FS Hungary Report - August 2011
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After seeing the true potential of the iFOUR11 in Silverstone, prospects appeared good for a high ranking finish at the Hungarian Formula Student event. In the three week interlude after the Silverstone competition, a new wiring had been constructed, and the car was given a good lick of paint, as well as a mechanical seeing to, to ensure it was fit to compete.
The road trip to Hungary took two days, with an overnight stay in Germany ensuring team HARE were fresh for the Hungarian leg of the tour. Upon arrival at the competition, the car was unloaded, and the pits set-up. Having experienced the chaos of the Silverstone event, the juxtaposed calm of the Hungarian competition seemed unusual, but gave the team time to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather, as well as stroll around the pits to inspect the competition.
Thursday saw an uneventful scrutineering session, in which the car passed once again, this time with no infringements whatsoever. The brakes were bled ready for the braking test on Friday, and the car was taken onto the test area to ensure there were no niggles. The tilt test was also passed first time, ensuring there were no hold-ups for Fridays test events.
Friday hosted the brake test, in which the car must accelerate for a given distance, then brake hard. The test is passed if all four wheels lock, and despite some questionable judging, the iFOUR11 passed, allowing entry to the dynamic events. Friday also hosted the static events, namely the design and cost competitions. Having secured relatively high rankings in these competitions in Silverstone, with the world’s elite race teams present, the team couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed with a 14th place in the design competition, however 2nd in the cost event, and the lightning quick performance of the iFOUR11 in the test area, meant the team moral remained high, and sights were aimed to set the track alight in the forthcoming dynamic events.
Saturday morning arrived, and the mood in the team HARE camp was one of concern. In the morning’s engine test session, a strange intermittent fault appeared to hinder the previously smooth running CBR 600 engine. Upon closer inspection of the engines electronic control module, it appeared the engine was attempting to continuously lean out the air/fuel mixture entering the cylinders, until the engine stalled. Diagnostics began instantly, with solutions suggested and implemented, but to no avail. It appeared the problems of Silverstone had come back to haunt the iFOUR11! The dynamic events loomed, and as time was running out to enter, the decision was made to run the car in the events as it was, and ensure at least some points were gained.
The acceleration event was first, with Ben Johansson taking the wheel. The first run seemed steady, with no obvious faults, but the acceleration was not as savage as had previously been seen. The second attempt resulted in the car ‘bogging’ at the start line, leaving Ben a passenger, as the car spluttered and jolted down the 100m straight. It would be down to Dominic Lines to maximise the cars potential in the second round of acceleration runs.
Dom listened to the feedback Ben had to give about how the car was behaving, and a plan of attack was decided upon; Dom crept the car up to the starting line, the engine appearing momentarily settled. The green flag was raised, and the engine screamed into life. At the drop of the flag, Dom dumped the clutch, the rear tyres screeching into life, accompanied by a short poof of smoke. The iFOUR11 tore through first and second gear, and with just ten metres to go, Dom reached for third gear, to be greeted with the un-cooperative engine that had plagued Bens run. The car crossed the light gates in a time of 4.1 seconds, a very respectable time, but once again, fell short of it’s full potential. Dom’s second run was again blighted by engine trouble, resulting in a non-competitive time. The acceleration test was won by Metropolia Motorsport, with a time of 3.678 seconds, the Huddersfield car finishing 14th.
The following event was the skid pan, which aimed to test a vehicles cornering ability. Cones were set out in a figure of eight pattern. The car entered the figure of eight where the two circles intersected, and was timed completing one circle in one direction, and the other circle in the opposite direction. An average of the times was taken from the two circles, and the resulting time was posted. As the event did not require excessive acceleration, the car seemed to complete the event with no engine difficulties for either driver. The best posted time was 5.059 seconds, placing us in 5th position.
