... but they
are. Now I know this Blog is all about Scottish rallying and interesting road
stuff, but this falls into the category of 'interesting automotrivia', and there
is a Scottish connection!
The
Batmobile pictured here is an actual race car. It’s not a model and it’s not
April the First. And it has actually been driven on the track.
Built by Dan
Gurney's legendary All American Racers organisation, the current team
includes US-domiciled British designer Ben Bowlby, American motorsport
entrepreneur Don Panoz, Duncan Dayton’s two-time championship-winning Highcroft
Racing team, Michelin Tyres North America and major support for the project has
come from Nissan.
And thereby
hangs the clue. The car will make its race debut at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hour
race on the 16/17 June. It won’t actually be classified in the race, but Nissan
and the team partners are intending to showcase this pioneering technology.
Paul
Willcox, Senior Vice President, Nissan in Europe, said: “Nissan is a very
innovative, forward-thinking company prepared to take a risk or two. And
exactly the same applies to Nissan DeltaWing. Our involvement in the project
shows the boldness of Nissan from an engineering and innovation mindset.”
Naturally Nissan
is looking for some long term technological benefits from this association. “As
motor racing rulebooks have become tighter over time, racing cars look more and
more similar and the technology used has had less and less relevance to road
car development. Nissan DeltaWing aims to change that,” said Britain’s Andy Palmer, Executive
Vice President, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
“But this is
just the start of our involvement. Nissan DeltaWing embodies a vast number of
highly-innovative ideas that we can learn from. At the same time, our
engineering resources and commitment to fuel efficiency leadership via our
PureDrive strategy will help develop DeltaWing into a testbed of innovation for
Nissan.”
Nissan
DeltaWing concept originator and designer, Briton Ben Bowlby, said: “Nissan has
provided us with our first choice engine. It’s a spectacular piece. We’ve got
the engine of our dreams: it’s the right weight, has the right power and it’s
phenomenally efficient.”
Nissan
DeltaWing is unlike any other racing car currently on track. The driver sits
well back in the car, almost over the rear axle and looks ahead down a long,
narrow fuselage to narrow twin front tyres, specially created for the car by
tyre partner Michelin. With a rear-mounted engine, the car has a strong
rearward weight bias, which makes it highly manoeuvrable, while its light
weight and slippery shape make it far more efficient.
It’s this innovative
design and forward-looking technology that have encouraged the Automobile Club
de l’Ouest (ACO) to invite the car to run in this year’s race from ‘Garage 56’,
the spot in the pitlane reserved for experimental cars. As it doesn’t conform
to any existing championship regulations, Nissan DeltaWing will not be eligible
to challenge for silverware and will carry the race number ‘0’.
Marino is Batman ! |
The first
two Nissan DeltaWing drivers to be confirmed are British Sportscar racer Marino
Franchitti ( Dario’s wee brother - the Scottish connection! ) and Nissan’s reigning FIA GT1 World Champion
Michael Krumm.
The car will make its first public demo laps at Sebring,
Florida, at 12.30 pm local time this coming Thursday, March 15.
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