600 replies to this topic

[saudoso]

Thank you!

Thank YOU!

[VWV]

  That was en excellent read Jade, I definately will be purchasing a copy of your book. As a mechancial designer myself, I enjoy reading engineering history and I wish there were alot more articles or books on racecar design available. I enjoyed reading in your excerpt what the designers were thinking as they worked. Well done.

 

Does anyone know if there is a book or article on the history of F1 active suspensions?

Edited by VWV, 29 March 2014 - 14:56.

[JadeGurss]

Thanks VWV. 

 

I had to walk a thin line. I used what I called the M.O.M. rule (M.U.M. rule in the UK): my mom had to be able to understand the technical details. I really believe the story has potential to appeal to a wide array of interests. So, it meant I tried to provide as much technical detail as I was able without it being a true, hardcore engineering book. As an author, I was much more intrigued by the thought processes and problem solving that took place from day one until the morning of the race itself, rather than only relying upon hard numbers and tech specs. I hope the finished product achieves that balance.

 

Patrick Morgan provided a number of superb CAD illustrations throughout the book, which allowed us to visually compare the pushrod versus the "typical" Ilmor Indy D engine. We were able to show V angle, pushrod sizes, valve springs, gear train, etc... 

 

jade.

 

 

  That was en excellent read Jade, I definately will be purchasing a copy of your book. As a mechancial designer myself, I enjoy reading engineering history and I wish there were alot more articles or books on racecar design available. I enjoyed reading in your excerpt what the designers were thinking as they worked. Well done.

 

Does anyone know if there is a book or article on the history of F1 active suspensions?

[Magoo]

Magnificent. 

[JadeGurss]

As a 'thank you' to the Autosport forum, and in honor of the significant role Patrick Morgan played in making the book happen, here's an exclusive excerpt from the upcoming book, BEAST.  The book will soon roll off the printers in the US. I'm not certain of the UK/Europe timeline for release, but advance orders via Amazon will be shipped as soon as it's available.

 

-- Jade.

 

This excerpt (edited for brevity and to remove spoilers) takes place after the engine had been designed and built by Ilmor Engineering in Brixworth, England. Once manufacturing of the parts had begun, they were sent to Reading, PA, where Team Penske was based. However, because the engine was still top-secret, only a small handful of employees knew of its existence. So, the engines were built several blocks away, in a tiny, dark and dank little garage they jokingly called the Taj Mahal.

 

Internally, the pushrod was code-named the "265E" to keep its real intent secret. (The double-overhead cam "standard" engine was the "265D" - and raced the '94 CART season as the “Ilmor Indy” engine.) For many at Ilmor and Penske, they still refer to the pushrod as “the E” twenty years later. 

 

The first on-track test took place Feb. 20, 1994 at Nazareth Speedway, a one-mile oval roughly 60 miles from Penske’s headquarters. Al Unser Jr. drove the first day of testing in very rough conditions, including frigid temperatures and giant snow drifts of ten-feet or more on each side of the track. We pick up the story after the completion of the first day of testing.

 

------- 

 

Test. Then Test Again. / Heat guns and engine failures

 

Al Unser Jr. and the test team had survived the chill and snow to complete the targeted mileage on the first day of testing. The session was scheduled to continue the next day, but too much precipitation meant no laps were turned. The Goodyear tires were slicks, so even the smallest amount of moisture on the track surface could cause calamitous results. It was a day of tedium. And interminable waiting.

 

With the weather improved the following day, they began again. After 105 miles, Unser Jr. began to complain the engine had “lost its edge.” A quick check showed no major issues, so it was buttoned up and sent back on track. The engine continued to run until a driveshaft came loose and the test was stopped at 205 miles. 

 

Another driver was scheduled for the next round of tests. He just didn’t know it yet.

 

“It was [team managers] Clive Howell and Chuck Sprague who called and said, ‘Hey, we need you to fly into Allentown,’” Paul Tracy recalled. “All I knew was that I was going to the shop for a seat fitting.”

 

Each driver has custom seat inserts made from an exact mold of his body, and Tracy hopped on a direct commuter flight from Toronto to Allentown, the nearest airport to Reading.

