec.autos.sport as well as some others which perhaps _should_ be asked.

The latest version of the rec.autos.sport FAQ should be available
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pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/rec/answers/autos/sport/single-seaters.  If you only 
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For information on how to use FTP, send e-mail to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu 
with with no subject line.  In the body of the mail, put:
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Whilst some care has been taken in the preparation of this FAQ, a few
errors may have slipped through the net (no pun intended).  Please send 
any corrections or additions to rasfaq@bath.ac.uk. 

8     1994 F1 SPECIFICATIONS

The full text of the FIA technical and sporting regulations are
available for anonymous ftp from:
ftp.metrics.com (198-133.162.1): ~/auto/f1/sporting.regs
     ~/auto/f1/technical.regs


9     1994 INDYCAR SPECIFICATIONS

(The following information is largely - and in some cases solely - from the
"IndyCar 1994 Media Guide")

9-1   Chassis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 1994 rules allow the cars to have a maximum length of 195
inches, with 190 inches being the required minimum.  The maximum
allowed width is 78-5 inches measured by projecting a line from the
outside rim surface through the hub center.  The maximum height of the
car from the highest point to the lowest point is 32 inches.  The
maximum rear wing height is 32 inches at the superspeedways and 36
inches on short ovals and road courses.  The cockpit must have a
minimum opening of 30 inches by 14 3/4 inches.  An unfueled car,
complete with lubricants, coolants, tires, etc. must have a minimum
weight of 1550 pounds.

9-2   Aerodynamics
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andy Brown from Galmer gave Racecar Engineering the
following figures for the Galmer G92, the car which won the 1992 Indy 500.

                Downforce  Drag      L/D    Cd    Speed for measurements
Short Oval      3460 lbs   1310 lbs  2-64  1.397  165 mph
Street Circuit  3040 lbs   1070 lbs  2-84  1.141  165 mph
Speedway        2835 lbs    972 lbs  2-92  0.669  220 mph

Fuel consumption is higher on a street circuit such as Long Beach than
on a short oval such as Phoenix:  consequently the car has to be set up
so that it pulls less drag.

By way of comparison, in the days before cab roof fairings, a Cd figure 
of 1-0 was typical for a high-drag truck.  These days trucks are down
to the region of Cd = 0-6   The figures quoted for the 1991 Indy 500
winning Penske PC20 in speedway trim were 3010 lbs downforce at 220 mph
with 1075 lbs drag (Load/Downforce, L/D, = 2-80)

Brown commented: "I'm always a little cautious of comparing figures from
different wind tunnels because experience has shown them all to vary
slightly.  The L/D figure is usually close though, and I'm pleased to
see that ours is better than that quoted for the PC20.  Provided we're
both telling the truth, that is !"

Note:  The downforce is approximately double the weight of the car,
so the car could drive upside-down with a suitable bit of road.

9-3   Tires
~~~~~~~~~~~
IndyCar racing tires are Goodyear Racing Eagles, weighing 16-29
pounds, depending on whether they are rain or dry tires, and whether
the tire is for the front or back of the car.  The tires have a rim
diameter of 15 inches and are either 10 inches wide (for the "undriven"
tire) or 14 inches (for the "driven" tire).  The cars are limited to
two-wheel drive, with the choice of front or rear-wheel drive being
optional.  Teams are limited to 28 tires per event at short ovals and
road courses, and 44 tires per event at 500 mile events.

9-4   Engine
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Several types of engines are allowed:  turbocharged, overhead
camshaft eight-cylinder engines with a maximum displacement of 209 cu-inches;
production-derived, single non-overhead camshaft turbocharged motors,
with pushrod valve mechanisms and a maximum displacement of 209 cu-inches;
without the turbocharger, stock blocks are allowed up to 355 cu-inches.
Turbines were finally banned in the early 1970's.  If you
can get a diesel to run on methanol, diesels would still be a legal :-)

Horsepower figures are difficult to ascertain, as these figures are kept
closely guarded by teams but are typically 700 to 850 horsepower,
depending on turbocharger settings.  IndyCar tests have clocked cars
accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in 2-2 seconds, and from 0 to 100 mph in
4-2 seconds.  Engines are typically rebuilt after 400-500 miles of use.

9-5   Fuel
~~~~~~~~~~
IndyCars are fueled by methanol, sometimes called wood alcohol.  
It is a non-fossil fuel produced commercially by hydrogen and carbon 
monoxide under pressure and is supplied to IndyCar by Valvoline.  IndyCar 
chose methanol because of its high octane rating and because water is and
extremely effective fire fighting agent - when mixed with ethanol, water
will quickly dilute it to the point of non-flamability.  One of the main
dangers of methanol is that its flames can not be seen in daylight.  Cars 
must have a minimum fuel efficiency of 1-8 miles per gallon and have a 
maximum fuel capacity of 40 gallons.

