Milestone April 2021 Edition

April 2020

NO. 4

MILESTONE P. 13

NASCAR Overview P. 29

P. 9

NAMASTE TESLA !!

Circuit Overview Spa-Francorchamps

P. 19 MICHELE MOUTON SPECIAL

P. 35

BUT WHAT EXACTLY IS FINITE ELEMENT MODELLING? P. 3

INTERVIEW WITH DC

MILESTONE

Editor in Chief

Aditya Shah

Senior Editor

Shaan Shah

Content Creators & Editors

Chief Designer Senior Designer Design Team

Contact us Website : www.iitbracing.org Aditya Shah – Head of Marketing +91-6354398667 Email : aditya.shah@iitbracing.org marketing@iitbombayracing.org

Nikita Dipali Srushti Bhamare Yash Mitkari Jagadish A Sahil Kumar Kshitij Sovanee Vidyut Balaji & Shaan Shah Nikhil Challapalli

Sarthak Kanchan Sanat Prasad Aditya Parekh Limesh Verma Sharvil Survase Roma Pandya Harsh Patil Diganta Biswas

Address IIT Bombay Racing Department of Mechanical Engineering IIT Bombay, Powai Mumbai - 400076, INDIA

CONTENTS ABOUT OUR TEAM FROM THE PRESS ROOM

PER LA TIFOSI

UNDER THE HOOD

01

Team introduction

03

Interview with DC

09

Tesla’s entry into India

13

Circuit Overview Spafrancorchamps

19

Michele Mouton

23

Racing in Popular Media

29

NASCAR Overview

35

But What Exactly is - Finite Element Modelling

37

What makes a racecar go faster -

MILESTONE

ABOUT OUR TEAM W

ith an aim to revolutionize electric mobility in India while focusing on sustainable technologies, IIT Bombay Racing is India’s premier Formula Student Electric team. We engineer high performance electric race cars to compete at Formula Bharat and Formula Student UK,which is Europe’s largest educational engineering competition attended by over 10,000 people and 110+ teams from all over the world and is also covered by the BBC network in the UK. Started by a small group of motivated engineers in 2012 in a tiny lab in the Mechanical engineering department, the team now comprises of 100+ highly enthusiastic undergraduate students from across all 1

departments at IIT Bombay. We started with internal combustion engines, and made the switch to electric powertrains in 2012, after the BAJA competition.

Vayu, our premier edition car, bagged the first-ever Indian perseverance award at FS Michigan and also won the best new-entrant award, competing with 25 other debutants.

It has been a long journey ever since, progressing from Agni to the Prithvi series, we then shifted to electric vehicles. This marked a significant milestone in our progress.

The first electric Formula student race car in India, Evo was built by us in just six months followed by

IIT BOMBAY RACING Evo 2.0, which cleared all the scrutineering criteria to participate in the dynamic events, making us the first Indian team to achieve such a feat. By the third attempt, we were able to complete both, including the endurance test.

Since then, we have made incredible progress. We have developed Aluminium Honeycomb Monocoque Chassis, Carbon fibre A-arms, a hybrid planetary gearbox and also incorporated regenerative braking.

One of the most revered teams in India today, we are continually striving with the same never-say-never attitude that we started with and are now capable of manufacturing carbon fibre parts entirely in house.

We have designed and built 12 cars, with the 13th one on the way for the next competition.

our battery management system and our in-house aero package happens to be an innovation to reckon with.

Among our sponsors, the most notable would be our own institute-IIT Bombay- which has always supported us in our endeavours. However, equally significant are our sponsors, NRB Bearings, Mahle, and Wipro 3D among others. This dream would never shape out into reality if it weren’t for their help.

Starting out with no idea of what had to be done to succeed, but with the will to do whatever it took, we have come a long way and, along with the support of our sponsors, hope to achieve new frontiers in the electric vehicle domain, creating unmatched engineers in the process.

This year, we ranked 4th overall at FSUK, and stood 1st in the Engineering Design event. We also won the Formula Bharat Design event. We have also been winning the Formula Student Award for having the best year-on-year growth for 6 consecutive years.

This journey is made possible only through the support of our sponsors and Industry collaborations.

With their help, the team conceptualised and 3D printed titanium wheel uprights. We also designed

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MILESTONE

Interview with DC

By Nikita Di pali

A

little into the 2.5-hour short interview with DC, we quickly concluded that writing our encounter with him as a standard magazine article would be blasphemous. Thanks to the Pandemic™, stories of our previous racing endeavors now have to be exchanged over the net v/s the traditional way i.e. over coffee breaks in the Racing Lab on the colder nights. We are grateful to Devansh Chaurasiya or DC - the Senior who has Seen it all, a gem of an alumnus to have sat down and shared his experience of the IITB Racing’s history. And today, we feel humbled and compelled to share it with you.

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Why were you attracted to the racing team?

In this manner, my journey has quite been a unique one as I was enthusiastic about the Racing Team even before joining the institute. I have always been an automotive enthusiast. During my 11th and 12th, I was lucky to have interacted with Chahal Neema (who was the Team lead when I later joined) who had spoken to me about Racing Team. I looked it up and was genuinely impressed by the kind of work done and I knew I wanted to be a part of the team ever since.

IIT BOMBAY RACING What was the one thing that truly pulled you to Racing?

I loved the recruitment process - the test was amazing.

It was purely an implementation of practical physics.

They didn’t expect us to be rocket scientists or geniuses. They sought practical knowledge and had the test open to people of all departments, which I found pretty cool.

How was your initial experience?

My earliest memory of being a JDE (Junior Design Engineer) was when ORCA had just been shipped back from the UK and there was an air of excitement.

Along with a group of enthusiastic JDEs, we were shifting the old cars and cleaning up the lab. I got to directly see and (and move) Evo3, Evo4. And when ORCA arrived and the dry run was conducted, it was my first time hearing how powerful the car was. It was at that moment I knew I wanted to stay in the team until the end. My seniors were welcoming, interactive and helpful which only made us more motivated.

What motivated you to establish an entire aerodynamics subsystem?

Just like others before me, I wanted to contribute to the legacy of the team. “Shravan” had conceptualized and started the aerodynamics subsystem which was very new at that time. The team held interviews for people to develop Aero further and my partner

Saksham and I got selected. We made a great pair as he was more on the theoretical side and I on the practical. It was challenging and fun. it was really cool work.

“It was research-intensive and required the implementation of a lot of knowledge - simulations, manufacturing processes, on-ground working with carbon fiber, understanding curing rates, and more.”

We pulled a good number of all-nighters too during the process. I remember we asked at least 20 - 25 teams about the software they used and approached as many people as we could to properly establish it. There was also a lot of interdependence of the subsystem on other subsystems and understanding it properly helped me later in my Core Team tenure as I had a better working understanding of the interplay of different systems.

How was your first FSUK experience?

For the first FSUK I went to, I was a Design Engineer in the team. It was a big event since we had taken a IIT Bombay Racing Team

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MILESTONE break from the competition for a year to spend it in designing our car EvoX. However, due to unforeseen circumstances and pure sheer bad luck, we faced technical difficulties in the UK that we weren’t able to resolve within the period of the competition. We had a lot of pressure to perform well given the year break, and not being able to deliver was heartbreaking for the team. Our performance also means a lot to our previous team members and professors and this was painful for them too. While my first FSUK experience was far from pleasant, it awakened this urge within me and my colleagues to ensure this never happens again.

What changes were made henceforth?

To reduce the possibility of Murphy’s Law weighing on our lives again, we decided to prioritize rigorous testing of the car before the competition. This meant shifting our deadlines ahead by months to ensure there was enough time for performance analysis and multiple dry runs of the prototype. Fuelled by the previous year, our goal this time was to nail scrutineering and ensure that we fared well in every aspect of the scrutiny. We tested our car to its limits which gave us a good idea of its limitations and how to improve them. These insights were crucial and forced us to reconsider our design at every stage multiple times.