 

Tracy had grown up in suburban Toronto and set the tone for a new generation of drivers in the early 1990s. As a teenager, he claimed a number of “youngest ever” records as he rushed up the open-wheel ladder with seeming ease. The short sprint races in Formula Ford, Formula Atlantic, and then Indy Lights (he was the 1990 Indy Lights champ) were ideally suited to his style: all out, all the time. 

 

He made his Indy car debut with the small Dale Coyne Racing team in 1991. The one-off ride was funded by his family, which had scraped together enough money in a final attempt to make it to the top level. When the old, tired engine on his car expired early in the Long Beach Grand Prix, a dejected Tracy received a message to see Roger Penske. Hoping he hadn’t done anything unintentionally to upset the Captain, Tracy sheepishly went to Penske’s motorhome, where he was instead offered a position as test driver.

 

After a mix of brilliant flashes and massive crashes in his few race opportunities, Tracy made his full-time debut in Marlboro colors in 1993 and secured his first victory at the Long Beach race, two years after his meeting with Roger. His five victories tied the champion Nigel Mansell for the most wins in the season, a sparkling achievement for a rookie.

 

“It was weird. They had me fly in late that afternoon, and they said, ‘Oh, we’ll just make the seat tonight,’” said Tracy, who had several nicknames at the time, most notably “PT” and “The Thrill from West Hill.” “I came into the shop and they had the test-team guys working there at night. There was a car that had a different engine cover on it than normal. I didn’t think much of it . . . at first.”

 

After the seat was molded, a few more details trickled out. 

 

“Oh, by the way, we’re going to test tomorrow at Nazareth,” they told him. 

 

“It was flippin’ February!” Tracy laughed. “I still knew nothing about it until we were going to the track the next day!”

 

Just like everyone else who learned of the project and was immediately dedicated to the effort, Tracy became the primary test driver for the project, less than one hour after learning of its existence.

 

“I was so busy then, and those times were much different from now,” Tracy recalled. “I was testing all the time. I was testing the other car, too. There were no testing rules, you could test as much as you wanted, and as much as your budget would allow. I was going from Nazareth to Sebring to Phoenix to California. All over the place. All the time.

 

“I lived out of a suitcase,” he said, before poking fun at his more experienced teammate. “Emerson [Fittipaldi] wasn’t a big tester in the offseason. He liked to go to Brazil and you couldn’t get him to come out of there unless it was a really important test. It was hard to get Emerson to test anywhere that wasn’t eighty degrees and sunny! 

 

“I was the young guy, and that was my job.”

 

As Tracy prepared to drive, did he share Al Jr.’s caution about the conditions and the brittle engine?

 

“No,” he replied. “It’s just part if it. Anything can blow up at any time. That’s what my job was.

 

“Nazareth wasn’t the place this engine was built to perform,” said Tracy, who tried to push the limit every lap. “It was only a testbed for us.” 

 

Tracy did share Unser Jr.’s assessment of the most difficult part of testing the E. 

 

“The hardest part of driving was my hands were cold,” Tracy said. “I tried to drive in ski gloves but they were too bulky and big. The cockpits at the time were small. Then we tried mittens—those big ski mittens—and it just didn’t work very well.”

 

While his hands were cold, the worst chill was reserved for his feet. 

 

“If the engine would last, I’d do a thirty-, forty-, or fifty-lap run,” Tracy said. “I’d come in and my feet were just frozen.”

 

“Tracy was really a trooper,” said John Cummiskey, one of the lead mechanics on Tracy’s race team, and who attended some of the test sessions. “He got into the snowmobile suit, but his feet would get really cold. He had to wear his thin driving shoes because there was so little space in the footwell. He had big feet too, so there was no extra space. We tried to close as many ducts as we could.” 

 

Not only was it uncomfortable, but his cold feet hampered his ability to feel the throttle and brake pedals. So the team concocted a plan to help Tracy when he came in to pit lane.

 

“We’d take the cover off the nose of the car, and put heat guns on his feet to warm him up,” said Cummiskey. “A few times his driving shoes got so hot, they started melting and smoking, but he couldn’t feel anything because his feet were so numb!” 