9-6   So you want to race an Indy car - how much will it cost ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following information is quoted from the IndyCar Racing, Feb 93.
These represents the startup cost of a team.  Buses and transporters
do not have to be bought every year.  A chassis can be sold second
hand at the end of the year.

Engine rentals             $2,250,000  Workshop Equipment:          $130,000  
Spare Parts:               $1,350,000  Development parts:           $125,000  
Two chassis:                 $960,000  Workshop Expenses:           $125,000  
Payroll and taxes:           $540,000  Travel & lodging:            $110,000  
Hospitality bus:             $320,000  Insurance:                   $100,000  
Transporter:                 $320,000  9 Sets of wheels              $80,000  
6 Test sessions              $220,000  Entry fees:                   $25,000  
Pit Equipment:               $185,000  Freight:                      $25,000  
Hospitality expense:         $160,000  Uniforms:                     $25,000  
Electronics & telemetry:     $150,000                               ========
                                       TOTAL:                     $7,200,000

10    QUALIFYING FOR THE INDY 500

Qualifying at the Speedway is unique.  The fastest 33 cars from the the
four days set aside for qualifying start the race.  The actual starting
order depends on the day that the qualifying time was set.  This means
that the fastest cars do not necessarily start from the front of the grid.  

The Speedway opens for practice on the first Saturday of May.  Practice
is daily from the opening day to the last day of qualifying.  The track
is open for practice starting at 11AM (EST) and finishes at 6PM (EST)
or at the discretion of the USAC officials.  The first two days of
qualifying are scheduled for the weekend two weeks before the race.
The second two days of qualifying are scheduled for the week before the
race.  These days are called the "Time Trials".  There is one last day
of practice held on the Thursday before the race called Carburetion
Day.  In the old days, this was the last day of practice where the
mechanics would adjust their cars carburetors.  Carburetion Day sounds
better than Fuel Injection Day, don't it ?

10-1  Which cars start the race ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The fastest 33 cars in qualifying start the race.  Officially, its the 
cars that qualify, and not the drivers.  This means that a driver could 
start the race in a car that was qualified by someone else. This happened 
in 1993 when Scott Goodyear took over a car qualified by Mike Groff.

With 33 spots in the field, and a lot more than 33 drivers trying to
qualify,  usually at some point on the 3rd or 4th day, the field fills
up.  At this point, the car in the field with the slowest speed is said
to be "on the bubble".  If someone qualifies faster than the car "on
the bubble", then that car is "bumped" from the field.  A bumped car,
cannot be used to try to requalify.  The driver can try, but has to
use a different car.

10-2  How are the qualifying days organised ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A run consists of each car running alone on the circuit for one or two
warm-up laps followed by four timed laps, over which the average
"qualifying"  speed is calculated.

