TC Lite will consist of two tiers – TCL4 and TCL5 – whose cars will be built to the same parameters as existing Rally4 and Rally5 machinery. This could open the door for manufacturers to build one car that that is easily adaptable for both circuit and rallying applications, saving on the need for separate development programmes. Current Rally4 cars include the Peugeot 208, Ford Fiesta, Opel Corsa and Renault Clio.

The main Rally4 and Rally5 regulations will remain unchanged, but an appendix will detail the modifications that can make a car eligible for each stage of TC Lite. The new two-part touring car platform will sit beneath TCR in the global touring car hierarchy.

The FIA has stated that adaptations for TC Lite will be ‘kept to a minimum’ for cost control reasons, while competitors will be provided a ‘level playing field’ that has not yet been fully defined. The minimum weight of cars will be adjusted to factor in the removal of specialist rally equipment such as spare wheels, handheld fire extinguishers and other tools.

TC Lite cars will require the use of safety netting around the driver. The co-driver’s seat may be retained or replaced with equivalent ballast. Cars will use slick racing tyres, rather than the treaded tyres required for rallying.

‘Introducing a pyramid structure to touring car racing is something that has been our aim for quite a while,’ said FIA Touring Car Commission president Alan Gow. ‘TCR is a proven customer racing platform that works well both in national-level series and in world-level touring car racing. However, we have been missing an accessible entry-level platform. The introduction of the TC Lite ruleset fills that gap.

‘Having the very same cars in rallying and touring car racing has plenty of benefits – it is cost-effective, sustainable, provides the competitors with a level playing field and creates opportunities for more available seat time. At the same time, the manufacturers and their customer racing programmes will be able to grow their business as the market of these cars will naturally broaden.’

TCL4 will sit above TCL5 in the touring car pyramid. The quicker cars will have a power-to-weight ratio of approximately 5.1kg/bhp while the TCL5s will produce around 6kg/bhp. Both categories permit both naturally aspirated and turbocharged engines. TCL4 will allow up to 2-litre NA and 1.3-litre turbos, while TCL5 cars will be 1.6-litre NA and 1.3-litre turbo. Both types of car will shift through a sequential gearbox.

‘The bottom tiers of the FIA Rally Pyramid have proven to be excellent entry-level classes in rallying, therefore broadening the use of these cars and making them compatible with circuit racing makes a lot of sense,’ said FIA Road Sport president Andrew Wheatley. ‘This is a bit like in the group N days when you would sometimes see the same front-wheel-drive cars taking part in different disciplines.

‘This is also good news for drivers at the early stages of their careers who, to develop their skills, look for as much time behind the wheel as possible. Having one car eligible for different types of events offers exactly that. A universal technical platform like this one also has the potential to draw new people to motor sport and – long term – should contribute to increased motor sport participation globally.’

In addition to sharing regulations with Rally5, the TCL5 touring car platform will be open to Rally5-kit cars. This enables National Sporting Authorities to approve cars that have been developed by local tuners. According to the FIA, this will ‘broaden the market’ by allowing local importers to promote certain car models in their domestic market.

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Le Mans requires each vehicle in the Hypercar and LMGT3 classes to be fitted with a torque sensor. The sensor relays data to the the FIA which collects and monitors it, and then investigates cases where the numbers exceed what has been allowed in the Balance of Performance, in terms of maximum power and energy per stint. Torque sensors have been introduced in a handful of categories and the FIA is keen to see how the technology can be further developed.

‘The torque sensor is a very important tool to balance the cars,’ says FIA chief technical and safety officer, Xavier Mestelan Pinon. ‘The power of the engine is a critical point for that. This is why we work with our supplier [MagCanica] since a long time in a few championships. It concerns the WEC, but we are working with such sensors in Formula E, Formula 1 and, in the very near future, cross country.

‘To do that, we work with the mapping of the engine. We are using the dyno for that. Regarding all the atmospheric conditions [and] a lot of [other] factors, it is more or less impossible to be very accurate. Especially in WEC, [the torque sensor] is the best way to have the right frequency regarding what we are looking for, in terms of Balance of Performance. Clearly, the main reason is to balance cars. Or, in other championships, to understand what is happening on the track.