 

With the temperature lingering at twenty-three degrees Fahrenheit (minus five Celsius), Tracy climbed in for the first time. The goal for the day was to cover three hundred miles. It didn’t begin well, with a serious misfire caused by a misconnection in the electronics. 

 

“It was a strange engine,” said Howell. “Some days it would start right away, some days it wouldn’t.”

 

At 280 miles, the engine suffered its first major on-track failure.

 

The number-three piston dome had cracked, leading to the destruction of the piston. This can be catastrophic if the connecting rod—suddenly unattached to the piston—thrashes wildly like a cleaver through the block and sump. Luckily, the cylinder liner contained the damage and limited the carnage. 

 

With another E bolted to the test car, Tracy managed only twenty-eight miles the next morning before heavy snow ended the day. Everyone remained optimistic, not letting snow or vaporized pistons dampen the mood. Yet, the shadow of Indianapolis grew taller each day. How, in less than three months, could this engine be expected to last five hundred miles?

 

“For a newbie, the struggles could be a morale buster,” said Guy Oder, the man in charge of the small test team. “If someone said, ‘I want instant success, and I’m not getting it.’ That’s not the right way to think. I had been through the [Ilmor’s first-ever engine, the 265A] motor program. That was a nightmare. We started testing in 1986 and we didn’t get a victory until after Newman/Haas got one in 1987. We were bustin’ our nuts, closing those things up. Here, at least we could see progress every day.”

 

With the snow clearing and the weather warming, they were back at it. Almost all the testing was focused on the engine rather than the PC23 chassis. Despite cold, hard tires that were closer to Fred Flintstone’s than racing treads, the data showed Tracy turned a lap of 19.85 seconds, quicker than the existing track record! (His top speed of the day was measured at 189 miles per hour.) After 175 miles, the engine failed. A quick diagnosis showed a number of issues with the valve train. Damage was evident on the valves. There was also a bent pushrod and failed cam follower. 

 

The cycle was in action. Test. Fail. Diagnose. Communicate. Improve. Manufacture. Ship. Rebuild. Then test again.

 

Meanwhile, the rest of the world was unaware the E existed. Rumors were even being printed about other projects that were phantoms at best, without a single mention of the E.

 

National Speed Sport News had been America’s definitive weekly paper for race news since 1934. The most popular segment of the paper was called “The Editor’s Notebook,” where the dean of American motorsports writers, Chris Economaki, wrote snippets of news and rumors from his vast travels. In the March 4, 1994, issue, Economaki wrote of his “spies in Warren, Michigan, who tell us Chevy’s ‘Get Even with Roger’ pushrod Indy engine should be in production by the fall.” His spies were wrong.

 

Unser Jr. was back in the car on March 11. It was cold as usual, but with a blustery twist: twenty-five-mile-per-hour winds. This increased the level of misery for the crewmembers, but the engine performed beautifully, covering four hundred miles. Any time the day ended with the driver shutting off the engine in the pit lane rather than on-track, it was a victory. 

 

Almost.

 

Earl McMullen had been with Penske Racing since the Mark Donohue days and was in charge of the gearbox department. He and Steve Tredup were a two-man team, constructing the regular gearboxes as well as the new, beefier version to handle the torque of the E. Tredup recounted McMullen’s view at the end of the day. 

 

“Al Jr. came in to shut the car off, and Earl walked to the back of the transmission and the two oil seals on the starter shaft just fell out onto the pavement and all the oil in the gearbox fell out!” said Tredup. “Earl was like ‘Oh crap! Oh no!’ It was coming apart big time. It couldn’t handle the torque.”

 

The following morning, Tredup and McMullen tore into the gearbox to find shattered bearings. The damage was significant enough that Penske Cars was called in to redesign the entire outer case for the gearbox. The process would take nearly a month.

 

“Roger walked in later that day,” Tredup said. “He came in the back door, right by the gearbox shop, and said, ‘How’s everything look?’  Earl, who was kind of a colorful guy, snapped at Roger. ‘That ****in’ thing is not going to run for a while!’ I thought, ‘Oh my god. . .’ Roger looked at him and said, ‘I don’t give a damn what it takes or what it costs, that thing’s going to run next week!’ Roger was under a lot of stress.” 