How was the experience right before the next FSUK? The amount of work and effort put in by the team did not go unnoticed. Our alumni and professors were impressed by the amount of time we dedicated to testing. Seeing the team perform so selflessly gave them a great deal of confidence in the future results of the team. However, the university which usually hosts us for FSUK (houses the shipped car and provides a working garage during the length of the competition), initially backed out. We reached out to different universities, but they were inclined to say no, given the short notice. The situation seemed to grow direr by the day. I remember reaching out to all people who seemed vaguely relevant on LinkedIn and other platforms. One thing led to another and we were finally able to secure a hosting university. It was a big sigh of relief for us when it happened.

After all this, how was the FSUK of The year of redemption?

Wonderful. Our goal was to get through all aspects of scrutineering without any issues. It was a dream come true to just fly through scrutineering and pass all tests on the first try itself. We achieved the goals we had set for FSUK and it was an overwhelmingly positive moment for us when we came out of the scrutineering arena. Not only did we fly through the scrutineering, but we also got to see EvoK fly through the course in impressive times.

“For me, my highlight was driving in the Autocross where I had the opportunity to set our personal best time achieved yet. Few moments of my life have come close to being in the car at that moment - testing its limits and flying through the course.”

IIT Bombay Racing Team at FSUK 2018

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During our Endurance Run, we were able to overtake some very popular European Student Formula Teams and that was a moment to cherish. We dominated

IIT BOMBAY RACING

EvoK Redemption the top of the leaderboards until our motors suddenly stopped working. I remember waiting in the driving pits - ready in the suit to take my position as the second endurance driver. We were counting each lap our car did and on the final lap when we were supposed to pit and switch, our car didn’t appear.

Our motors had suddenly stopped working and that was the end of our Endurance Run. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to race our car for as long as I’d liked, but at the end of the day, everyone was extremely happy to have seen our car compete so well. The team morale that we’d lost in the previous year was completely restored and then some more.

We’d come away conquering our goals and a stronger, closer team than before.

How was your experience as the team leader?

What do you think were your biggest takeaways from tenure?

Being the team leader was something I’d set my sights on in my first FSUK. In that heartbreaking experience, I felt a compulsion to work as hard as I possibly could and help the team recover from that terrible trip. My experience as the team lead has been one of the best things in my life. I went

into the role knowing very little about managerial roles and the like but over my tenure, I learned about all kinds of management. Team management, project management, time management, and most importantly self-management.

My tenure taught me my limits, how to capitalize on my strengths, and how to compensate for my weaknesses.

It made me appreciate every little plus point about myself while also increasing my awareness of my drawbacks.

Do you think Racing contributed to your placement?

Racing helped me in my placement in so many ways. Inspired by one of my seniors I used to carry around the design report of the subsystem that I was responsible for. I don’t know how to explain it, but 6

MILESTONE carrying something that you did that you’re proud of and you know is worthy of that pride induces a lot of confidence. I don’t think I need to mention how immensely helpful it was for me on the technical side of things. But above all, my latest experiences in Racing as team lead would come in handy the most.

On the day of my interview for Shell, I knew as soon as I entered that room that those people weren’t seeking the generic resume and had a gut feeling that the interviewers were looking for something different. After the interview kicked off, they asked me a couple of questions and the interview quickly steered into what I spent most of my time and efforts in college: the Racing team. The interviewers asked me questions about different scenarios that I may have faced within those times. The conversation soon went deep into the kinds of possible issues and solutions. Luckily for me, I had all the experience I

7

needed, and I had no one else to thank other than Racing. During my time as the team lead in Racing, we were all trying our hardest to recover team morale and rebuild the team and its confidence. This was no small task, and we faced an insane number and variety of challenges. There was no plausible scenario that the interviewers could throw at me that I hadn’t handled before. I thoroughly enjoyed my interview, and when I came out, I knew that they absolutely had to take me. I was certain that they could not pass me up after an interview like that.

“All that confidence and the material to back that confidence was Racing’s gift and support to me.”

IIT BOMBAY RACING What advice would you give to the incoming trainees of IITB racing?

Be inquisitive. Keep your eyes and brain open to ideas. Ask as many questions as you can. No doubt is a silly doubt and your seniors will always be here to help you as much as they can, more than one might expect. Convert information learned to knowledge by putting it to use from a practical perspective always try to see how you will be able to implement what you just learned and why is it useful. If you have an urge to learn, grow and contribute, Racing is the perfect place for you. More than anything else, being in this team will help you become the best version of yourself in all aspects, be it teamwork, leadership, engineering mindset, stakeholder management, or time management.

“If you’re passionate about the work you do and want to train yourself for excelling in the real world waiting outside those “insti walls”, this is definitely the team to be in.”

IIT Bombay Racing Team with EvoK at FSUK 2019

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MILESTONE

Cruising into India on Autopilot

By Shrushti Bhamare

An Introduction - Somthing that Tesla doesn’t require!

‘T

esla’ is one of the greatest names in the electric vehicle market all over the world. For many folks, Tesla Motors is synonymous with the introduction of the electric car. Yet, there is much more to the story. Along with Electric Vehicles, Tesla produces batteries for energy storage from home to grid-scale, solar panels and solar roof tiles, and other related products and services. Elon Musk’s car company works along with other businesses such as SpaceX and The Boring Company to create an ecosystem that could give Tim Cook a run for his money.

“A group of risk-taking engineers from Silicon Valley set out on a mission to prove that electric vehicles could be mainstream...”

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A Brief History

Elon Musk

When we look back, The history of Tesla tells us how to create market demand for a completely new product with all new features and inventions. Tesla’s story began back in 2003, a mere 17-18 years ago.

A group of risk-taking engineers from Silicon Valley set out on a mission to prove that electric vehicles could be mainstream, and could be the popular choice for this generation. Tesla Motors founders Marc Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard honed in on the name Tesla for their cutting-edge auto company as a tribute to the inventor himself, Nikola Tesla.

Since the first years of Tesla history, Tesla Motors has faced harsh critics. Many CEOs had left Tesla in the initial years. In 2008 after becoming the CEO, Elon Musk made some drastic changes, some of which involved reducing the workforce, developing strategic partnerships and borrowing money from the US Government.

IIT BOMBAY RACING

Tesla & India

Tesla gigafactory

Elon Musk on January 13 tweeted “as promised” in response to a report on a Tesla-focused blog that the automaker was in talks with several Indian states to open an office, showrooms, a research and development centre and possibly a factory to manufacture electric vehicles in India. The Indian consumer has been waiting for a long time for its entry into the Indian automotive market. The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and the minister of MSMEs Nitin Gadkari recently announced that Tesla would start operations in India in early 2021.

“...confirmed that it will be opening its electric car manufacturing unit in Bangalore.”

Now, this has been a good year so far for Tesla fans in India. The CM of Karnataka has confirmed that it will be opening its electric car manufacturing unit in Bangalore (Karnataka). The company has registered its Indian subsidiary under the name “Tesla India Motors and Energy Private Ltd”. It is expected to start its operations by June. The first product to be sold will be the Model 3 sedan. The Karnataka government has reportedly offered land to Tesla in Tumkur (Bengaluru’s outskirts) to set up a production facility.

“The Model 3 is expected to be Tesla’s debut offering in the Indian automobile market.”

The American carmaker’s EVs are famous for their range and performance, but they are not exactly budget-friendly for Indians. Even the entry-level Model 3 sedan has a starting price of around Rs 26.5 lakh (Direct conversion from US dollars to the Indian rupee at the time of writing this article). The price of this model in India could easily be double that amount due to the various taxes and import duties.

But the price would definitely go down if Tesla starts manufacturing in India.

PM’s visit to Tesla

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MILESTONE

“......premium features of the Model 3 cabin will also be available, including the massive 15-inch touchscreen infotainment display and climate controls, power-adjustable seats, a panoramic glass roof and a 14-speaker audio system.”