‘The main parameters to balance the cars, which we did with [Le Mans organiser the] ACO, is the aerodynamic capabilities for each car, the power and the weight. For power, if you can measure it properly, [using a torque sensor] is the best way to achieve our goal.’

MagCanica is the predominant torque sensor supplier in motorsport and its FIA-homologated technology is explored in our FREE Le Mans 2024 digital magazine. The American company is the sole supplier of FIA World Endurance Championship cars on a de facto basis, considering the federation hasn’t yet launched a tender process for torque sensor supply in that series. However, the FIA hopes other companies will seek to enter the market and drive the development of torque sensor technology. This is partly due to the different requirements of different racing disciplines, but could also help to reduce costs at a time when manufacturers are particularly sensitive to budget escalation.

‘We are working to be able to propose other suppliers and other technologies,’ states Mestelan Pinon. ‘We think it is something which is important, to challenge our supplier, not only for the costs, but also for the efficiency.’

An example of the torque sensor doing its job occurred in the recent WEC round at Imola, where some cars registered spikes in torque as they jumped over the high kerbs. Multiple manufacturers are known to be operating under the power curve with a degree of cushion, to ensure these spikes don’t go over the curve and lead to penalties. None of them are willing to divulge how far under they are, although it varies from track to track.

‘It’s one of the main topics you have to work on because the better you get this, the quicker you go,’ says BMW M Motorsport director, Andreas Roos. ‘At the end, you more or less get free lap time. The closer you can run to [the power curve], the better you are. Kerb riding, bumpy tracks and so on, need a completely different setting how you run this. It’s much easier on a very smooth track. On a track with the normal road outside, which is in some areas a bit bumpy, it doesn’t help you. On a long straight, you don’t have any spikes because you don’t have any slips. But in the twistier sections, you have to work on it.’

Although every car gets the same torque sensor hardware, the management of power delivery depends on how teams set up their cars, either mechanically or through control systems. Simultaneously, the FIA and MagCanica are continuing to collaborate.

‘We are working with our supplier, MagCanica, to develop and dedicate tools [and] filters to optimise the signal,’ says Mestelan Pinon. ‘In Hypercar or LMGT3, this is something that we manage properly. Especially overloading – sometimes this could be an issue.

‘MagCanica are working deeply on this system to develop specific software, or evolutions regarding the hardware: the shaft or the sensor. It is a very good collaboration. It is something which is easier because it has a wider scope. For example, when we have new software, we can implement it in Formula E and WEC so we can improve all the systems and how we manage them in a faster way.’

Ideally, torque sensors won’t grab headlines because they should do their job in the background, measuring output off the driveshaft. However, they have occasionally been in the news. Their reliability has generally been strong, but they are not always bulletproof, as Toyota and Peugeot discovered during last year’s WEC race at Portimão.

Both encountered torque sensor failures, while Toyota was ordered to pit its leading car for a costly driveshaft change. The afflicted Peugeot wasn’t asked to pit because its failure happened later in the race, and enough torque data had been transmitted to the FIA by that point.

After the Portimão incidents, the FIA and MagCanica worked further on software that enables cars to run in a reduced performance ‘limp home’ mode with the faulty sensor still attached. This was seen in action at last year’s WEC season finale in Bahrain, again on a Toyota GR010 Hybrid. It caused the car’s pace to dip, but at least the Japanese manufacturer was able to avoid a lengthy garage visit.

‘We have specific software to be able to handle that situation,’ explains Mestelan Pinon. ‘It’s something like a backup plan; very different depending on each championship, because we don’t have the same sensors with the same possibilities. But in each situation, we have something to manage it and to be sure that we will not ask a car to stop.

‘Of course, at the very beginning of an event, especially during the first laps, something happens sometimes [and] we ask a car to stop to make a sensor change. But as long as we can avoid that, thanks to our regulation and software we have developed, we do our best to avoid it.’