 

Penske had been concerned about the gearbox from the very first time he heard it, most likely because the E was a much quieter engine. He didn’t like what the team had dubbed “the Penske Death Rattle.”

 

“The gearbox was loud, perhaps because the engine itself was so quiet,” said Jon Bouslog. “I tried to explain that to Roger, but he came in to hear it run and almost immediately said, ‘Turn it off! Turn it off!’ He made us rebuild the transmission even though we had told him that was the ‘normal’ noise.”

 

“Roger thought it was loud,” said Tredup, the gearbox specialist. “Look, with straight-cut gears, it rattles. There’s nothing you can do about it. Ever since we went to an aluminum main case, the whole gearbox was a thin-wall casting so it seemed louder. It accentuated the noise. Roger would hear it running in the pit lane and he’d look at me. I’d say, ‘It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Just run it.’”

 

Round one of testing was complete, and it was time to travel halfway around the globe to Australia for the first race of the CART season. While the teams were enjoying the warm Gold Coast, work on the E continued nonstop at Ilmor and the Taj Mahal.

Edited by JadeGurss, 25 April 2014 - 17:03.

[JacnGille]

[Catalina Park]

You stopped? Bastard!

If I only buy one book this year it will be this one.

[Patrick Morgan]

Jade, you're embarrassing me! Stop it!

 

As this chapter details the gearbox I thought I'd add an illustration of it. I had quite a few challenges to overcome, not least getting curved teeth onto the bevel gear... that' not something I've done before so it was quite a step learning curve (no pun intended). 

 

 

PC23 Gearbox by dtperformanceltd, on Flickr

[Magoo]

You stopped? Bastard!

If I only buy one book this year it will be this one.

 

Me, too. I am actually buying one book this year. I stopped buying paper books when I realized that if I retired now and did nothing but read for the rest of my days, I still wouldn't get through the piles I've collected. But his book is too good to pass up. 

Edited by Magoo, 26 April 2014 - 09:24.

[Patrick Morgan]

The Penske Gearbox Death Rattle is a very real phenomenon incidentally. To the uninitiated it sounds like it's tearing itself apart or will jump into gear at any moment.... The other very odd thing about warming a 265E up is that at about 4000rpm the air goes sonic over the 9th butterfly which sounds like someone pushing a thin sheet of steel through a bandsaw too fast. It's kind of alarming! 

[JadeGurss]

The Penske Gearbox Death Rattle is a very real phenomenon incidentally. To the uninitiated it sounds like it's tearing itself apart or will jump into gear at any moment.... The other very odd thing about warming a 265E up is that at about 4000rpm the air goes sonic over the 9th butterfly which sounds like someone pushing a thin sheet of steel through a bandsaw too fast. It's kind of alarming! 

 

 Damn, man... that's pretty colorful! I could have used that in the book... A bandsaw?!

[Patrick Morgan]

 Damn, man... that's pretty colorful! I could have used that in the book... A bandsaw?!

Sorry, I guess I neglected to mention it..... I'm not sure how well you can hear it in the "Several days in May" film. For whatever reason it seemed to me to be more audible in the Stuttgart car (Emerson's race car) than it did Al's car the one time both ran in the same week at the same venue back in 2011.

 

Possibly that's just down to 9th butterfly setup, I'm not sure. I do remember hearing the engine run in a car for he first time at Donington in about 1999 and being fairly alarmed at the noises it made. My dad managed to get it for a VSCC meet, I can't recall the name of the event but it was in September time, It became "See Red" I think. Emerson drove it and left black lines from the exit of the final turn to about 1/3rd down the straight!

 

We were privileged to have Martin Brundle drive the 98T at Donington a couple of weeks ago and his performance (which was pretty epic I have to say) reminded me of Emerson's! I can't say it wasn't nerve wracking but it brought back some great memories as in both cases it was just breathtaking to watch. 

[Henri Greuter]

You stopped? Bastard!

If I only buy one book this year it will be this one.

