A highlight of the Live Action Arena at this weekend’s Autosport International will be the ever-popular BriSCA Formula 1 stock cars. These V8 monsters are designed to race on short ovals and thrill with their fast-paced display and an aural assault that makes the grandstands shake.
But while BriSCA F1 machines are used to turning left, left, left and left again, Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre isn’t quite their natural habitat. From March to November they compete on quarter-mile ovals, paved or with loose shale surfaces. Over a 70-year history, the formula has evolved from genuine ‘stock’ cars to highly specialised purpose-built machines with huge power combined with mean-looking steel bumpers and side rails to withstand the rigours of full-contact racing.
Perhaps the most visually striking feature of a BriSCA F1 stock car is its huge roof-mounted wing. These developed in two different directions: relatively conventional downforce-producing devices for sealed-surface tracks, and much taller, almost sail-like, sloping wings for racing on shale. Stability is key on the loose surface, where drivers also use the throttle to turn.
“When you pitch it into a corner, the stability of the wing holding the car is just immense,” explains three-time world champion Frankie Wainman Jr, whose self-built #515 car is a staple of the Live Action Area. “It’s very simple – you take the wing off, go into the corner at the same speed and it’ll spin straight round.”
Relatively low speeds make the benefits of genuine downforce marginal, even on asphalt. Wainman admits that it can be hard to notice, but a larger wing helped him win the Long Track World Championship’s final edition on Baarlo’s 1000-metre oval in the Netherlands in 1998. “Over there we’d be doing 120/130mph,” he says. “Boy, did it work.”
Stuart Smith Jr, who was forced to retire through injury shortly after winning his second world title in 2018, is a disciple of downforce on both surfaces. He continues to build cars that, unusually, feature similar wings for asphalt and shale. Smith’s wing, mounted high for a cleaner airflow to the aerodynamic main plane, rewards a neater style of driving deep into the bends before making a sharper turn.
Source: Autosport