What does the future hold for torque sensors? Mestelan Pinon is clear in the view that they are too expensive to implement at the grassroots level. However, he also acknowledges that the FIA needs to achieve ‘balance’ with its partners and promoters, such as series that use GT3 cars. GT3 is a customer racing platform, meaning that manufacturers build cars that are purchased and run by private teams. However, the platform has grown so much that it now has a class at Le Mans, where manufacturers are asked to nominate teams to represent them. That begs the question of what is the lowest point at which torque sensors can be applied? And will that bar be moved in the future if more suppliers come forward?

‘If we want to implement this sensor in other championships, we need to know why,’ says Mestelan Pinon. ‘If we do that, it’s to control the performance and the cost of the championship. In WEC, it is to avoid developing crazy technologies regarding the ICE. Same in Formula E, to make sure that everybody has the same power. But also to monitor such topics like traction control. We can do a lot of things with a torque meter.

‘Grassroot categories, for example, are something that is clearly out of the scope. It is too expensive. We don’t need that. We need to consider that, at the end, it’s still a fight between drivers on the track.’

Off-road is a discipline into which torque sensors are set to expand. The FIA is looking at introducing them to the World Rally Championship’s revamped top class in 2027.

Cross country is another receptive discipline; the technology is set to arrive in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (including the Dakar) next year. According to Mestelan Pinon, there is ‘a lot of discussion’ about how to introduce and use torque sensors.

‘Maybe it would make sense to control the power with such a sensor, again to limit the costs,’ he says of the WRC. ‘Today, we can discuss if it is a good solution or not, but for some championships it makes less sense to develop crazy technologies with ICE, and more sense for manufacturers to develop new technologies like hydrogen, EV, hybrid and so on.

‘When we are, for example, working on cross country, the loads are completely different. ‘The range [and] reliability needed is also very different. I am pretty confident to be able to have other technologies and other suppliers in the near future.’

Clearly, torque sensors are a burgeoning technology in motorsport. Whilst they are not a device to be developed by manufacturers to make cars go quicker, they are a valuable tool for series organisers. By monitoring torque output, a better understanding of the field can be garnered, hopefully leading to more accurate BoP decisions and consistently close racing.

The post Inside the FIA’s Approach to Torque Sensors appeared first on Racecar Engineering.

The technical working group will include F1 Chief Technical Officer Pat Symonds, Formula E technical director Mark Grain and FIA Single Seater Director Nikolas Tombazis.

Its stated objective is to ‘monitor the progression and development’ of hydrogen fuel cells and battery systems, along with hydrogen technology as part of the paddock infrastructure.

The Extreme H off-road racing series is gearing up for its first season 2025 — replacing its electric Extreme E forebear also run by the Formula E organisation — and is aiming to become the first FIA World Championship for cars running with hydrogen fuel.

The FIA is developing the technical, sporting and safety regulations for Extreme H.

‘As the governing body for both the FIA Formula 1 World Championship and the upcoming FIA Extreme H Championship in 2025, we welcome this latest collaboration, said Tombazis.

‘The FIA Technical Department has experience and knowhow in the area of hydrogen technology which we will be bring to the Working Group along with sporting, safety and regulatory expertise.

‘As is currently the case across the entire FIA motorsport portfolio, we will take learnings from this collaboration for the benefit of our sport and mobility.’

Extreme H car builder Spark Racing Technology plans to complete the first shakedown of the new hydrogen-fuelled car before the end of this year, although the fuel cell has already been tested on a mule chassis. A comprehensive test programme is planned for 2024.

The car has been developed on learnings from the Odyssey 21, which has been used in the Extreme E series since 2021. This has included adopting a single-seat cockpit design to improve adjustability and driver safety.

Hydrogen technology has been given more attention by global motorsport bodies in recent years. Several manufacturers have taken part in ACO technical working group meetings related to the FIA World Endurance Championship’s planned adoption of hydrogen.

‘Our transition to Extreme H makes us the pioneers and first-ever testbed of hydrogen technology in motorsport – not only in our racing cars, but also transportation, infrastructure, refuelling processes and safety regulations,’ said Grain.

‘It’s a ground-breaking initiative and we look forward to collaborating with Formula 1 and Pat [Symonds] both technically and operationally, as we continue to champion new technologies and break boundaries on behalf of motorsport, with hydrogen at the forefront.’