The Model 3 is expected to be Tesla’s debut offering in the Indian automobile market. It will likely be available in the Long Range variant first, which has a claimed range of 569km on a full charge. It features a dual-motor setup for its All Wheel Drive (AWD) powertrain, allowing a 0-96km/h sprint in just 4.2 seconds. The entry-level Standard Range Plus uses a single Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) electric motor and has a claimed range of 423km. The top-spec Performance uses a tuned version of the Long Range drivetrain and features a claimed range of 507km.

Tesla’s Autopilot is taking the American markets by fire. Autopilot mode enables your vehicle to steer, accelerate and brake automatically within its lane.

Current autopilot features require an active driver

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supervision. While India is unlikely to get Tesla AutoPilot autonomous driving technology yet, semi-autonomous safety tech, such as blind-spot monitoring and autonomous emergency braking could still be offered. Other premium features of the Model 3 cabin will also be available, including the massive 15-inch touchscreen infotainment display and climate controls, power-adjustable seats, a panoramic glass roof and a 14-speaker audio system.

Tesla’s arrival in India has various short term and long term impacts on the Indian automobile industry.

Firstly, let’s look at the short term impact - The EV ecosystem in India is still at a nascent stage.

EV charging facilities and infrastructure is underdeveloped and restricted to a few metro cities.

The supply chain for essential EV components, such as batteries, Lithium and other components, is also heavily dependent on imports, increasing the overall cost of ownership of an EV. This also limits the mass adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles, simply because India is a heavily price-sensitive market. As a result, at the end of 2019-20, the total number of registered EVs in India is only five lakh units. The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has also impacted the country’s EV industry, with barely 5,000 electric vehicles purchased in the previous year.

IIT BOMBAY RACING

“Its entry has the potential to provide a much-needed spark for India’s EV industry. This is a revolutionary moment for the Indian Auto Industry.”

Looking into the future and assessing the long term impact, there seem to be signs of a potentially booming electric vehicle industry in India. The ex-showroom price of an entry-level EV in India is currently greater than ten lakhs. The country’s market for four-wheel EVs primarily revolves around the sustainability-conscious sensibilities of uppermiddle-class and affluent consumers in metropolitan cities. The entry of Tesla’s premium and worldclass EVs will drastically increase the competition for EV automobile manufacturers catering to this niche, and its pull as a successful global EV brand will force them to think about diversifying into the mass market segment. To make four-wheel EVs more accessible and affordable for mass consumers, auto manufacturers will have to slash EV prices by at least 25-50%. The sheer scale of this will also bring down the battery manufacturing cost, which accounts for almost half of EV manufacturing cost.

Tesla’s Autopilot Mode

“...transforming old automobile practices through a Silicon Valley-inspired start-up mindset.”

Tesla defined a new era for the global automobile industry by transforming old automobile practices through a Silicon Valley-inspired start-up mindset.

It is more environment friendly than fuel-based vehicles. Its entry has the potential to provide a much-needed spark for India’s EV industry. This is a revolutionary moment for the Indian Auto Industry, but the changes that Tesla brings will only become apparent in the years to come. Until then, all we can hope for is that we get to see a Model S P100D launch from a stoplight near us!

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MILESTONE

Circuit Overview: Spa Francorchamps

by Yash Mitkari

I

t’s not often you get to experience both dry and wet conditions in a single race, let alone in a single lap. But there is a track which does not do justice to this rarity, and it is the home to the Belgian Grand Prix- the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, which holds this bejeweled feather in its cap. It might be pouring cats and dogs in the pitlane, and still you might find the atmosphere bone-dry till you reach the other end at Les Combes/Bruxelles 2 kilometers away. This has helped Spa garner some truly odd results, for example the spectacular 1998 Grand Prix event where half the

“...don’t get deluded by the wondrous beauty of this landscape, for it is home to some of the most famed and dreaded corners of Formula 1...”

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field was taken out at only the first turn owing to a single error.It’s been 100 years to Spa’s creation since 1921, and is one of the few ‘elitist’ circuits(Monza, Monaco and Silverstone to name the others) to have remained even after the ushering of Formula 1 into the 21st century.

Situated in the Ardennes hills in Belgium, this circuit is privy to extremely picturesque landscapes, and is a road that is just meant to be there. But don’t get deluded by the wondrous beauty of this landscape, for it is home to some of the most famed and dreaded corners of Formula 1 history. So you can count on me when I say that this circuit has had its fair share of drama over its history. But before we get into a deep dive of the circuit, let me give you a fair bit about the history of this century old track. So here we go!

This circuit was created in 1921,but had to wait until 1925 to host its first Grand Prix owing to the war.

IIT BOMBAY RACING

“Back then, the circuit was a massive 15km long, triangular-shaped track cutting through the villages and public streets...”

Fun fact: Despite the circuit being named Spa, the track is nowhere inside Spa, but rather lies in parts of Malmedy and Stavelot. Back then, the circuit was a massive 15km long, triangular-shaped track cutting through the villages and public streets of Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot.

Old track layout of Spa

Though the old circuit was a treat to the eyes with its country-like vibe, it claimed many lives and put the fear of death into others. One of these accidents included the Great Sir Jackie Stewart, whose near-todeath experience at the Masta kink led to F1 drivers boycotting the track. Moreover, the accident became the poster child for Sir Stewerts move towards more stringent safety conditions in the motorsport industry.

This has led the track to being revamped many times, so as to be fit for the speeds and scares of modern motorsport. Thus it stands to reason that it being part of each formula 1 season since 1985 (except 2: 2003 and 2006) is a legacy unparalleled.

This continuous revamping added even tougher and skilful corners to the circuit, from blachimont,La Source, to the revered Eau-Rouge Raidillon combination, and their difficulty increases manifold when coupled with a speedy track where even getting your foot off the throttle pedal is a sin beyond salvation.

“...it was one of the faster circuits of the schedule with drivers clocking higher average speeds, making it essentially a speed course.”

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MILESTONE What made Spa very popular from its inception was that it was one of the faster circuits of the schedule with drivers clocking higher average speeds, making it essentially a speed course. The Belgians took pride in having a faster circuit, so to increase the speeds further, they introduced what was called the “Radillion” hill. Basically this hill cut short the slow uphill U-turn at the bottom of the “Eau-Rouge” creek valley, replacing it with a faster straight, thus giving us the Eau Rouge-Raidillon corner. It was possible to travel over the track until 2000 when it was still a public road. I guess it’s fair to say, we lost our chance eh!

Coming to the modern circuit that forms the Belgian Grand Prix, it measures just over 7 kilometers (about half the size of the originally designed track) with a total of 20 turns, which the racers have to lap a total of 44 times, giving a total race distance of 304km. It’s one of the circuits that many drivers have grown to love, not only because it’s one of the faster tracks out there, but also owing to its extreme skill requirement.

But seriously though, it is one of the fastest tracks out there in the calendar with max speed clocking at a ferocious 320km/hr. It’s only the likes of Ayrton Senna and Michael Schmacher who have outclassed this track repeatedly, winning 6 and 5 times at this circuit respectively.

Now that we have enough backdrop of the circuit history, let’s put ourselves in the shoes of an F1 driver and feel what it’s like to drive on this classic circuit: Now you’re jacked up in your seat ready to race for 44 laps on one of the most special circuits of motorsport history, possibly the most challenging of them all too. The light turns green and you accelerate straight to the first corner of the track- the La Source right hairpin- which demands decelerating yourself down to sub 100kmph speeds, so that you don’t go off track.

The track turns downhill at this curve, and you have a large straight track ahead followed by the Radillion, so you make sure to have a good exit speed to make up for the lap time.

“...300+ kmph speeds and +4 G-Force values - higher than an astronaut exiting the atmosphere of earth.”