 

Well, I am glad i don't have to choose. I can and wanto buy two books this year, Beast is one of the two.

The other one is like one that others out here will also think about since that is about a subject which was discussed in the Nostalgoa Forum and turned out to be very reveiling and made the event discussed come into a much different light then it currently is.

 

Jade, I won't mention that book because I don't want to make anti-promotion for your book which is how it could be seen if I mention the title of another book in your thread. But I know that you know which book I'm talng about and I am pretty sure that it is one that will interest you as well.

 

 

Henri

Edited by Henri Greuter, 27 April 2014 - 18:37.

[JadeGurss]

Well, I am glad i don't have to choose. I can and wanto buy two books this year, Beast is one of the two.

The other one is like one that others out here will also think about since that is about a subject which was discussed in the Nostalgoa Forum and turned out to be very reveiling and made the event discussed come into a much different light then it currently is.

 

Jade, I won't mention that book because I don't want to make anti-promotion for your book which is how it could be seen if I mention the title of another book in your thread. But I know that you know which book I'm talng about and I am pretty sure that it is one that will interest you as well.

 

 

Henri

 

Share away. We're among friends....

 

Jade.

[Henri Greuter]

Share away. We're among friends....

 

Jade.

 

Jade,

 

the other book I look forward to to see and read is "Black noon" by Art Gardner.

That book is about the 1964 race and supposed to finally correct a number of stories told about the gruelling 2nd lap accident.

Within the Nostalgia Forum, a sister forum over here at Atlas there has been a thread about the Mickey Thompson cars, opened with the hope that facts and stories would appear that were not know yet or ignored over the years. Which did indeed happen and put much of what is known about that accident under a different light.

I am pretty sure that I won't be the only one who will buy your book and that of Gardner and will have difficulties to decide which will be the one  he likes the best of all.

 

And I must admit, it feels so strange to know that several years ago I put out stories about bot the 265E and the 1964 accident out on the web for 8W and both these subject getting their own, dedicated book at last within the same month.

 

Henri

 

Henri

[Thekirkshop]

" ‘I don’t give a damn what it takes or what it costs, that thing’s going to run next week!’ this quote kind of sums up my experience of Roger, yes he would make seriously challenging demands, but he would also put all his considerable resources at your disposal, and you felt like he was there alongside you, not just yelling down at you from on high.

[Patrick Morgan]

After a substantial delay PC 23 08 is now in paint... well almost. There is still another two coats of lacquer to do but it's nearly there. 

 

 

PC 23 in paint by dtperformanceltd, on Flickr

 

The real headache is getting the fluro red correct. It looks different in photo compared to on TV or in real life. If you've ever seen a Casey Stoner era Ducati in the flesh you will know that the Ducati red is actually a pretty muddy orange. The Penske's are a bright orange/pink colour in real life and it's down to the painter to get the constancy and number of coats correct to bring it out. One mist too many and it goes dark.....

[saudoso]

Ohh that's so sweet!

 

The joys of the NTSC  tv standard: never twice the same color.

 

 We don't have Marlboro on racing any longer but I gues they'd be using a closer red now with digital tranmissions, right?

[Patrick Morgan]

Ohh that's so sweet!

 

The joys of the NTSC  tv standard: never twice the same color.

 

 We don't have Marlboro on racing any longer but I gues they'd be using a closer red now with digital tranmissions, right?

I'm not sure what colours the teams use to get the correct red these days but it's been something that's evolved with TV camera technology is my understanding. 

 

There is a great little sub-plot in Jade's book where the test team/paint shop are given 24 hours to repaint the car after an MIS test for the unveiling in Indy. The guys from the Mercedes board turned up and got very upset saying they wanted the real test car.... when they were told "This IS the real test car" they were very happy. That's the kind of detail Penske were/are just so good at. 

[JadeGurss]

Happy to report that BEAST is (finally) a tangible item. If you pre-ordered from Octane Press, your order has likely shipped. Still not certain of release/arrival date for the UK/EU - will try to let everyone know when that's set. 

 

Thanks to so many people - including Patrick Morgan, whose CAD illustrations are featured throughout the book. 