The new hydrogen working group marks a first consideration of the technology for Formula 1, which has been using hybrid internal combustion engine drive since 2014. However, the formation of the working group does not necessarily mean that F1 has committed to making the hydrogen switch.

‘Our sport has a tradition of bringing new technologies to the forefront of public perception in incredibly short timescales,’ said Symonds.

‘We do this by being open-minded to all solutions and embracing cross-functional engineering.

‘With climate change mitigation at the forefront of everyone’s mind we are committed to promoting sustainability and therefore need to explore all areas of decarbonisation of the mobility sector. This must include sustainable liquid hydrocarbon fuels, electrification and hydrogen.

‘This Working Group enables a collaboration which will allow us to gain first-hand experience and contribute to the understanding and development of the many aspects of hydrogen propulsion that Extreme H will embrace.’

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The FIA has announced technical regulations for a new electric-powered GT car category, which it says will ‘serve as a platform for manufacturers to develop technology relevant to their high-performance road cars.’ 

The electric-powered GT cars will compete at full-length permanent circuits and set new standards for electric vehicles in motorsport in terms of performance and range. The performance will be on par with the current generation of GT3 cars but exceed their combustion engine-powered counterparts in acceleration and qualifying pace.

Class Structure

The technical regulations aim to balance permitting OEMs to promote brand features and develop cutting-edge technology while preventing cost escalation. The category will be open to electric vehicle constructors and manufacturers already committed to the GT3 class. 

Those competing in GT3 are permitted to use their existing GT3 cars’ base architecture and convert them to electric power. Depending on the base model, the car’s minimum weight will vary from 1490 to 1530kg. Setting this weight threshold, the FIA believe, will limit the use of expensive materials.

‘The market for high-performance electric road supercars is on a constant rise; hence electric GT is much needed a platform to allow manufacturers to develop and showcase their technology, says Leena Gade, FIA GT Commission President. ‘Creating these technical regulations has been a key project for the FIA GT Commission over the last eighteen months.’

Powertrain

The new class will be the first FIA series in electric-powered motorsport not to rely on standardised batteries. It will allow for batteries to accommodate any car’s architectures with different scope available to install critical components.

Through a partnership with energy firm Saft, a Total subsidiary, the category will allow manufacturers to build bespoke battery modules based on Saft-supplied cells. Saft has developed custom-made lithium-ion pouch cells optimised for the needs of the new class.

The peak output of the electric-powered GT class will be 430kW. The cells are capable of 700kW peak regen and 700kW fast recharging, enabling them to replenish to 60% of their capacity within a few minutes during a mid-race pit stop. The charging network will be developed to meet the fast charging requirements and, depending on the venue, will include elements of permanent and temporary infrastructure.

Xavier Mestelan Pinon, FIA Technical Director, remarked, ‘The main technical challenges are battery development, battery integration in the cars and fast charging technology. That is crucial to the manufacturers who want to develop road-relevant technology rather than relying on standard components. Also, being able to utilise and adapt the GT3 platform ensures that costs are under control.’

All manufacturers will have the freedom of choosing the powertrain set-ups, comprised of either two or four electric motors, with both two- and four-wheel-drive configurations allowed. Entrants will also be permitted to use torque vectoring (dynamic vehicle control systems to automatically adjust each wheel’s torque independently based on speed, acceleration, traction, and steering angle).

‘GT manufacturers have shown a keen interest in this new category during our Technical Working Groups discussions,’ notes Gade. ‘It also widens the FIA’s GT portfolio, coexisting alongside with GT3, which will remain the focus of the customer racing market worldwide for the time being.’

Sustainability 

The electric-powered GT class alines with the FIA’s long-term vision for sustainable energy based racing across its portfolio of motorsport disciplines. FIA President, Jean Todt, said, ‘The FIA’s vision is to make motorsport a laboratory for sustainable mobility. The announcement of this new electric-powered GT car category is a key milestone serving this goal as it will pave the way for new battery and fast-charging technologies.’

 

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Welcome to the Motorsport Regulations page. Click on the links below to find the latest Sporting and Technical regulations for a wide variety of motorsport categories.