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La Source Hairpin Following the La Source, you accelerate flat-out downhill to ready yourself for one of the toughest corners of motorsport legacy- The Eau RougeRaidillon combination. Well, for the viewers out there watching you at the comfort of their home, this corner might seem nothing on that 2-D screen, but here inside the car, it’s a completely different ballgame. You accelerate to your max speeds while travelling flat out downhill and then take a sharp left flick to travel across the bridge over the EauRouge river.You then take a right from here, and head sharply uphill after crossing the river, with 300+ kmph speeds and +4 G-Force values - higher than an astronaut exiting the atmosphere of earth. All of this becomes apparent when you cross Eau-Rouge, the bottom-most point of the decline and see the upcoming track become almost wall-like vertical as you move into the Radillion section, blinding you from anything on the track and only the blue sky in your visibility, or possibly the thrill and adrenaline

IIT BOMBAY RACING

“...vertical elevation change of 40.8 metres, equivalent to the height of a 12 storey building...”

Aerial view of Spa Francorchamps that brought you to this ripper of a sport. This is what makes the Eau-Rouge/Raidillon combination so special: its almost vertical elevation change of 40.8metres,equivalent to the height of a 12 storey building while sharp decrease in angle of climb from 12% to 2%, getting you aiming for the clear blue skies, something that televisions seem to erode. This is also one of the best places to watch the race from.

You can’t possibly overtake in this region of the track as there is only one line to go into the corner - so you either back off or commit. It was at this very spot that we lost Anthoine Hubert, an extremely capable F2 driver, just 2 years ago in 2019. So you be extracautious and try to make a perfect line by touching the apex of the entry line and then making sure to be very smooth with the steering, and then you cut a little on the exit curb on top of Eau Rouge so that you can straight line as much as possible. You hear the engine rev and ensure that it doesn’t drop off too much, and you know that it is a good lap, and you’re making good time.

The mighty Eau Rouge-Raidillon

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MILESTONE

“...so far from the pit-stop that one can find this part of the circuit gleaming brightly in sunshine while the pit stops are pouring down in the rain...”

You then accelerate flat-out on the Kemmel Straight uphill, opening the DRS, trying to overtake as many cars as you can (you aren’t going to get many opportunities anywhere else on the track) and reaching your highest speeds before you reach LesCombes. The track here is so far from the pit-stop that one can find this part of the circuit gleaming brightly in sunshine while the pit stops are pouring down in the rain, a weather rarity peculiar to this classic track. You then enter the Les Combes at the top of the hill which is a right-left chicane followed with a quick right hander which gets a bit faster the further you get into the turn, having a domino effect on the car, thus it’s important to follow the line into turn 7 perfectly. You then accelerate downhill into the Bruxelles hairpin turn, a long right hander which is tricky owing to its bumpy nature, making understeer a strong possibility. This is also the farthest point from the pitstop. You try to make the turn as early as possible, being close to the insides so you don’t travel too many meters. You exit the turn with your car very wide on the exit curb, to carry your speed again into one of the faster parts of the tracks, making a high speed left hander turn through Pouhon, entering

Bruxelles corner

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IIT BOMBAY RACING

Track layout diagram

through the inside and exiting through the outside curbs just in the right moment to give yourself that perfect lap. You then speed yourself through to Campus, working on the insides of the chicane. It isn’t a slow chicane, so you still feel the high downforce working up on the car a bit as you make your way into the Stravelot double right hander. This is another important curve as the exit sets you up for the large straight ahead until we turn for the last chicane.So you use all of the exit curb on this turn to set you up for Blanchimont. You then pass through one of only other high speed sectors of the track, turning on DRS, reaching absolute top speed (only other place after leaving Kemmel straight) and overtaking any

cars that lie near you. It sets you up perfectly to enter Blanchimont, a high speed flat-out corner where you try to carry the 300+ speeds to perfection for the last chicane. You accelerate to reach Bus-Stop chicane - or just the last chicane of the circuit, possibly the slowest part of the track, losing all speed to make the right exit from this rather bumpy chicane. You get a clean exit from this chicane and race back to finish a perfect lap of the beautiful and exhilarating SpaFrancorchamps. Do this in faster than 1min 41.252s and you beat Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes to be crowned the fastest lap holder for the legendary track of Spa.

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MILESTONE

The X(X) - Factor

by Jagadish Muthunathan

I

t was the weekend before the 1981 WRC rally at Sanremo, Italy, and on TV was fan favourite Ari Vatanen for an interview about the race. During the interview, Vatanen was asked to comment on his competition. In particular, concerning one female racer who was quickly gaining popularity. At the time Vatanen confidently replied: "Never can nor will I lose to a woman".

The prejudice against women in racing is as old as racing itself. It is a nuisance that still plagues and divides the racing community. One need not look any further than 2015 for F1 driver Carmen Jorda’s infamous (and controversial) quote:

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“It is not fair that women have to compete in the same championship as men, because we’re never going to become World Champion, and I think women deserve that chance.”

For context, Jorda made that statement in 2015, expressing her approval for a separate driver’s championship exclusively for women. This dark and heavy presence of prejudice is nothing new, but as in the face of any adversity, there always rises a new challenger bearing the light of hope. The story of our challenger begins in the French Riviera in 1951.

IIT BOMBAY RACING daughter deserved a chance behind the wheel. In a 2019 interview, Michele recalled how he gave her an ultimatum and said, “Listen, I know you like driving and I’d prefer to see you doing that than navigating.

I’m going to buy you a car and provide funds for you to do one year with good equipment and we’ll see how you get on. If you do well you can continue, if you don’t you must stop.” And do well she did.

The Makings of Michele Michelle Mouton was born in Grasse, a town on the riviera. Her parents had a flower farm that grew roses and jasmines on their large property for the town’s perfume industry. Always athletic, even as a young girl she displayed both interest and talent in skiing as well as ballet. Michelle was also en route for a respectable career in law after she finished high school. At that point, she could’ve become a ballet dancer, gymnast, pro skier or a lawyer. But by then she’d already discovered a much more intense passion: driving. When she was 14, Michele began to secretly “borrow” the family’s 2CV Citroen because she decided to teach herself to drive. Once she learnt, she began taking it for her joyrides on private gravel roads, never once thinking about competing and only driving purely for pleasure. She was an amateur in the original sense of the word.

Debuton Mouton with alpine a110, 1974

The “Superwoman” goes Semi-Pro She debuted in the WRC in 1974 with an Alpine A110, finishing 12th in the Tour de Corse. She raced with such skill that rumours began to float around about her using illegal modifications in her car engine.

In reality, the car (surprise surprise) passed severe inspection by the WRC scrutineers and was perfectly rule-bound. She ended the year being crowned as both France and Europe’s ladies’ champion. In the next year, she won the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1975) in the two-litre prototype category.

Her first exposure to actual racing was during her law degree studies when her close friend Jean Taibi suggested she come help him prepare for an amateur race: Corsica’s Tour de Corse rally. Even though she had never raced before, Michele showed tremendous aptitude in the basics of rally navigation. Thoroughly impressed, Jean invited Michele to be his co-driver throughout the 1973 WRC season debuting at the 1973 Monte Carlo rally.

Her interest and passion for racing did not go unnoticed, Michele’s father Pierre, talked to her about racing and quickly understood that his

Mouton at Le Mans, 1975 20

MILESTONE She performed with outstanding results for the next couple of years, gaining new sponsors like French oil giant Elf to back her for her 1977 European Championship. Mouton however only considered herself a semi-pro and would’ve hung up her gloves by the end of 1977. That’s when Fiat called. They offered Michele a fully professional contract for the 1977 World Rally Championship.

Michele in a Fiat 131 Abarth From that point on, Michele had the same equipment as the very best male drivers in France and she quickly proved herself. Michele continued to race at an extremely elevated level, consistently placing in the top 10 in the Tour de Corse for 4 years, finishing 7th at Monte Carlo in 1979 and 1980. This is when (much to Michele’s shock) Audi Sport called and signed her up for the 1981 season of the World Rally Championship to race in their new Audi Quattro.

