Diane Holl, Chief Engineer with Della Penna Motorsports, confers with rookie CART driver Norberto Fontana. The #10 Della Penna Motorsports Toyota/Reynard Champ car runs in the CART series.

Instead of sensors recording individual wheel load, steering wheel force, vehicle roll, rake, and other key parameters, visual surveillance served as the primary performance tracker.

"In the 1960s, it wasn't unusual to see a person - facing aft - strapped to the roll cage watching the suspension," said Paul Metzger, Engineer in Charge of Data Acquisition for Team Rahal, represented by Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) rookie Kenny Brack (driver of #8 Shell/Ford/Reynard) and Max Papis (driver of #7 Miller/Ford/Reynard). "Even a couple of years ago, data acquisition was different than what it is today. Now it's done real-time, but not that long ago things like tire pressure were checked manually. If front tire pressure was up two or three psi, that meant the car was pushing or scrubbing across the pavement more than it should."

Today, data-acquisition systems record an array of information "to allow educated decisions in a timely fashion," said Randy Gibson, data acquisition technician for the #10 Della Penna Motorsports team supporting rookie CART driver Norberto Fontana.

Drivers respect data acquisition's role. "It's important," said Adrian Fernandez, an eight-year CART veteran and driver of the #40 Tecate/Quaker State/Ford/Reynard/Patrick Racing car. "It doesn't give you the answers; it gives you the tool to find the answers." Teammate Roberto Moreno, #20 Visteon/Ford/Reynard/Patrick Racing, concurred: "It (data acquisition) means a lot. We know what the car is doing on the track, and we can compare it to other situations."

Real-time data inputs (telemetry) cover such aspects as shock absorber position, steering position, throttle position, wheel speeds, and engine functions (e.g., rpm, oil pressure, water pressure). "The amount of information we can pass real-time from vehicle to pit crew is limited by bandwidth, so we have to be selective in the information we want to be real-time," said Metzger.

Other inputs, such as information about new suspension geometry or aerodynamic alterations, are captured during testing laps and downloaded for review. "We can look at very finite car moments - like left and right rear wheel speed to see if one tire is spinning, or to see if one tire is getting more traction. Such information is downloaded from the vehicle rather than being tracked real-time," says Metzger.

A data-acquisition system can provide the crew with a check and balance to a driver's comments. "A driver is talking about what he remembers while he's still running on adrenaline," Gibson, a former IndyLights driver, said. "Using the data-acquisition information, you can go back and say, 'In turn five it looked like the car wanted to step out on you.' You can use the data acquisition to gather more (detailed) information from the driver."

The 3.77 km (2.34-mi) temporary raceway on Detroit's Belle Isle typically sees drivers shifting 35 times through the straight-aways and14 turns. Because the Tenneco Automotive Detroit Grand Prix race on Belle Isle is a street course only during race weekend, drivers and crew rely heavily on data acquisition.

Early laps at the 2000 Detroit Grand Prix found Brack taking turns 7-8-9-10 in second gear as well as in third gear. To help determine which gear best-suited Brack's driving style, the crew utilized data acquisition. "It made clear a decision as to which gear was better, which is the whole crux of what we do as race engineers - analyze data to make well-informed decisions," said Metzger.

For the 2000 CART season, Diane Holl - the only woman race team engineer in all of motorsports - oversees race car setup, which she described as "a cookbook of how a car is made up - suspension geometry, gear ratios, shocks and springs, and aerodynamic specifications." Holl is Chief Engineer with Della Penna Motorsports. The 36-year-old's resume includes other CART engineering roles as well as design engineer stints with Formula One teams Barnard Design, Benetton, and Ferrari.

Practice laps start with the expected best race car set-up given the track type (e.g., street, oval) and modifications to the track (if any) since the previous year. Remaining practice and qualifying sessions provide Holl and crew with information for tweaking the setup of the #10 VideoMatch/Toyota/Reynard/Della Penna Motorsports race car driven by Fontana. Although Fontana had notched several wins in open-wheel competitions in Europe and Japan, (including Argentine National Karting Championship and German Formula 3 Championship) the Argentina native had never driven a CHAMP car before the 2000 CART FedEx Championship Series. "He had no U.S. driving experience, and didn't do the feeder (circuits) either. He also had not driven on ovals. He's had a tough period to start (in CART)," said Holl.

But a rookie's track report - like comments from a veteran race car driver - provide important information. "Often the driver's body language - especially with a rookie - tells you lots more than just what he says," explained Holl, adding, "That's why a lot of great race engineers have gray hair. They don't over-react and make rash changes because often it's not required."

Just as a driver's impression on race-car responsiveness can be hard to interpret ("It takes a while to get on the same wavelength with a driver," said Holl), data acquisition can be a complex information source. "Looking at the data and deciphering what it means - that's the biggest hurdle," said Mike Kidder, Director of Marketing with Altair Engineering, a Michigan-based company providing software and product consultation.

Effectively using data acquisition and driver comments can give a race team an edge.

Team Rahal (owned and operated by three-time CART champion Bobby Rahal and CBS "Late Show" host David Letterman) and technology partner Altair Engineering view suspension geometries through computer simulation. "Until recently, race teams didn't have the money for loads of computer engineering tools. Now, because of lower costs and because the technology has matured to a point where there's a lot of reliability in the results, computer simulation is being utilized," said Kidder.

Race-car body dynamics are put under the cyberspace microscope with Altair Engineering's MotionView software. "It helps us determine what the car will do with different suspension configurations so we can optimize performance," Metzger said. "We have used this (simulation tool) quite a bit this year, and it has helped us get a better handle on suspension geometry."

Evaluation tools are part of the race team. "The adage that a team wins a race is really true," said Holl.

Learn more about technologies used in the world of racing by attending the SAE Motorsports Engineering Conference and Exposition in Dearborn Nov. 13-16. For information on the conference, visit www.sae.org.

Kami Buchholz

AEI September 2000
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