Formula Racing

GT

Prototype

Rally

Rallycross

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Q: Motorsport needs to increase its audience and to do that Formula 1’s new owners have put Entertainment at the ‘top of their list’. Which do you think is more important to focus on – Entertainment of Technology?

‘I don’t feel that entertainment and technology are against each other. As a promoter in any of our championships, they want the championship to be interesting to the last minute, to be spectacular and provide a good show. This is the best way to catch fans and keep them interested, and is generally the case for all sport and all entertainment. What is specific to motorsport is that there is a motor, so you have already technology there. Part of the fan interest is about the cars. It is about the fight, but it is also the beauty of these cars. It is about having spectacular and fast cars, and also anyone of us looking at any kind of race, it is about the engineering of these cars. Why is this one faster, and behaving like this? Part of the show is due to the technology.’

‘There is no antagonism between technology and entertainment, there is just balance for each championship. The costs have to remain in a window that is acceptable. The issue is probably more to have a sustainable model in each formula of motorsport, so to understand what kind of budget makes sense in F1, endurance, GT or touring cars, once you define this, you have to identify the technology within this window.’

Q: How important is it for Motorsport to remain road relevant?

‘In June, I was at a congress on gasoline engines, discussing this with other people, and I understood that at least two big OEMs started a programme on energy recovery on the exhaust, because they knew this was a potential solution. They never had the ability to get the budget to research it. As soon as they said “it’s the system that they use in F1”, they got the budget. This effect of leading has always been so, and I believe that it remains important for our industry and our sport.’

‘The tricky question for us from a technical regulations side is to find a balance between the cost and the maximum technology that you can fit into it for that price,’ says Simon. ‘We are facing some difficulties but we have to find a compromise. The question is simple; we have to find the right balance. It is tricky and you have different opinions, but we have to discuss it at length to find what is reasonable and the right direction. Our approach is to sit down with interested parties rather than say ‘this is the regulation’.’

‘The best engines in F1 are at 50 per cent efficiency, say, but what does this mean? If you had this efficiency on your road car, your consumption would be around two litres per 100km, or something in this range, and that’s spectacular. But how do you translate this to a car that is above 800bhp and 70 per cent of the time under full load? If you try to do this with your car, the fuel consumption will be up, but the efficiency, the fuel you burn for the horsepower you need, is very high. I think some figures can be difficult to explain, while others can be translated. If you speak about fuel consumption in a race, in a lap, or per 100km, it is high because it is very fast, but if you try to go that fast with any other car, it will be at least twice that, and maybe you are as fast. We have to explain it properly so that anybody sensible can understand good performance from a technical point of view.’

Q: How can the FIA attract more Manufacturers to Championships such as WEC?

‘I think that the problem that we may face in many championships, and we face in the endurance championship, is that you discuss the regulation with a small group of manufacturers. Obviously, motor racing means being submitted to the possibilities that an OEM can withdraw from one date to another, some are committing to a long term, and that gives an image of consistency, but each manufacturer has to deal with its own image. When you discuss very hard with the manufacturers about how things should go and then a week later one sends a communique that it will not be present the following year it is not a good situation for anybody and not giving a good message, but that is how it is.’

‘Endurance racing, we have two issues. The first is short term. We have two categories able to race in LMP1, hybrid and non-hybrid. By the way the regulations were designed with two in parallel, there was not a huge consistency between them. For instance, some aero are forbidden for hybrid and accepted for non-hybrid, which is unfair on hybrid; but on fuel consumption, hybrid is favoured, due to combustion plus hybrid. What we have done first, discussing with the ACO but we are taking the lead, is to analyse the fuel efficiency of the different engines, and set a power unit balance. We set it such that this car should have similar performance. I cannot say the same because of the precision of the calculation, but the target was a fair calculation. This is what we have done from September on with a clear view that this is fair and honest with everyone.’

‘Hybrid is our target, with a much simpler system, and just one system, typically a powerful KERS. For now, it is too early to know how far it will be standard or non-standard. We need to discuss this with our manufacturers.