Michele was ecstatic to be signed and that too alongside Finnish Champion Hannu Mikola, whom she’d always seen as “one of the greats”.

Mouton Makes History Obviously, Audi picking Michele over her more established male rivals hardly went over smoothly.

There were many doubts and fears cast on Michele and the future of Audi Sport as a whole. All these doubts were swiftly responded by Michele at Portugal in the very first event she raced in.. emphasis on “raced”. Michele would’ve debuted at Monte Carlo if she hadn’t been forced to retire due to dirt getting into the fuel system. However, in her race at Rally Portugal, she finished 4th place with co-driver Fabrizia Pons. All the whilst suffering from electronic problems in her car. This was also the beginning of a long partnership between the duo.

But Michele wasn’t done yet. She continued to dominate, setting several fastest times at Greece’s Acropolis Rally and finished 13th at the 1000 Lakes Rally (Mikola’s strong suit) in her debut. Soon Michele was set to race at Rallye Sanremo and it was around this time that Ari Vatanen made his snide comment

“Never can nor will I lose to a woman.” which to his dismay, didn’t hold true. Michele ended up crushing the competition and won the rally, simultaneously marking the first time in history a female driver had won a World Rally Championship event. Michele ended that season in 8th place in the driver’s championship, winning Audi a position in the top 5 manufacturer’s standings.

Monte Carlo had never been kind to Michele. In 21

IIT BOMBAY RACING

The Season of 1982

The End of an Era

The very first race of the 1982 season Michele was a part of a serious accident where both she and Fabrizia suffered a knee injury and concussion respectively.

The injuries were scary but wouldn’t put Michele off the wheel. She’d continue to race in the season putting up exceptional performances at the Swedish Rally, the Acropolis Rally, Rally New Zealand and the 1000 Lakes Rally, finishing no worse than 7th place at most at each event. Throughout the 1982 season, Michele was fiercely competing for the title against Walter Rohrl. In the end, it came down to the final 600kms of the RAC Rally where Michele would only need a 3rd place to secure the title. Unfortunately, Michele skidded off-road, rolled her car and severely damaged it. She tried to drive the severely quashed Quattro for 5 more kilometres before giving up. Rohrl ended up winning the title and Michele finished in second place but she also gave Audi Sport their first manufacturer’s world title. In fact, Audi became the very first German marque to win the manufacturer’s world title.

Michele would continue to compete, placing 5th in the 1983 season of the WRC and 12th in the 1984 season. She also debuted at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 1984 and placed second overall in a record time of 11 minutes 25.390 seconds, shattering the earlier record by 13 seconds.

In 1985, she stepped away from the WRC to focus on the British Rally Championship. Towards the last couple years of her career, she signed with French car manufacturer Peugeot, where she would go on to win the 1986 Germany Championship Rally.

A month before the end of the Championship, Michele announced that she was retiring from rally racing. The deaths of her close friends Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto along with the FISA banning Group-B cars from competing made it, in her own words, “a good time to stop”. But Michele never did step away from the racing scene completely.

She went on to become the first-ever President of the FIA’s Women and Motorsport Commission and co-found one of the most thrilling, entertaining motorsport events ever: The Race of Champions.

When asked to comment on his rivalries with the Audi drivers, Rohrl conceded that he “would have accepted second place in the championship to Mikola”, but not to Mouton:

“This is not because I doubt her capabilities as a driver, but because she is a woman.”

Rohrl believed that Michele’s victory over him would’ve devalued his performances. However, Michele would finally get the recognition that she so obviously deserved in the form of the International Rally Driver of the Year award.

Michele Mouton left behind a legacy. In fact, she’s the reason why “you drive like a girl” is more a compliment than an insult, because everyone wishes they could drive like Michele. Her entire career is a rebuttal to all the prejudice characterized by Carmen Jorda’s infamous quote. She is immortalized as a role model for young racers everywhere (regardless of gender) and an unapologetic victor against the gender prejudices in racing.

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Ford vs Ferrari (2019)

RACING IN POPULAR MEDIA

By Sahil Kumar

T

here is no perfect way to watch Formula 1. Go to a Grand Prix in person, and you get the smell of rubber on the road, the sound of roaring engines, the energy of a live sport – but you may struggle to follow what’s happening. Cars whizz by so fast you only catch a glimpse at a time; race-defining events can happen out of sight, on the other side of the circuit. Watch the race on TV and you catch most of the action but miss the buzz of the live event.

“Drivers test their limits as well as those of their competitors.”

Enter Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive - the streaming channel’s F1 documentary series that debuted last year and is now entering its third season.

More than any other viewing experience, the series manages to capture the true drama of F1, shining a light on the stories – personal, political, technical – that make the sport so high-octane. Forget watching 23

live races on TV or even at the circuit; this had now become the real deal. The series beamed the sport of F1 into the homes of a whole new audience, with viewers watching enraptured as the show’s cameras delved deep into the inner sanctums of the paddock’s ten teams.

But this wasn’t the first time a movie/show based on motorsports had created such headlines. In fact, racing had hit the big screens way before Netflix even came into existence. It’s easy to understand why the film industry embraced the subject of racing. First, movies are motion pictures, and car racing involves plenty of motion, which in fact goes further than just the ontrack competition. There are pit stops, garage scenes, testing, to name a few. Of course, stories also need human interest, and racing provides opportunities for compelling portrayals of the human condition.

Drivers test their limits as well as those of their competitors. There’s palpable life-or-death danger on the track, which often triggers the concern of a driver’s family and friends. The high-stakes circumstances set the stage for failure and redemption, tragedy and joy, along with age-old themes of hubris, retribution, and

IIT BOMBAY RACING

Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2019-Present) a hero’s journey—and that’s not even including love interests and rivalries. In three words, a filmmaker’s delight.

“The rousing soundtrack of the thumping 427 cubic inch V8 resonates through your chest.”

When Matt Damon and Christian Bale starrer Ford vs Ferrari hit the screens in 2019, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the film literally tore through cinemas.

Hailed as one of the most crowd-pleasing movies of the year, for those who haven’t seen it, F v F is the tale of Ford motor company’s damn-the-torpedoes effort to beat the invincible Ferrari racing team at the famed 24 hours of Le Mans in 1966. One could say this was the ultimate underdog story in motorsport.

But on the other hand, the film has a lot going for it even if you’re not a car enthusiast. To put it this way, what would you do if someone hurled a wrench at

Days of Thunder (1990)

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Wangan Midnight (2007) you? That’s right: you’d duck; and that’s exactly what Matt Damon — essaying the role of racer-turned-car designer and entrepreneur, Carroll Shelby — does, as the wrench pings into the windscreen of the race car behind him, shattering a part of it. And guess what, the one who sends that wrench flying Shelby’s way is the man who is to race the very car he just damaged.

That man being none other than Ken Miles, played

by Bale. It’s not just the on-track action.

“Ford GT40s, Ferrari 330 P3s, Shelby Cobras and Porsche 906 Carreras will elicit plenty of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from enthusiasts.”

Michael Schumacher Ferrari in Cars (2006) 25

There’s so much more going on off it - from family moments to powerplay at the very top, from wrestling each other to the ground like two petty fellows to the very same two persons going up together against the might of brands like Ferrari -the film’s got it all.

As a viewer, you literally feel like you’re in the codriver’s seat. When Shelby holds up the placard with ‘7000+ Go Like Hell!’ scrawled on it, Miles changes gear, and you can actually feel that gear shift. The rousing soundtrack of the thumping 427 cubic inch V8 resonates through your chest. You don’t have to be a car nut to enjoy it. Yes, the sight of several Ford GT40s, Ferrari 330 P3s, Shelby Cobras and Porsche 906 Carreras will elicit plenty of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from enthusiasts. Still, so crisp is the storytelling, it could engage even those who may be watching

“Pixar’s animated classic Cars has a weird universe, in which race cars don’t have drivers.” a car race for the first time in their lives. And this precisely is one of the things a racing movie brings to the table when compared to just watching a race, if appropriately depicted, even the non-petrolhead sorts tend to get hooked. There’s just so much more drama and glorification.