 

jade.

 

[Victor_RO]

Looks stunning. Can't wait.   Hopefully mine turns up here in time for this year's 500.

[Patrick Morgan]

Wow, you didn't tell me the illustrations were going to be on the inside covers! It's been a lot of work and a real privilege to work on this book. Well done Jade, it's real!

 

I'm sure my Dad would be very proud of what you've done with this book, he was an avid reader of motorsport and engineering books so I'm sure he would have enjoyed it enormously. 

[saudoso]

Still May 15 on Amazon...waiting anxiously. First paper book in a couple of years!

[JadeGurss]

Still May 15 on Amazon...waiting anxiously. First paper book in a couple of years!

 

I suspect you'll have it long before that in North America. 

[Marc Sproule]

i reckon reproducing the marlboro "red" is easier with digital imagery than from film. the image above looks very good to me.

 

it's always a pain for me to get it close when scanning it from film to digital without ruining the rest of the color in the image.

 

this is a a decent but not very accurate example of what i mean.....

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4331338619/

 

of course the end result is always gonna be how the color is set up for the monitor on which it's being viewed.

[Patrick Morgan]

i reckon reproducing the marlboro "red" is easier with digital imagery than from film. the image above looks very good to me.

 

it's always a pain for me to get it close when scanning it from film to digital without ruining the rest of the color in the image.

 

this is a a decent but not very accurate example of what i mean.....

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4331338619/

 

of course the end result is always gonna be how the color is set up for the monitor on which it's being viewed.

 

You are absolutely right. Luckily we had a rear wing end plate that was faded everywhere except where it contacted the main plane and flaps so we had a small sample that had not seen any UV to go on. 

[saudoso]

i reckon reproducing the marlboro "red" is easier with digital imagery than from film. the image above looks very good to me.

 

it's always a pain for me to get it close when scanning it from film to digital without ruining the rest of the color in the image.

 

this is a a decent but not very accurate example of what i mean.....

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4331338619/

 

of course the end result is always gonna be how the color is set up for the monitor on which it's being viewed.

That's the beauty of it IMO. It was designed to look like the cigarret pack red when captured and reproduced.

 

Tons of research and money to create a color out of gammut so that you can't get the collor right in TV or print, but what you get is what they want you to.

[B Squared]

From what I understand Mr. Penske has an especially keen eye for the proper color. Even when his extrodinarily well-maintained museum cars in this livery look spot-on to most, he'll have the restoration shop freshen them up.

 

The car is looking great Patrick, thanks for sharing the updates with us.

[Nigel Beresford]

The problem, as explained to me by the boys in the paint shop back in the day, was that the "Rocket Red" fluorescent paint supplied in the US was not allowed to contain an anti-fading ingredient that was allowed in Europe (and used by, for example, McLaren). Consequently the cars had to be regularly repainted.

 

Standard operating procedure during the month of May was to strip down the cars which had been qualified for the race and send the tubs and bodywork back to Reading PA in a box van for repainting (whilst carefully protecting the identification marks that had been added by USAC to enforce the rule that stated that cars must race with the same bodywork parts they qualified). Race setup work was then done during the second week using the spare cars, and the freshly repainted race cars were built up during week three, ready for pre-race shakedown on Carb Day.

 

Incidentally, all the Indy 500 winners (except the '72 and '81) in the Penske Museum in Scottsdale AZ are the real cars, built as far as possible with the same parts that were on the car when it won the race, i.e. the engine, the gearbox, the uprights etc. The setup is historically correct too, and they're all runners.

Edited by Nigel Beresford, 03 May 2014 - 17:27.

[Ross Stonefeld]

That's the beauty of it IMO. It was designed to look like the cigarret pack red when captured and reproduced.

 

Tons of research and money to create a color out of gammut so that you can't get the collor right in TV or print, but what you get is what they want you to.

 

The 'true' color of race cars never stops impressing me.

 

This car, seen only with your own eyes, is seriously bright. Even the blue of PDVSA is neon-ish.

 

[Marc Sproule]

more examples of the marlboro color/s. as you can see the colors varied a fair amount when shot on film.