Each car can only complete the four timed laps once.  During a
qualifying run, there is a team member positioned along the pit wall
who carries a yellow flag.  At any time during the qualifying run, that
team member may stop the qualifying attempt by waving a yellow flag
(this is called "waving off" the attempt), indicating that the team
does not wish to accept that qualifying attempt.  Once the car takes
the checkered flag at the end of the 4 timed laps, that's it.  The car
has qualified with that particular run's average speed.  It can make no
more qualifying attempts.  

Waving off a qualifying attempt during the warm-up laps carries no
penalty, but you can only take the green flag that starts the timed
laps 3 times.  You can wave off an attempt after the green flag flies
only twice.  If you wave off during the timed laps on your third
attempt, that's it, and you get no more attempts to qualify.

The night before each day's qualifying, the teams that wish to qualify
cars the next day register their car numbers with the officials, who
then determine the initial order of qualifying attempts for that day by
lottery.  On the qualifying day, they go once through that order.  When
a car's number comes up, the team must either make a qualifying attempt
then and there, or step out of the qualifying line.  Qualifying
attempts are made until the gun sounds at 6:00 PM.  If they didn't get
all the way through the initial order, they do the rest of the order
first thing next day, but those who qualify in this way are grouped
with the previous day's qualifiers (thus, every car gets one shot at
qualifying on any particular day).  If the officials get all the way
through the lottery order and it's not 6:00 PM yet, qualifying is
thrown open and any not-yet-qualified car can make an attempt by
presenting itself at the line.

So each of the 4 days, they hold the lottery, go through the lottery
order, then comes free qualifying where any car can present at the line
and make an attempt, until 6:00 PM.  If a car is rolling before the
6:00 PM final gun, it is allowed to finish it's qualification run.  The
car can be starting its warm-up laps too, it only has to be rolling
away from the inspection area when the gun sounds.

Before a qualifying run can be made, the car must be inspected to check
that it meets all the rules.  It takes only a few minutes for this to
be completed but it can yield a bit of drama just before 6PM on Bubble
Day.  A line usually forms at the tech inspection area at this time.

If a car's qualification attempt is interrupted by the track officials
to clear up debris, the car is allowed to refuel and move to head of
the technical inspection line to try again without an attempt being
charged to it.

If a driver wishes to qualify a different car (let's say that Adrian
Fernandez qualifies his backup car, but discovers that his primary is
running 10 mph faster, for example), then that driver must withdraw
his/her current car from the field, or let another driver drive it.
If a car is withdrawn, it may not attempt to requalify.

If a car has qualified, the engine cannot be changed for one of another
make.  You'd have to requalify in a completely different chassis with a
new engine make

10-3  How is the order of starting line for the race up decided ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first days qualifiers are "locked" into position in front of the
second day's qualifiers who are "locked" into position if front of the
third day's qualifiers, etc.  The qualified cars are arranged from
fastest to slowest among that day's qualifiers.  In this way, faster
cars will sometimes end up behind slower cars.

Pole Day is the first day of qualifying which has traditionally given
the Pole Sitter.  The car on pole position can still be bumped from the
field, but it is not very likely.  In this case, pole position would go
to the fastest car from the second qualifying day.

If a car is "bumped" from the field.  The new qualifier (car) will be 
inserted into the starting field based on the speed and the day that the 
car qualified - it does not take over the position of the bumped car.

If someone starts the race in a car that was qualified by another driver, 
they start from the back of the grid.

10-4  How big is the track at Indy ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a 2-5 mile square oval.  The
straights are 50 feet wide.  Two of the straights are 3,300 ft long,
the other two are 660 ft long.  There are four turns, each of which is
1,320 feet long 60 feet wide tarmac.  The 2-5 mile circuit is measured
3 feet from the inside white line.  The turns are banked at 9 degrees
and 12 minutes.  Eleven three car rows start the Indy 500.