Ford vs Ferrari wasn’t the only film from this particular genre to hog the limelight, though. The

IIT BOMBAY RACING word “racing” can be used in a very broad context, and hence the pool of films that can be called “racing” movies is just as vast. From blockbuster franchises and screwball comedies to compelling documentaries and gripping biopics, not to mention a particular animated kids favourite, these fast-paced films have all pushed the pedal to the metal in their own unique way.

For starters, you may not necessarily be a racing enthusiast, but there’s no way the Fast and Furious franchise doesn’t ring a bell in your head. Who would have expected a street-racing B-movie starring a musclebound meathead and teen movie pin-up to launch one of the most profitable and seemingly never-ending movie franchises of the 21st Century?

And yet, that’s what happened when Vin Diesel and Paul Walker teamed up to play a semi-hijacking auto mechanic and the undercover cop who infiltrates his late-night car racing gang in 2001 for the first instalment of the Fast and Furious series. On the one hand, we have this blockbuster based on, well, illegal street racing, and on the other, a family entertainer which I’m sure every kid born in the past decade would have watched - Cars. Two massive hits, very

entirely different settings and storylines, and just one thing in common - the on-track, high-speed turbocharged action. A plot that revolves around we-all-know-who, Pixar’s animated classic Cars has a weird universe, in which race cars don’t have drivers.

They just drive themselves because they are alive. This, of course, isn’t quite what real-word motorsport looks like, but a story that revolves around NASCAR, and a cameo from the man himself - Michael Schumacher - along with a voice cast that includes real-life racing drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mario Andretti, does explain why the film is regarded by some as the perfect introduction to motorsport for little kids.

“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.”

Rush (2013) 26

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“A documentary dedicated to one of the greatest ever drivers to have graced F1, Brazilian super hero Ayrton Senna.”

Many dismiss Formula One as little more than rich men driving around in circles. Yet, even they could not keep their eyes off the screen when Senna arrived in cinemas back in 2010 - a documentary dedicated to one of the greatest-ever drivers to have graced F1, Brazilian superhero Ayrton Senna. The film utilises archive race footage rather than modern interviews to tell its profoundly moving story. It’s this highly unique method that allows viewers to get a measure of the man, and at the same time, makes his fatal crash at the San Marino Grand Prix back in 1994 all the more devastating. Given the high stakes, big money, and intense drama surrounding Formula One, there was no way the most popular form of auto racing was going to be spared the film industry’s attention.

Two decades before Senna and his greatest rival Alain Prost squared up to each other on the track, British Formula One racing driver James Hunt and equally skilled Austrian Niki Lauda were also busy

forging one of the sport’s fiercest rivalries. The pair’s volatile relationship was the ideal subject matter for a big-screen retelling - Niki being the cool, calm and collected one, pushing himself to the top with his talent, while James Hunt being the definitive Playboy he was. And it’s fair to say that director Ron Howard did it justice with the suitably-titled 2013 biopic, Rush, starring Chris Hemsworth (Hunt) and Daniel Brühl (Niki). As thrilling as they are, movies like Rush and Ford vs Ferrari owe a lot of their looks to John Frankenheimer, the man behind the making of the 1966 movie Grand Prix, an ensemble drama about a fictional Formula 1 season that revolutionised the way motorsport was viewed on the big screen. It was Frankenheimer who first brought genuine realism to racing films by using race cars as camera dollies and filming at speed, helicopter angles across the circuits and other such dazzling technical achievements.

Initial D (1995)

The Fast and The Furious (2001) 27

“Auto racing is the only real sport; all the others are merely games.”

IIT BOMBAY RACING

“From a racing enthusiast’s point of view, these movies have achieved something that wasn’t going to be possible otherwise.”

Racing and cinema have had a long-standing relationship. If you are a Formula One fan, you could watch literally anything from the age-old film Grand Prix to the latest show in the house Drive to Survive, and still, thoroughly enjoy every one of them. If you follow NASCAR, you could just sit back for days and watch on repeat some of the NASCAR classics - like Talladega Nights, Tom Cruise’s Days of Thunder, gripping documentaries such as ESPN’s The Dale Earnhardt Story - and still not get enough of them.

You may be a follower of the 24-hour Le Mans race, and the industry’s still got you covered. Be it Steve McQueen’s 1971 film Le Mans, Ford vs Ferrari, or even the Prime Video documentary Le Mans: Racing Is Everything, to name a few.

You could not be into cars or racing but would still have watched blockbusters like the Fast and Furious and felt that adrenaline rush. The list just goes on and on. You could be any kind of fan and would still find yourself racing films that genuinely pique your interest. But from a racing enthusiast’s point of view, these movies have achieved something that wasn’t going to be possible otherwise, given the limited arenas where motorsport actually takes place, unlike other sports: to be able to introduce the sport into the homes of a whole new audience. It could be the mere

Le Mans: Racing is Everything (2017- Present)

Need For Speed (2014) Grand Prix (1966)

adrenaline rush of the sport that may catch people’s interests, or it could be the realisation of just how intense and drama-filled the sport is, how drivers are merely one mistake away from something fatal.

Yet, they never think of it and compete as fiercely as is possible - either way, the ability of these movies to show the world that auto-racing is as much of a sport as any other is, and, with much higher stakes, is undoubtedly one of the most pivotal reasons behind the growth of motor-racing and its fan base especially, to what it is now. To paraphrase the late great novelist Ernest Hemingway, “Auto racing is the only real sport; all the others are merely games.”

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NASCAR Overview

by Kshitij Sovanee

Date: February 18, 2001 Race driver Dale Earnhardt made light contact with another driver and slid off course, nothing immediately major. However, as he tried to swerve the car back in place, he collided with another car, dragging his car up the track, and eventually collided against the retaining wall at a critical angle at a speed of 250km/hr, dying instantly. That might not sound believable at all, since F1 drivers crash at higher speeds and yet survive. Except that this wasn’t a conventional racecar, and there was virtually no driver safety being followed. Surprised? Not if you’re considering NASCAR.

1948, just completed 73 years of existence, and annually sanctions close to 1500 races at over 100 tracks in 48 states of the USA, Mexico, Canada and Europe.

Stock car racing in the US has its origins in the bootlegging operations during Prohibition, when drivers ran bootleg whiskey made primarily in the Appalachian region of US. Bootleggers needed small, fast, efficient cars to distribute the illicit products and better evade the police. The repeal of Prohibition in 1933 dried up stock cars for some time, but by then the rural areas of the Southern United States had associated these races with entertainment and cars continued to improve.

As Margaret “Maggie” Peyton’s (cue: Lindsay Lohan) car swivelled away from the track and climbed onto the fence before nose diving back to eventually win the race, the ending credits of Herbie: Fully Loaded swam into focus. The final race as shown in the movie is a frequent occurrence in many parts of the United States, where such “stock” cars are used for racing rather than conventional “race cars”. The reason and the vision? One body- NASCAR. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida is an American auto-racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for “stock” car racing. The association, founded on February 21, 29

Daytona Circuit

IIT BOMBAY RACING On March 8, 1936 a hoard of drivers brought coupes, hardtops, convertibles and sports cars, in an event to determine the fastest cars and best drivers, at Daytona Beach. Throughout the race, the heavier cars kept dropping out, while the lighter ones were easily able to maneuver through. Of the 27 cars that began the race, only 10 were able to complete the shortened version of the race which had to be stopped after 384km. Driver Milt Marion won the race, and a young lad named Bill France placed fifth at the end of the day. By early 1947, Bill France realised the potential for a unified series of races and founded the National Championship Stock Car Circuit (NCSCC).

