group project 2011[1]

MSc Motorsport Engineering and Management

Group Project 2011

Sustainable Rally 2011

As teams you will each develop and deliver:

• A design proposal for a competitive and exciting hybrid or electric rally car.

•An outline for a major launch event which will best showcase the vehicle and environmentally sustainable off-road motorsport.


Rallying is a unique form of motorsport, it offers many technical challenges and marketing opportunities to companies.

It is a spectacle for spectators, both at the event and through broadcast media.

The WRC is global.

It is also under threat…


Rallying needs to be sustainable.

It needs to be energy efficient.

It needs to minimise its environmental impact.

But it stills needs to be technically challenging.

It still needs to be visually exciting.

It still needs to attract manufacturer participation and sponsors.

And for this it needs an audience.

Sustainable Rally 2011Definition

Sustainability is ensuring a practice can continue because it limits its impact on the environment, minimises energy usage and yet remains financially viable.

Sustainable Rally 2011Vehicle

A Ford Fiesta size body shell and design it for off road competition based on the best combination of available technology and components to produce maximum performance with minimal environmental impact.

•Convert an existing vehicle.

•Develop a totally new concept.

Sustainable Rally 2011Vehicle

In developing your engineering solutions you will be expected to cover:

•Power train (plug-in hybrid or full electric)

•Overall packaging, system architecture

•Vehicle performance

•Energy storage and power sources

•Energy consumption and recovery – resulting range in relation to stage design and road sections.

•Car’s local environmental impact such as tyre/surface interaction and track damage.

•Safety

You will work to a budget.

Sustainable Rally 2011Event

Your technical proposal must be developed alongside an assessment of the market for such a vehicle and the best possible series of events for a low carbon off road racing series.

This series will be proposed within a single country or region, but it is up to you to select which country you focus on based on your market analysis.

Sustainable Rally 2011Event

You will outline a route over which the vehicles will compete, proposing terrain profiles, surfaces, stage lengths, road sections and service intervals.

The plan should demonstrate why this event is desirable in terms of involvement of the local population and advertising access.

The plan should be technically feasible with the vehicle performance you propose.

Sustainable Rally 2011Synergy

The development of the event will feed back to set vehicle technical performance specifications– for example balancing range against performance to cover the optimum route for spectator access and advertising gain.

Route choice will feed your models of surface type and topography to predict energy use and inform car component selection.

This symbiotic link is essential to producing a convincing overall proposal and not just a car with no market.

Sustainable Rally 2011Environment

The event plan will show how the combination of vehicle design and route choice offers the chance to demonstrate environmentally sustainable motorsport – “treading lightly” but with all the excitement of a traditional off road racing event.

Environmental impact will be a major priority and you will need to consider:

•Degradation of the route.

•Any remediation of the routes following the event.

•Facilities for competitors and spectators.

•Competitor and spectator travel.

Sustainable Rally 2011Business case

Where your event is concerned you will have to consider how it will deliver the target audience to your ‘client’. This will be a key aspect for your business case.

Sustainable Rally 2011Planning

Resources•Centre for Automotive Technology

•Wider University where required

•Offsite

•Motorsport practitioner and academic presentations

•Test data

As teams you are managing your own project.

Key steps 11.Determine overall tasks to be carried out

12.Conduct thorough literature review – scope definition

13.Determine modelling and test plan including data requirements

14.Identify parameters and variables.

Sustainable Rally 2011Key dates

Event Date

Group Project Launch 22nd Feb 2011

Group Project review 1 15th March 2011

Requirements for testing/data 18th March 2011

Group Project review 2 12th April 2011

Report and Poster submission 6th May 2011

Oral exams 9th May 2011

Presentations Reharsal 10th May 2011

Group Project Day - presentation 11th May 2011

Sustainable Rally 2011Master classes

Mike Pilbeam, Pilbeam Racing Designs 22nd Feb 2011

Marc de Jong, WRC Academy and North One

Azhar Hussain, TTXGP and E Grand Prix Series 1st March 2011

Clive Temple, Marketing 3rd March 2011

Steve Farrell, Ex-Subaru WRT

The Motor Sports Association (MSA) – route planning/authorisationsporting regulationstechnical regulations/safety

Announcements via Blackboard.

Sustainable Rally 2011The teams

1 2 3 4 5

Dauphin Baer Beckett Ahuja Algoo

Hamm Crowley Boutroux Dube Alvarez

Harvey Haines Kasius Huber Kanakaraj

Lekowski MacGregor Larrat Khoo Learmonth

Nunes Maffi Ní Dhubháin van Rees Ooi

Oxley van Buuren Poruri Zarei Pichon

Verspeelt Rimbault

Sustainable Rally 2011Presentations

On 11th May 2011 you will present your team’s proposals to an audience comprising motorsport sector professionals.

You will compete for the Motor Sports Association (MSA) prize.


Good luck – the group project contributes 20 credits to your MSc.