10-5  Qualifying for other IndyCar Races
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Qualifying takes place in two sessions over two days on the Friday and
Saturday before race Sunday.  Each session is split into two halves,
the "slow" half and the "fast" half.  All drivers in each half can go
out any time they want to, so more than one car will be on the track at
a time. Timing is handled electronically by a sensor in the car.  On
Friday, "slow" and "fast" drivers are determined by order of finish in
last week's race.  On Saturday, they are determined by Friday's times
(thus it's possible to run in the "slow" group on one day and the
"fast" group on the other).  Drivers are ordered on the grid in order
of the fastest time they were able to turn in their qualifying
sessions.  Thus, the pole winner will always have turned the fastest
lap, unlike the Indy 500 where this is not guaranteed.


11    POINTS SYSTEMS

11-1  How does the F1 points system work?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first six finishers get 10, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points respectively.
Pole position and fastest laps get no extra points.  All 16 races count
towards the drivers and constructors championship.  

FOCA gives subsidised travel for the top ten teams.  The exact value of
this as well as the prize money for the teams is a closely-guarded
secret.  For the first half of the season, the teams are chosen by the
previous year's constructors championship.  From the ninth race
onwards, the results from the last half of the previous season are
combined with those from the first half of the current season.

11-2  How does the IndyCar points system work?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finish Points       Finish Points       Finish Points                 Points
   1     20            5     10            9      4       Pole position    1
   2     16            6      8           10      3       Led most laps    1
   3     14            7      6           11      2
   4     12            8      5           12      1

The extra points for pole position and leading the most laps can both
go to the same driver.  For this reason you sometimes see a driver
conquering 22 points, which means, he won the race (20), got the pole
(1) and led for more laps (1). 

12    MISCELLANEOUS

12-1  What are the IndyCar flag rules ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blue flag with the yellow stripe (stationary): displayed to slower cars 
indicating that a faster car is attempting to pass. It is NOT a move over 
command on road courses (not sure what it means on ovals). It is merely
advisory, although drivers can be called in for not checking their mirrors. 

Yellow flag (stationary): displayed when there is a car stopped off
line. it is also displayed at the flag station prior to waving yellows
as a "backup". There is no passing allowed from the flag to the incident.

Yellow flag (waving): displayed when there is great danger such as a car 
stopped on the line (or just about anywhere on the pavement at a natural 
terrain road course). Again, no passing until you pass the incident. 

Double stationary yellow: displayed on road courses indicating a full
course caution.

Yellow flag with red stripes (stationary) (aka surface flag, debris flag, 
hazard flag or oil flag): displayed when there is oil, water, debris, 
etc on the course. Anything that could create a hazard.  Normally kept up 
for 1 lap until everyone has seen it, then it is dropped.

Black flag (from designated black flag station and the bridge): displayed 
when they want the driver to report immediately to his/her pit. Reasons 
vary from rule infractions to a mechanical problem that requires immediate 
attention.  If the black flag is displayed from all corner stations, the 
session/race is red flagged and immediately ends until the course condition 
that causes the red is cleared.

White flag (waving from a corner station): displayed when a safety
truck is between that station and the next station.  White flag
(stationary) is displayed at the station prior to the waving white. It
is also displayed for 2 stations for a slow moving race vehicle. The
white flag is waved from the bridge indicating last lap.

Checkered flag: displayed at the end of the race.

Green flag (from the bridge): starts or restarts a race. 

Green flag (from a corner station): displayed if its been waving yellow for 
more than a lap. 

Red flag: displayed only from the bridge to stop a session or a race.


12-2  Andretti vs Mansell
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In 1993, Michael Andretti was faced with an unfamiliar car which was
reported to be tricky to drive.  He did relatively little testing.  He had
little time to learn many of the circuits on the race weekends.  Whether
his lack of success was due to a combination of these factors or from a
lack of talent has been debated at length.

In 1993, Nigel Mansell was faced with an unfamiliar car which was well
sorted.  Apparently it was comparatively easy to drive on ovals, where
Mansell was most successful.  He was able to do a lot of test miles.
He had little time to learn some of the circuits, and struggled at some
of these.  Whether his success was due to a combination of these factors
or from his talent alone has also been debated at length.