After competing in both the events, the car was rushed back to the pits for in depth analysis as to what could be causing the intermittent engine problems. It was clear that if the car was to enter a competitive time in the sprint event that afternoon, the fault with the engine must be found. The problems were pointing towards fuel starvation, and with no means of measuring the fuel pressure, it was with trepidation that the fuel pump was slowly unsecured from its mounting, the whole team gathered round to see the first glimpse of the pump. Unveiled, it left no doubt as to the cause of the problem; the connecting hose which was attached via a jubilee clip was able to partially slip off under pressure. This explained the intermittent nature of the fault, and its tendency to appear only under harsh acceleration. A new hose was quickly connected, and the fuel pump placed back into the tank. The daylight was drawing in, and with it, the chance to set a time in the sprint event. Whilst the team readied the car, Scott and Darren prepared themselves for a last minute entry into the sprint event. The organisers were calling time on our preparation, and with 4 minutes to spare before the event officially closed, the iFOUR11 was heaved out of the pits once more, and pointed towards the start line, the team following in its wake to the sound of the other teams clapping and cheering, obviously appreciative of the massive effort the team had made to fix the car in time. With the whole paddock spectating, the key was turned in the ignition, and met with the throaty sound of the 600cc CBR engine, waiting to be unleashed. Scott was the first to drive, placing the car on the start line, before executing a textbook launch control start, followed by a blistering lap. A quick change-over was performed, as Scott jumped out of the car, allowing Darren to attempt the circuit. Once again the launch was fantastic, followed by a solid lap. The best time of the run went to Darren, with a time of 44.274 seconds. This set us up to run in the third group of the endurance event on Sunday. An achievement which put us in high hopes for a strong finish.
Sunday
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Sunday morning saw the race preparation of the iFOUR11, with the usual bolt and radio transmission checks, along with a new set of Hoosier tyres. The team were confident, and keen to get the car on the track, but all the team were surprised to hear the call to prepare the car for its run. The time allocation was over an hour away, but the gruelling endurance event had claimed so many victims, competitors were in short supply. The team jumped at the chance, and pushed the car to the engine warm-up area. More and more cars were pulling aside due to engine failure, the extreme heat exploiting any weaknesses. Scott was the first to drive, and all appeared well, pulling up to the start line. The green flag dropped, and the iFOUR11 shot into action. The car immediately outperformed the competition, reminiscent of its performance in Silverstone. Radio transmissions from the pit wall kept the driver abreast of his lap times, and any incidents he may need to look out for. The fastest lap of the day was set by the iFOUR11 on Scott’s fourth lap of 42 seconds, over 3 seconds quicker than the nearest rival at the time. All appeared well approaching the half way mark. Darren had prepared himself, ready to take over from Scott. The car turned onto the final straight of the lap, accelerator pedal pinned to the front bulkhead, then disaster struck…With a dull thud, and plooms of smoke from the engine, the iFOUR11 lost all power. Scott almost instantly pulled off the track, obviously sensing the damage to the engine was terminal, but the drama was not over. As the car slowed to a stop, the carbon fibre under-tray set alight. The radio call came through, ‘FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!’ Scott leapt from the car, as the race marshals rushed to put out the now substantial fire. Scott was taken to the circuit medical centre to be checked out, but was found only to be suffering from extreme frustration.
After the event had finished, teams were allowed to collect their vehicles from the track. Upon inspection of the iFOUR11, it was found a catastrophic engine failure was to blame for the retirement, the con rod making a bid for freedom, and exiting via the crank case. It is thought that this was a result of a combination of factors, including the engine running lean in both Silverstone and Hungary, causing localised overheating in the cylinder, coupled with the slightly higher than desired mileage of the engine, which had already seen race action, and that the mounting of the engine in a car changes the oil circulation within the engine, as it is always horizontal, compared to its designed implementation, in a bike, where the oil is always flung to the sump when cornering. The upshot was oil starvation of one of the con rod bearings, which overheated and eventually failed.
Once again, the team had experienced a roller-coaster ride of emotions, this time ending with the disappointment of early retirement, resulting in a 17th place finish from 28 teams. Despite this, the moral of the team remained high, and it was felt a good account of the only British team was given. Within hours, focus had turned from the days events to possible design features of the new 2012 vehicle!
