Top speed in spotlight with Bathurst 1000 tech change
F2 has moved ‘as close as possible' to an F1 car in unveiling its latest machinery that will run for the next three years.
The new model was unveiled in the F1 paddock in Monza ahead of this weekend's Italian GP, and the penultimate round of the F2 championship.
The car features a 3.4-litre turbo-charged Mecachrome engine and includes features to accommodate the synthetic sustainable fuel that will be introduced in 2025.
For next year, it will continue to run on 55 percent bio-sourced sustainable fuel, which was introduced this year. Further work will continue to be conducted over the next three years as the sport builds towards running cars on 100 percent of synthetic sustainable fuels in 2027.
The FIA states the car “has also been designed to comply with the 2024 specifications in terms of braking, steering effort and ergonomics to accommodate a wide range of drivers and make the championship as accessible as possible”.
It adds that its “design philosophy…is to give young drivers who aspire to race in Formula 1 the best preparation, by making it as close to an F1 car as possible in terms of safety, look, systems, performance, sustainability, and accessibility, all at reasonable costs.
“Moreover, the nose, front and rear wings, and floor have been designed to encourage wheel-to-wheel racing.”
The car completed a successful shakedown in July in Varano, with former F2 driver Tatiana Calderon at the wheel.
The car on show in Monza, however, is not the finished article as it will continue to be developed over a number of tests across the remainder of the year, with the programme comprising sufficient mileage to ensure reliability before it is delivered to the teams.
The first car will be delivered to the teams before the end of December, with the second car in mid-January. There will be a shakedown with the teams before the first official pre-season test, with one car per team.
Speaking about the car, F2 championship CEO Bruno Michel said: “We've designed a powerful, challenging and safe car that will prepare young drivers for F1, and that will continue to provide great racing and a lot of overtaking opportunities, something that the fans expect from F2.
“It has been designed also to fit all types of drivers, taking into account the FIA's consideration regarding the steering effort. This is obviously key to making our sport more inclusive, by enhancing our car's driveability and comfort.
“One of our main focuses remains cost control. So, we have kept the same engine and gearbox, and there are a lot of carried-over parts from the previous car.
“Finally, we made sure the teams can manage this new car with 12 operational people, as per the sporting regulations.”
F1 CEO and president Stefano Domenicali added: “F2 consistently delivers excellent racing and acts as an important training ground for future members of the Formula 1 grid, and by bringing the design philosophies of the two cars closer together we will support this development further.
“The new F2 car is also an important symbol for our sustainability journey as the series continues to pioneer advanced sustainable fuel which will become a part of F1 from 2026.”
Tickford Racing Team Principal Tim Edwards believes that Thomas Randle's breakthrough podiums at The Bend are “a sign of things to come.”
Randle had finished in the top three of a Supercars Championship race previously, at the 2019 Sandown 500, but that was as a co-driver to Lee Holdsworth in the #5 Tickford entry.
At The Bend, he came home third in the opening race of the weekend, then backed that up with a pole position on the Sunday morning, followed by a second placing and another third, to be the (unofficial) round runner-up to championship leader Brodie Kostecki.
While Edwards continued to express pessimism about the parity (or perhaps lack thereof) between the Ford Mustang, which teams such as his field, and the Chevrolet Camaro, he did greet Tickford's latest performance as a confidence-booster for the team.
Not only was Randle a constant on the podium in South Australia, Cam Waters scored a top three for the first time since he took the chequered flag in third place in Race 1 of the season in Newcastle, after which he was officially elevated to the victory given the disqualification of both of the Triple Eight Race Engineering entries.
“It's been it's been a tough year, so it's been a bit of a drought for us,” said Edwards.
“We're used to being on the podium most weekends and it's been tough for the team, so this is a good uplift for the team, a good confidence-booster.
“We're certainly not confident that the same will be repeated at other rounds, but certainly [at The Bend] it's fantastic for Thomas.
“Not only did he get his first [solo] podium, but he also got his first, second, and third, so that's, I'm sure, is going to be a sign of things to come in the future.
“It's great, and we're pleased, and obviously JC [James Courtney] got some strong top 10 results as well.
“It's been a happy hunting ground for us – we've had good car speed as a team here over the years – so I think that sort of played into our hands, as does the low degradation for the tyres.”
Randle admitted that he had started the Sunday of the event more relaxed after his Saturday breakthrough in the #55 Castrol Mustang, and the mood is good as an enduro campaign with Garry Jacobson as co-driver looms on the horizon.
“It was nice to get that off my back,” remarked the 27-year-old.
“It's been a long time coming trying to get a solo podium, so I was probably a bit more relaxed [on the Sunday], and just concentrating on what I needed to do.
“It's a nice way to lead into the enduros and I'm looking forward to teaming up with Garry Jacobson.
“So far, we've got off to a really good start in our relationship; had a couple of test days been rained out a little bit, but he's had some good laps.
“He's great to be around – a fantastic personality – [and] we've spent a lot of time in the simulator just working on a few things, and I think it's going to be really good leading into Sandown.”
Tickford will test at Winton this Tuesday before the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 takes place on September 15-17.
Top speeds are set to become a talking point at this year's Repco Bathurst 1000 with a change to the prescribed drop gear ratio.
Mount Panorama already featured the tallest of any of the mandated ratios, which are set by Supercars and apply equally to the Ford and Chevrolet (previously Holden) at any given track, with the 2023 Operations Manual stipulating a 0.931.
However, that has been made even taller per the Supplementary Regulations for this year's Great Race, at 0.909.
It raises the question as to whether or not the Gen3 Supercars will crack the 300km/h figure at the end of Conrod Straight.
A taller drop gear means a higher top speed, all other things being equal, but that much could be academic because of the trade-off of slower acceleration.
Supercars made that change then, in the third year of Car of the Future, in order to reduce the time which engines spent on the rev limiter before turning into Conrod Straight, and hence enhance reliability.
COTF, however, represented carryover in so much that the Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores of the day retained their 5.0-litre pushrod engines from the Project Blueprint era, whereas the new-for-2023 Gen3 Mustang is powered by a Coyote-derived 5.4-litre double overhead cam unit and the Camaro by the 5.7-litre pushrod LTR.
Drop gears have already been made a step taller for multiple events so far, at Symmons Plains and Sandown, both of which have long back ‘straights'.
Sandown also has a relatively long pit straight while Mount Panorama boasts the 1.111km Mountain Straight and 1.916km Conrod Straight.
Teams will still have to take the 0.931 drop gear and a 1.000 as the official back-up ratios for the Bathurst 1000.
The compulsory pit stop counts for the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 are yet to be confirmed, but a front pad change has been mandated at the latter at some point from the start of Lap 55 to the end of Lap 120.
That marks something of a change from last year, when the compulsory brake service was a rotor change rather than pads only.
Pre-enduro testing begins this Monday, with the Sandown 500 on September 15-17 and the Bathurst 1000 on October 5-8.