 

and here's a couple of questions for the paint knowledgeable types...

 

was the marlboro color always the same, f1, cart and motorcycles?

 

was the stp red the same as the marlboro red?

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4383646371/

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/6849331074/

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4350860694/

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4357147187/

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4357147355/

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4456552018/

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4344973507/

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4339554070/

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4388543071/

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4426027291/

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4458572967/

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4292582126/

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4396947733/

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4396947605/

 

https://www.flickr.c...N03/4357246895/

 

my apologies if this is too far off topic

[Tony Matthews]

I couldn't use the near-correct flouro colours on my cutaways, as a) the magazine and poster printers couldn't match it, and b) it fades, just like the real thing. In gouache and water colours they are called Ostwald tints, and they, along with a few other, non-flouro tints, are termed fugitive. I didn't want my artwork to fade, but I did use a little fugitive pink (Bengal Rose?) for Wiggins clips, and they are now a pinky-brown. My late friend, the terrific airbrush illustrator Gavin McLeod, managed to get Rocket Red as near right as I could judge, and had a special flouro ink used on the prints. I think this was a 5th or 6th colour, and may have been overlaid on a regular red (Which is made up of yellow, magenta and cyan as print boffins know). He did several Penske prints, and I don't know if the red faded or transmogrified when stuck on an office wall that got regular sun light, all my copies are pristine, but in a plan chest drawer, sadly...

[stewie]

Still not certain of release/arrival date for the UK/EU - will try to let everyone know when that's set.

 

I really hope they hurry up and release this in the UK, I've been following your posts with great interest and I can't wait to read the book!

[JadeGurss]

I really hope they hurry up and release this in the UK, I've been following your posts with great interest and I can't wait to read the book!

 

Thanks Stewie - I'll try to let everyone know as soon as I have more details on the timing.

[GreenMachine]

Mine is in the mail.

[Freebird]

The Beast has arrived, two days ago. Well worth the wait guys.

Little did I realize, it's published 2 hrs north of me here in Minneapolis, MN USA

 

FB

[JadeGurss]

Let me know what you think Freebird, and if you have any questions!

 

jade.

 

 

 

The Beast has arrived, two days ago. Well worth the wait guys.

 

 

Little did I realize, it's published 2 hrs north of me here in Minneapolis, MN USA

 

FB

[saudoso]

Mine was shipped by Amazon today, will take a while to reach these southern lands though.

[JadeGurss]

Friday UPDATE:  RACER.com has posted another excerpt from the book this morning. This segment details the very first test session of the engine with driver Al Unser Jr. You can find the excerpt here:  http://x.co/4bTZF

 

The book is now in stock at Amazon.com, and should be shipping to those who pre-ordered. Thanks!

[Nigel Beresford]

Thanks for the link Jade. You've done a wonderful job of capturing the personalities of the people concerned - I could hear their voices as I read the words.

I don't know where Racer came up with the PC23B nomenclature though. I hope that doesn't become another internet-perpetuated "fact". It was only ever a PC23, whatever engine/gearbox was fitted.

[Patrick Morgan]

I can only imagine it was spawned from Nick Goozee's comments about building car 'A' for the 265D then car 'B' for the 265E - he used those words at our lunch interview (a 3 hour highlight of life that included meeting Geoff Ferris who is a hero of mine). As you say for the record there was never any A or B spec car referred to at the time in memory or any documentation. Having said that the car did change thought the season which at the present time is giving me headaches, the header bags particularly although I'm going to leave them as early season spec for the time being. If the car burns down then I'll look an idiot.... but I think for what I'd doing it will be ok. 

Edited by Patrick Morgan, 10 May 2014 - 10:16.

[Nigel Beresford]

Thanks Patrick, we'll blame Nick! As you know, rather than "B" we tended to use "E" to generically (and informally) characterise anything specific to the car in pushrod engine configuration, such as "E" engine cover, "E" gearbox, "E" underwing etc.

[JadeGurss]

Thanks for the link Jade. You've done a wonderful job of capturing the personalities of the people concerned - I could hear their voices as I read the words.

