Motorsport "in the law" or how to get around the regulations without violations

There have always been scammers in motorsport, because racing is just a reflection of the world we live in. In the words of three-time NASCAR champion Darrell Watletrip - If you're not cheating, then you're an idiot. If you cheat but don't get caught, then you're a hero. But if you are caught, then you are a fool!


Motorsport knows many examples of cheating, but it makes no sense to once again talk about the “lead ballast of the Tyrrell team in 1984”, the power of the Ferrari power plant that appeared in 2019 from nowhere, or even figure out whether “traction control” was used on the Benetton B194 is boring and trite - all these stories have already been told more than once, and there really were violations of the regulations. Or they were not, as in the case of Benetton and Ferrari nothing could be proved.

Today's story features creative "scammers" who managed to gain an advantage over their rivals and at the same time formally do not break anything! Their equipment passed all the checks of the inspecting authorities, and even after the "cheating" was revealed, there was simply nothing to punish these "creative people" for! All the examples below can be attributed not even to cheating, but to an alternative view of the rules.

Henry "Smokey" Unique

For connoisseurs of overseas NASCAR series, Smokey is synonymous with cheating in auto racing. What tricks he did not go to, just to get around the regulations! For example, in order to reduce the weight of the car, Unique built bodies for his Chevrolets in 7/8 scale from the real thing. Of course, this has not been proven.



Here is another example. After NASCAR introduced fuel limit rules, Smokey continued to use a large gas tank, and before the control check, he simply stuffed an inflated basketball into it! When measured, the tank contained exactly as much fuel as required by the rules, after which the ball was removed and its volume was occupied by fuel.

Once, representatives of the regulatory authorities removed the gas tank from Yunik's car, but he left them without it! The fact is that a fuel line three and a half meters long was installed on his car. You say that there is nothing unusual in this? And what about the fact that the diameter of the gas line was 5 centimeters? To the bewilderment of the inspectors, Yunik replied that there were no instructions in the rules about its diameter! Thus, Smokey Unique's car got extra fuel for the race, and could go longer at full throttle!

"Lord of the Rings"

At the beginning of the nineties, a new leader appeared in the DTM - Audi. A powerful V8 engine and four-wheel drive allowed the Ingolstadt Express to beat BMW and Mercedes-Benz two years in a row, in 1990 and 1991. But the rivals were not going to sit idly by. Do you think they also prepared V8 engines? What more! They pushed for Audi all-wheel drive cars to increase the minimum weight to 1290 kilograms, while their cars weighed 980.



In response, Ingolstadt engineers decided to further increase engine power, for which it was decided to abandon the "cruciform" crankshaft of the crossplane type, in favor of the "flat" - flatplane. With this configuration, the engine has more options for boosting at maximum speed. But such crankshafts were not mass-produced in Ingolstadt, and they were not on homologation machines either. At first, Audi managed to convince the management of the series that this is the same crankshaft, they just “straightened” it, but the result of such a creative approach was the disqualification of the team, and right during the season!

For the sake of justice, I note: by that time, the Audi V8 quattro DTM could no longer compete with the upgraded Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evo2 and BMW M3 Sport Evolution.

Gordon Murray

Genius, and one of the main innovators in motorsport! His "feather" belongs to such outstanding designs as: McLaren MP4 / 4 Honda and Brabham BT55 "low rider". It was Murray who first discovered the ground effect, and used "carbon brakes".

But Gordon also had a dark side. After all, it was he who invented the “cooling fan” that creates a ground effect under the bottom of the Brabham BT46B. Formally, the car passed all the checks, because the main function of this "propeller" was really the cooling of the engine radiators!

But it's still flowers. In 1981, after mini-skirts were banned in Formula 1, the downforce of the cars dropped significantly. At the same time, the profile of the bottom with Venturi tunnels was allowed to be used, a sort of half-measure to satisfy the Federation, and not ruin the teams.



Of course, in this configuration, the ground effect "leaked" to the sides, and this had to be put up with. Everyone thought so, except for Gordon Murray, who installed a hydropneumatic wheel suspension on the Brabham BT49C, similar to the one that had been used in Citroen for several decades, though in a passive version.

Now, when driving at high speeds, under the influence of downforce on the car, the suspension “deflated”, respectively, the car “lay belly” on the asphalt - and short “micro-skirts” reached the ground, providing a ground effect! When the speed was reduced, the suspension occupied its original position, after which the Brabham BT49 passed all FISA tests. The result of a creative approach was the champion title of Nelson Piquet.

Turbo tank

In 2003, Ford decided to follow in Toyota's footsteps by playing around with turbocharging. A 45-liter boost tank made of titanium appeared under the rear bumper of the Ford Focus.



Why this was necessary - information for reflection: when revving, turbocharged engines experience a delay: “turbolag” or “turbo lag”. But when the "gas" is released, the turbocharger, on the contrary, continues to force air into the intake manifold by inertia, so that the engine does not "break", excess pressure is released into the atmosphere through the "blow-off" or "pop-off" valve.

Turbolag is a significant disadvantage of turbo engines, which has to be put up with. Of course, engineers are trying to smooth out this effect, for example, using the anti-lag system. But what if we try to save this “discharged” air and send it directly to the engine during acceleration? Profit!

I do not presume to say that this is exactly what the engineers of the Ford rally team thought, but in the end they implemented just such an option!

Now, when the “gas” was released, the turbocharger pumped air into a special cylinder installed under the rear bumper of the car. Accordingly, during acceleration, this air was supplied to the engine, helping to overcome the turbo lag. According to some estimates, the "turbo tank" increased engine power by 5%.

And although this method did not violate any points of the technical regulations: all the air entering the engine passed through a 34 mm restrictor at the inlet, and this system passed all the FIA ​​checks, after three stages it was banned.

Nicknamed "The Beast": Penske PC23

Indianapolis 500, 1994 The Penske team gained an advantage over their rivals in engine power: the Mercedes-Benz 500i developed 1024 horses, while the Ford Cosworth and “regular” Chevy-Ilmor engines produced no more than 800!

How did the Penske-Mercedes team manage to achieve such a handicap? It's all about the ability to carefully read the technical regulations.

Backstory: In the 2.65s, the IndyCar, in addition to Ford and Chevy-Ilmor's 8-liter turbo V3.43s, featured Buick's 6-liter "stock-block" VXNUMXs with OHV valves. In order for them to compete with real racing DOHCs, they were given some relaxations in the regulations, in particular, they were allowed to use more boost pressure, and of course a larger displacement.



In the early nineties, now for Buick-Menard, they made another concession, canceling the requirement for the mandatory use of serial cylinder blocks. It was this loophole that Penske-Mercedes took advantage of! Mario Illien developed a 1024 horsepower V8 pushrod with a working volume of 3.43 liters - on the straights in qualifying, the Penske PC23 pilots reached a speed of 420 km / h!

With such power, Penske simply destroyed its competitors. Formally, this car, or rather its engine, fully complied with all the points of the current technical regulations. But "Mercede Zaurus" never again came to the start of the race, as the raging competitors demanded that this engine be banned, which was done.

Behind the scenes, there are many other similar examples, such as the Lotus double chassis, Renault “mass dampers”, flexible rear wings, and the “spring” bottom. It is probably even impossible to list all the cases, but they all have one thing in common: these controversial decisions fully complied with the “letter of the rules” and passed the necessary checks, although they did not correspond to them in “spirit”.