Rally Guanajuato México 2015

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Ostberg / Citroen on Rally Mexico:

Mads Ostberg is welcoming a return to gravel for the World Rally Championship and warns the slightest error could be costly at the third round in Mexico.

The Citroen Total Abu Dhabi team says it has made significant upgrades during the off-season to the DS 3 WRC's engine, transmission, chassis, suspension and aerodynamics which will combat the tricky conditions of Rally Guanajuato Mexico.

The rally is runs over 1,800 metres above sea-level and often in very hot temperatures, providing an almost opposition challenge to the snow in Sweden last time out.

“I'm pleased to be back on gravel for this third event,” Ostberg said. “Rally Mexico is a great course and I have always been competitive on the stages here. It's good to be back in Leon and leave the Norwegian winter behind!

“I love the local culture, the welcome and the atmosphere you get around the rally. Last year, I held the overall lead for part of the rally. But it's difficult to get the balance perfectly right – you therefore need to adjust your driving style to counter the effects of the altitude.”

Mexico represents are relatively happy hunting ground for Ostberg, who won five stages last season in the DS 3 WRC and lead between SS3 and SS9 before slipping away and eventually finishing ninth.

“The secret is to be even more focussed than usual, because the slightest error can prove very costly,” Ostberg said. “And with less engine power, it is almost impossible to make up the time lost by a minor mistake. The stages are flowing, fast and not too rough.

“We're going to see how the upgrades to our DS 3 WRC respond on gravel. It will allow us to check whether the team's hard work has paid off and to continue to learn for the rest of the season. We are going to do our best, avoid making any mistakes and adopt a good rhythm so we are on the pace.”

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Recent Meeke interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0Jcq89dgAI

[rayh_mx]

Official APP Rally Guanajuato Mexico 2015
iOS

Android

[janvanvurpa]

I am confused...not an unusual thing really, but all these people referring to significant power loss from the moderate altitude that Dubya Arsey Mexico runs at makes me wonder ifall these people have forgotten that one the WRC cars there is something very much like this:


I userstand that there is ever so slightly less air at 1700m and maybe if all the cars were normally aspirated I would understand better...But many of them have those funny things...and the cars have MAP sensors..At altitude if there is "less air" and less barometric pressure, the ECU should be controlling the wastegate to spin the little turbos a bit faster---and compensate for the "less air" in the ambient environment by stuffing in around 17-18% more air, and then to the motor, its happy as a pig in the mud...

Maybe if I had not grown up in and around aircraft that operated from sea level to 8000m and had nice clear explanations of how the 2 stage superchargers worked so the engine made maximum power at very high altitudes..
For some simple reading on this look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Merlin

A.C. Lovesey, an engineer who was a key figure in the design of the Merlin, delivered a lecture on the development of the Merlin in 1946; in this extract he explained the importance of the supercharger:

"The impression still prevails that the static capacity known as the swept volume is the basis of comparison of the possible power output for different types of engine, but this is not the case because the output of the engine depends solely on the mass of air it can be made to consume efficiently, and in this respect the supercharger plays the most important role ... the engine has to be capable of dealing with the greater mass flows with respect to cooling, freedom from detonation and capable of withstanding high gas and inertia loads ... During the course of research and development on superchargers it became apparent to us that any further increase in the altitude performance of the Merlin engine necessitated the employment of a two-stage supercharger."^[29]

They know how to compensate and max power so long ago, have all these people forgotten? Or believe we have never heard of how turbo (and superchargers0 do this?

I have raced at 1700-1800m in a sport just a weeee bit more physically challenging and much longer duration, and with n.a. motors.. I assure you I suffered more than the engine.

What's the big que paso?

[Munkvy]

Perhaps its due to the map limits? They are only allowed to run 2.5 bar from memory, so if they are already at that, they can't stuff more air into the engines?

[stefanvv]

I am confused...not an unusual thing really, but all these people referring to significant power loss from the moderate altitude that Dubya Arsey Mexico runs at makes me wonder ifall these people have forgotten that one the WRC cars there is something very much like this:


I userstand that there is ever so slightly less air at 1700m and maybe if all the cars were normally aspirated I would understand better...But many of them have those funny things...and the cars have MAP sensors..At altitude if there is "less air" and less barometric pressure, the ECU should be controlling the wastegate to spin the little turbos a bit faster---and compensate for the "less air" in the ambient environment by stuffing in around 17-18% more air, and then to the motor, its happy as a pig in the mud...

Maybe if I had not grown up in and around aircraft that operated from sea level to 8000m and had nice clear explanations of how the 2 stage superchargers worked so the engine made maximum power at very high altitudes..
For some simple reading on this look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Merlin


They know how to compensate and max power so long ago, have all these people forgotten? Or believe we have never heard of how turbo (and superchargers0 do this?

I have raced at 1700-1800m in a sport just a weeee bit more physically challenging and much longer duration, and with n.a. motors.. I assure you I suffered more than the engine.

What's the big que paso?

May be they just need to do different ECU mapping and handle some overheating due to the bigger volume of air flow?!?

[Criterium]

If you are limited in air volume by the restrictor and in turbo pressure (relative, not absolute) you can't easily change the air pressure in the cylinder. A easy way to cope with this sad situation for sport and spectacle could be to allow higher restrictor diameter and slightly higher tubo pressure for this round. But it seems a too simple solution for FIA policy makers.
For info the course runs between 1800 and 2737m.

[A FONDO]

Why should the power be like in other events? Actually it is better here. If you lose momentum it is more difficult to recover so if you drive cleverly, you will be rewarded and who drives careless will be punished.

[Criterium]

- We can't say that power is overabundant elsewhere.
- The work on mapping that allows some manufacturer(s) to limit the loss is so expensive, creating significant inequalities.
In French we say "Tout ça pour si peu"...

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Service Park alreday taking shape...