He next approached the American Automobile Association (AAA) with hopes of obtaining funding for his venture. The AAA denied but instead of getting bogged down, France went ahead and announced a set of rigid rules for the NCSCC, completed with a thousand dollar cash prize and a trophy. The season was supposed to take place on the Daytona Circuit, consisting of a 2.4 - 3.2km stretch of beach as one highway, and the State Road A1A serving as the other highway, both straights connected by two tight, deeply rutted and sand covered turns at each end.

The season progressed and promised, logging 40 races and driver Fonty Flock was adjudged the cham-

pion, and duly handed over with $1000 plus a four foot long trophy.

At the end of the 1947 season, Bill France announced a series of meetings at the Streamline Hotel in Florida, beginning December 14, 1947. At 1pm that day, France called to attention all the 35 men who represented NCSCC on the top floor of the hotel, and began deliberations for an elaborate and concrete expansion plan. After four such seminars, Bill France finally founded the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) on February 21, 1948 with three distinct divisions: Modified, Roadster and Strictly Stock. The public quickly lost interest in the Roadster series, and with the recent conclusion of the 2nd World War, manufacturers weren’t able to cope

"annually sanctions close to 1500 races at over 100 tracks in 48 states"

Homestead-Miami Speedway

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up with family sedans’ demand. Thus, the 1948 season consisted of 52 “Modified” dirt track races, and the Strictly Stock debuted in 1949 on the Charlotte Speedway, with virtually no modifications on the factory models.

Having described the history, let’s actually look at the facets of NASCAR: The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) is the sport’s highest level of professional competition. The series initially began with 48 races per season, which was shortened to 31 in 1972, before bringing it back to 36 in 2001.

In 2004, Nextel Communications took sponsorship of the Cup series, and introduced a new points system, called the “Chase for the Nextel Cup” which reset the point standings with ten races to go, making 31

only drivers in the top ten or within 400 points of the leader eligible to win the championship. In 2007, NASCAR announced that it would expand it to twelve drivers and in 2008, by virtue of a merger between Nextel and Sprint, the cup was renamed to Sprint Cup Series. In 2011, NASCAR abandoned this point system, and subsequently, the winner of a race now receives 43 points, with one-point decrements for each subsequent position. Three years later, the pool of drivers was expanded to 16 with four drivers being eliminated after every three races, leaving four drivers to compete for victory at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. On December 5, 2020, NASCAR introduced a new sponsorship model, with four “premier partners” viz Coca-Cola, Xfinity, Busch Beer and GEICO closely associated with the top series.

IIT BOMBAY RACING

The NASCAR Xfinity Series is the sport’s second highest level of professional competition. The series was incarnated with Budweiser as sponsor, currently Comcast is the main sponsor through its Xfinity brand. Many Cup drivers began using the Xfinity races as a warmup for the main races to be held at the same facility over the weekend, yet some others took

"The NASCAR Cup Series is the sport's highest level of professional competition"

to seriously competing in both. This behaviour was criticised by many, claiming that Cup drivers got an unfair advantage, and were labelled as “Buschwhackers” which is wordplay on the sponsor of Xfinity (Busch Breweries, Budweiser) with the notion of being bushwhacked. Starting 2011, NASCAR.com confirmed new rules where drivers would only be allowed to contest for championship in only one of the three divisions, though they could still participate in the others. They were made more stringent with certain drivers banned from participating in certain Xfinity races from 2019.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series features modified pick-ups and was born in 1994. The series was first considered an oddity for senior NASCAR drivers, but it eventually grew in popularity, and 32

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Xfinity Races

has seen drivers directly move on to the Cup series, completely bypassing the Xfinity series.The Chase format (like NCS) was introduced in 2016, and has remained a constant through the course of the past few years. NASCAR officially launched its first sim racing eSports series in 2010, further additions have been made and in 2019 Monster Games launched NASCAR Heat 4, which was a simulation of the 2019 Cup Series.

Not all is goody goody, as NASCAR has faced severe criticism, right from its inception. Some cite that the cars used in NCS aren’t the true “stock” cars right out of the factory, since many modifications have been allowed to be made, while others resent the significant influence of the France family in decision making and policies. NASCAR recently allowed more drivers to race in the Xfinity races which was considered unfair by many. However, the biggest opposition comes from two major factors. The first, is the use of fuel and usage of lead additives in gasoline for improved performance, which damages the environment. The other, is the Confederate flag being allowed to be flown during races. NASCAR had previously requested fans to stop after a church shooting at Charleston where African Americans were killed. They didn’t, and Bubba Wallace, the only African-American top circuit driver in NASCAR, drove the next race in 33

Black Lives Matter livery. However, with the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, NASCAR put out a blanket ban on Confederate flags being flown at any of its races/events.

While Formula One is extremely stringent about its safety rules, NASCAR has been known historically to make changes only after a casualty has occurred. The impact absorbing SAFER barrier now in use was previously rejected as being too expensive and unnecessary and was put into practice only after four drivers died in crashes in 2001. Fire retardant drivers’ suits were mandated only after a driver died from severe burns when he was engulfed in flames following a crash, while the Hand and Neck Support (HANS) Device was employed only after the death of Dale Earnhardt, which was seen as a “wake-up” call for NASCAR, just like Ayrton Senna’s death was a wakeup call for F1. In 2001, many cars were revamped to include safety measures, and the cars that race in NCS now, are called the Cars of Tomorrow (CoT).

The legacy and insight of Bill France’s NASCAR has truly proved itself to be legendary, as so many fans attach their emotions with it. While NASCAR might not offer the spine chilling speeds in excess of 350km/ hr that F1 promises, it has proven to be the platform where small timers can express themselves and make

IIT BOMBAY RACING it big. With even more diversification being pipelined and races supposed to be conducted in more nations in the upcoming years, NASCAR has seen it all, and

strives to keep doing better, as its original vision and aim of being a unified body of racers seems to be on track for being accomplished soon, once and for all.

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....but what exactly is

Finite Element Method?

T

he Final Element Method (FEM) is a widely used mathematical method to solve partial differential equations in two or three variable spaces.

The method involves dividing a larger system into smaller simpler systems called “Finite Elements”.

The solutions for these finite elements can then be assembled together to get the big picture solution.

FEM finds its uses in a variety of different fields such as structural analysis, heat transfer, fluid flow, mass transport, and electromagnetic potential.

1. Domain discretization

“FEM involves dividing a larger system into smaller simpler systems called Finite Elements.”

Formulation of system of equations as the title suggests involves modelling the discretized system using mathematical equations based on the various properties of the system.

There are three steps involved in general in this method : 1. Domain Discretization 2. Formulation of the system of equations 3. Solution of the system of equations

Domain discretization is perhaps the most important step in the process. It involves dividing the larger domains into smaller parts known as “elements”.

Some really intuitive domains are line segments (1 Dimensional), squares or triangles (2 Dimensional), and tetrahedra or cubes (3 Dimensional)

2. Formulation of system of equations

3. Solutions to these equations Solutions to these equations are then found using various methods.These solutions are mostly approximate and computer generated as it can be tedious and sometimes even impossible to get exact solutions or find them by hand. They can then be visualised using curves, plots and pictures. These curves, plots and pictures help us understand what the solutions mean and later in tweaking values to get better results.

“Solutions to these equations can then be visualised using curves, plots and pictures, which help us understand what the solutions mean” 35

IIT BOMBAY RACING

“FEM, although seemingly a trivial method, is one of the most essential tools an engineer can have.”

Although this method seems trivial, it is one of the most essential tools an engineer can have. However, you might have a few questions bustling in your head right now, like why is this in a racing magazine and how do we, at IIT Bombay Racing, use it?

While we might not be actively looking to split our racecar into several tiny cubes, we do, however, use Ansys Fluent (a simulation software) to virtually do exactly just that. Ansys Fluent almost entirely runs on the FEM principles we just discussed above and has played a vital role in nearly every component employed in the car.