12-3  What are the pros and cons of gravel traps, tyre walls, armco & walls?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When a car leaves the circuit, the aim is to slow it down as smoothly
as possible to reduce the peak deceleration on the driver.  The car and
debris should also be kept out of the way from the oncoming traffic if
at all possible.  The kinetic energy of a car is proportional to its
weight and to the square of its velocity.  

The physics of the situation is comparatively simple.  Generally a fit
driver can survive 50G impact if they are well restrained and so long
as it doesn't last for too long To slow a driver from 185MPH without
exceeding 50G, the shortest time in which you can stop the car 1/6th of
a second (185mph=82 m/s / 490 m/s/s) which takes a minimum of 22 feet
(82/2/6=6-8m).  It doesn't much matter what you crash into, as long as
the driver is protected from intrusions and that crucial 50G is not
exceeded.  Realistically, whatever you hit is not going to slow you
uniformly, so you need to spread it out even more.

There are different ways to slow the cars, some of which are better for
some types of accident.  The optimum solution for one type of vehicle
might be very bad for another.  

Large grass run-off areas are cheap and easy to maintain and are one of
the best solutions for motorbike accidents.  However, they mean that the
areas for spectators have to be set back a long way from the track.
They are obviously not an option at street circuits.

Gravel traps are commonly used on Formula One circuits.  They work very
well for single seat racing cars and motorbikes.  However, they are not
so effective for heavy saloon cars, as in NASCAR, where there is a lot
more energy to lose in an accident.  Gravel traps are useless when a
car gets airborne.  They also trap cars that stray into them so that
marshalls will not be able to push cars away from dangerous positions.
This means that tow trucks or cranes have to be available for each and
every race which makes them an expensive solution for a long circuit -
a problem if you want to run low budget racing series at a profit.  If
a car manages to rejoin the track after visiting a gravel trap, the
circuit may get covered with gravel.

Tyre walls are a cheap way of cushioning walls.  They work well for low
to medium speed crashes, but if a car hits one at high speed, it can be
bounced back onto the circuit, possibly into the following cars.  The
car may also get snagged on the tyres and get thrown into violent spins
and rolls which may launch debris towards the spectators.  High speed
crashes may also dislodge tyres from the wall into the oncoming
traffic.  This problem can be solved by using water-filled barriers
instead of tyre walls like at Mickey Thompson stadium off-road races.
Another alternative is a large block of expanded polystyrene.  These are
easy to move around for temporary circuits.

Armco and concrete walls are good where cars hit them at a shallow angle - 
on a super-speedway for instance.  The aim is not to absorb the whole of
the impact, but to deflect the car back along the track to lose speed 
slowly.  They are bad when a car hits them at a sharp angle.  The worst
accidents on super-speedways occur when a driver tries to correct oversteer
by steering towards the wall.  If he regains grip, he gets sent into the
wall at a sharp angle which then causes a series of violent spins and rolls.
Armco (crash barriers) can absorb some impact.  However, the barrier is 
still solid around the supporting posts.  Sometimes, single seat racing
cars have been able to "submarine" underneath the barrier which causes a
very rapid deceleration.  Both types of barrier are bad for motorbike 
accidents.

Catch fencing was used for a while in the 1970s.  Stretches of wire netting
was strung between lightly fixed posts.  They worked well for closed wheel
cars, but if the nose of a single seater dipped underneath the fencing,
the drivers neck was left in a very exposed position.  They were particularly
dangerous for motorbike accidents.

If adequate crash protection cannot be provided at a corner, the track can 
be modified - to allow extra run-off area or to slow the cars with a chicane.

12-4  Where can I send condolences to the Family of Ayrton Senna ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Milton & Neide Senna da Silva
Rua Dr. Jose Manuel # 67 17mo andar
Sao Paulo, S.P.
BRAZIL   0123200

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The rec.autos.sport FAQ                                      rasfaq@bath.ac.uk