‘We will then extend discussions not only with the manufacturers and the ACO but also with IMSA. The concept is to go to higher identification of the brand. Our proposal is to take our responsibility as a governing body to measure the cars. Let’s imagine that we define it as GT Prototype, so it can come from a road car, developed for a race version, or a racecar that can have a road car version, but that is not needed for us. What will define the car is the dimensions for the windscreen, length and so on. One configuration of bodywork, and we will define an aero efficiency figure that gives the drag figure and load, downforce, that you have. Everyone will have the same frontal area and aero efficiency in a given condition. We already test the GT cars in the wind tunnel to define their aero efficiency. We can be more precise and define one point. To homologate your car you need to be at this point. Once we have done this, we can define such that it will not compromise your design, your efficiency with a car that looks like your brand car. You will do so. We have to define this target figure low enough that you can target some design of the car that fits. You can look at figures of exceptional road cars.’

‘What we believe is that the fact that aero target and efficiency target will be defined and controlled by us, will allow a reasonable running cost because you will not have to invest much in development once the car is homologated. If you look at the cost of the GT3 car, for example, it is quite high but that is not an issue because you have professional organisations that are racing this car every weekend, so it is an investment. It is like a machine tool; you use it to make components, that is not a problem, it is good amortisation. We should think like that, and what is important is that you don’t need to change the machine every race. What is important is that once you have homologated it and the targets of aero and weight and performance of the power unit is set, this is it. Then you open it to the market of the serious privateers.’

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The championship which is due to start in 2017 will feature at least 20 cars and 10 teams, they will contest a 20 – 24 race calendar (2 races per meeting) on at least two continents. These races will either be run as support races for major championships (WEC or F1) or as stand alone events if they are of a high quality (Pau Grand Prix, Birmingham Super Prix etc) on FIA category 2 circuits or better.

The FIA has opened the door for an existing car, perhaps from GP2, Super Formula or World Series (all Dallara’s) to be used as what it calls ’transition cars’. These cars can be used for the first two seasons of the championship before they are replaced by a bespoke set of cars which will in essence be a mini Formula 1 design, even matching the same safety standards.

In the first year that the new cars are homologated (2017, 18 or 19) they will have to meet the same crash test standards as the same years Formula 1 designs, additionally they will weigh around the same at approximately 600kg (F1 is expected to lose weight in 2017). Dimensionally the cars are likely to be slightly narrower than those used in F1 with the maximum width being set at 1,800mm and the wheelbase being between 2,800mm and 3,100mm.

Hybrid power units are to be used in the cars, producing around 600bhp and lasting around 8,000km between rebuilds. Drive will be supplied via a seven speed sequential transmission with paddle shift and a limited slip differential (one assumes to the rear wheels though this is not specified). Carbon brake discs will sit inside F1 specification wheels and tyres.

In terms of the aerodynamics of the cars the front wing will be narrower than the width of the car at 1,650mm while the rear wing will be of the current narrow type used in F1 with a maximum width of 1,000mm, though unlike F1 it will feature a lower beam element. Finally just like F1 and rather controversially DRS will be part of the package.

The cars are expected to cost just 300,000 Euro with the power units costing under 100,000 for a lease and rebuild.

What is not clear is whether Formula 2 will be a single specification class such as GP2, World Series, partially open such as Super Formula and Formula E or fully open like Formula 3, LMP1 and Formula 1. “It is important, not only to give opportunities to the drivers, but also to the teams and to the race engineers, the mechanics, to all of motorsport to grow” Stefano Domenicali, Head of the FIA Single Seater Commission told RCE. “That was the philosophy that was behind the thinking of the championship, it has to be the part of growth of the sport or all the people that are involved. Sometimes – and it may be correct – we concentrate only on the drivers, but it is important also to have the passion of engineers, the passion of mechanics and that is a great opportunity for them to be involved.”

This along with a mention that a single spec ECU is to be used suggests that both the power unit and chassis design will be open though under at least an annual homologation. But the use of single spec chassis, engines and gearboxes has also not been ruled out either. The winning bidder will receive the rights to run FIA F2 for seven years or thirteen if performance targets are met.

It is likely that the future shape of F2 will become clear this autumn, but the full blown F2 car may not hit the track until 2018.

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