The opportunity cost of testing real-world scenarios is often too high, especially for student-run teams, as we lack the infrastructure to perform these tests.

Hence, we resort to simulation software to be able to optimize and test our designs.

“Ansys Fluent almost entirely runs on the FEM principles we just discussed above and has played a vital role in nearly every component employed in the car.”

We face several challenges in optimizing the performance of our car. Two of the challenges that we recently put some thought into were, finding the right balance between the airflow and drag on the radiator and uneven airflow through the accumulators that led to local “hot spots” being created. Ansys has helped solve these problems and push our car’s capabilities by reducing our radiators’ overall size and weight by almost a quarter and bringing down our batteries’ temperatures by at least 15 percent.

The craziest thing is that we have the very intuitive idea of FEM to thank for all this! From optimizing an electric race car to building a rocket, from the mobile phones we live with to the buildings we live in, FEM finds itself the most valuable tool in almost everything we use. Engineering Simulation Softwares that make effective use of FEM like Ansys help solve complex design challenges and make sure that we can continuously push our car’s limits.

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What makes a racecar go faster?

Differentials

By Nikhil Challapalli

I

n the previous edition, we looked at how the gearbox is an essential part of any car. Now, one needs to understand that the gearbox is not all there is to the transmission of a car. Another very crucial component is a differential. What is it for, you may ask? Well, say you are driving around a sharp turn.

Now, with a bit of basic math, you can see that the outer wheels travel further than the inner ones (larger the radius, larger is the arc). So both the wheels rotating at the same speed would result in sliding across the ground. So essentially you cannot power both the wheels using a single axle. This is where a differential comes in. It’s primary role is to decouple the two wheels and make sure you don’t go flying off the turn.

“The basic structure of a differential is to have 4 gears as the sides of a square and connect the axles to two opposite sides - This basic form of the differential is known as an open differential.”

The basic structure of a differential is to have 4 gears as the sides of a square and connect the axles to two opposite sides. Now you could use an additional gear to connect this mechanism to the drive shaft. This basic form of the differential is known as an open differential.

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“ The main issue with an open diff is that one of your wheels has extremely low grip and the other doesn’t have the torque.”

You are a drifting fanatic, you say? Well, then you might want to get rid of that differential in your car and weld the axles. Sounds a tad too extreme? Here comes the solution: Locking D! As the name suggests, it is nothing but an open differential with an option to lock the axle in place. Go get your drift helmets on! Do note that drifting with an open differential is quite dangerous to you, the car and those around you. Still want to try out? Follow a few pointers and you’ll be good to go: - An ordinary clutch-dump or the e-brake won’t help you here - Try the ‘Scandinavian Flick’ aka Kansei Dorifto! (courtesy Wikipedia) Brake and turn the opposite

IIT BOMBAY RACING

The Scandinavian Flick

direction. Now flick the steering to the other direction and apply throttle.Balance using both the brakes and gas and start applying more throttle as you exit. Why does this work? The main issue with an open diff is that one of your wheels has extremely low grip and the other doesn’t have the torque. THe Scandinavian Flick increases your chances of going through the turn with enough momentum for your wheels to keep spinning and not jam.

Surely your dream car has a much more sophisticated differential than those of the boring old family sedans, right? Enter a limited-slip differential. The issue with an open differential is that it always supplies 50-50 torque to the two wheels, which is exactly what you don’t want. In a limited-slip differential, however, you can vary the torque to each wheel. This results in much better stability and traction control. This is also what is present in most sports cars. A mechanical LSD makes use of a spring-based system. It works just like an open-differential but when the wheel speeds vary beyond a threshold, the springs jump to work and lock the differential partly. This does away with the issue with the open differential and results in much better handling.

Modern day F1 cars have a more advanced version called an e-diff. It is basically a hydraulics-controlled differential that can distribute the torque for maximum stability. This is even more important with all those g-forces acting at the corners. The torque supplied depends on quite a few factors - throttle response, steering angle, yaw acceleration and individual wheel speed to name a few. The system consists mainly of a high-pressure hydraulic system and a control system for the valves, sensors and the ECU which is the brain of the system. With ever-changing track conditions, the driver has to constantly tinker with the car dynamics. One of the things that is varied the most is the diff response. It is quite logical to think that the torque distribution on a pouring track would be quite different from that under the blazing sun. This same tech also trickles down to the high-performance road cars. When you change from sport mode to wet mode, the changes in the differential settings is one of the most significant ones.

“The new talk of the town is the torque-vectoring differential which is a different beast entirely.”

Can it get any better than this? Well, apparently it can. The new talk of the town is the torque-vectoring differential which is a different beast entirely. The Japanese say it makes you steer effortlessly. The Germans claim it increases ‘dynamism’ and the Americans are yet to catch-up. Well at least they don’t disagree on this one. A torque-vectoring differential is essentially an open differential with two clutch-packs attached to both the axles. So when one of the wheels starts rotating faster, the sophisticated electronics press on the clutch to increase the resistance inside Pre-loaded spring LSD

“The torque supplied depends on quite a few factors - throttle response, steering angle, yaw acceleration and individual wheel speed to name a few.”

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MILESTONE differential, not locking the axles completely but makes it act a bit less open.. This ends up resulting in an uneven distribution of torque between the two wheels. While most torquebased differentials limit the distribution to around 80-20, it is not uncommon to see some enthusiast cars allowing complete unlocking for full torque to a single wheel.

“Fun fact, every single Mclaren road car uses an open differential. Even the mighty P1!”

Fun fact, every single Mclaren road car uses an open differential. Even the mighty P1! Why is it so?

According to Ian Howshall, a limited-slip differential or an e-diff adds weight. So the solution is to not use it at all and make use of brakes for torque vectoring.

The brakes grab onto the inside of the wheels and help the car rotate. With no extra components, it saves weight while at the same time improving handling.

Torque vectoring

Electronic differential

“But electric vehicles are a whole new ball game. Electric motors have extremely good power density making multidrive systems actually quite feasible.”

While this is fine and dandy, one has to wonder what happens in the case of an electric drivetrain. We saw last time that EVs don’t really need a gearbox due to the instant torque of the electric motors. Could it be possible that they don’t need a differential either?

Well, it’s partly true. If a single motor is driving 2 wheels, you’d need a standard differential to maintain traction when turning. This is the case with Tesla’s dual-motor variants which have one motor driving the front wheels and one for the rear ones. With a good-old petrol car, you can’t really have multi-drive systems. But electric vehicles are a whole new ball game. Electric motors have extremely good power density making multi-drive systems actually quite feasible. It is fairly common to see performance EVs with each wheel being powered by an individual motor for maximum torque.

Open differential

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IIT BOMBAY RACING

“What should the torque needed depend on? The first thought is the steering angle. A bit of thought will get you the other - motor speed. Now all that remains is to model the torque on these variables and program your microcontroller to do the heavy lifting.”

As would seem logical, in such a scenario, you don’t really need a physical differential at all. This is where an electronic differential comes in. As the name suggests, it uses a standard microcontroller to adjust the torque to individual wheels. What should the torque needed depend on? The first thought is the steering angle. A bit of thought will get you the other - motor speed. Now all that remains is to model the torque on these variables and program your microcontroller to do the heavy lifting. Not using a mechanical differential has quite a few advantages.

For starters, there’s no mechanical losses involved.

Making it a purely software feature makes it highly configurable. You could go from comfortable cruising mode to loosey-goosey drift mode with the touch of

Electronic differential a button. There’s also the added benefit of making regenerative braking work as a differential, something like a braking differential, which is a dollar-store version of a torque-based differential.

Well, I can’t wait to get my hands on a triple-motor Model S and code it to wreak havoc on the streets. (please fund my seemingly cool project Elon xD)

The Kia Niro EV

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MILESTONE

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