I don't know where Racer came up with the PC23B nomenclature though. I hope that doesn't become another internet-perpetuated "fact". It was only ever a PC23, whatever engine/gearbox was fitted.

 

I did not include Goozee's quote in the book, so David Malsher must have come up with that independently perhaps? Nowhere in the text do I use "A" or "B" for the chassis.

 

Thanks for the kind words Nigel. I appreciate your help and I hope the book lives up to the effort you and so many others put in. I hosted a book launch party this week in Charlotte and had 10 guys that were with Penske & Ilmor in 1994...

 

Great to meet these guys. (Mark McArdle arrived after the photo was taken.)

 

Edited by JadeGurss, 10 May 2014 - 18:18.

[Patrick Morgan]

I did not include Goozee's quote in the book, so David Malsher must have come up with that independently perhaps? Nowhere in the text do I use "A" or "B" for the chassis.

 

 

 

 

 

Errmm..... Chapter 12 page 53 in the last transcript you sent me Jade....!

 

"We had more than 90 people working at the company at that time" said Goozee. "Once the 'A' car had been designed, then people were used to design car 'B'."

 

Sorry to be pedantic. I guess I must have read this stuff 20 or so times and still recite it in my sleep......

[Patrick Morgan]

I should add to the last comment by saying that Jade was very committed to making the book 100% accurate which is an extremely commendable attitude to take and quite a commitment. How he didn't strangle me though the process I'm not sure as I'm a real stickler for getting this stuff right. He worked incredibly hard at it and it wasn't uncommon for him to send re-writes at all sorts of hours. I think we were at it to about 4am on new years eave or there abouts to get one set of paragraphs right. If there are any errors it will not be for lack of effort on Jade's part. We went to great lengths including measuring the actual C of G of both the 265D and 265E to finally lay the argument about the engines affect on the car to rest, taking apart gearboxes, a 265D and all sorts. Throughout the whole thing Jade didn't once express any sort of exasperation, frustration or just dismiss any detail as unimportant which in my limited experience is rare. 

[JadeGurss]

Errmm..... Chapter 12 page 53 in the last transcript you sent me Jade....!

 

"We had more than 90 people working at the company at that time" said Goozee. "Once the 'A' car had been designed, then people were used to design car 'B'."

 

Sorry to be pedantic. I guess I must have read this stuff 20 or so times and still recite it in my sleep......

 

HA! Good eye. I've been immersed SO deeply in it, I guess it's all scrambled in my brain by now... hehehe 

[JadeGurss]

What Patrick didn't say is that he had a huge role in making the book the absolute best we could make it... It was a team effort. 

 

 

I should add to the last comment by saying that Jade was very committed to making the book 100% accurate which is an extremely commendable attitude to take and quite a commitment. How he didn't strangle me though the process I'm not sure as I'm a real stickler for getting this stuff right. He worked incredibly hard at it and it wasn't uncommon for him to send re-writes at all sorts of hours. I think we were at it to about 4am on new years eave or there abouts to get one set of paragraphs right. If there are any errors it will not be for lack of effort on Jade's part. We went to great lengths including measuring the actual C of G of both the 265D and 265E to finally lay the argument about the engines affect on the car to rest, taking apart gearboxes, a 265D and all sorts. Throughout the whole thing Jade didn't once express any sort of exasperation, frustration or just dismiss any detail as unimportant which in my limited experience is rare. 

[Victor_RO]

Order has gone through on Amazon on my copy of the book, sadly the current delivery estimate is after the 500.

[Freebird]

Two words:  “Jesus Flame”    : )

 

The book does a great job telling the technical and human side of the story of the “E”.   Key subjects covered from multiple perspectives.  It also also does a good job of explaining the development of the “E” against the backdrop of Indy racing history and the politics that proceeded it. 

 

I spent 2 days at the speedway that year (1994).  Final practice Friday and pole day Saturday.  I spent most of it inside the entry to turn 3.  I wanted to get the best prospective of the speed of the PC 23’s down the strait and how they carried the speed thru the turns. 

 

What I remember.  The cars were very quiet coming down the strait when viewed from the front compared to the other cars there.  You only really heard two things, a whistling aero sound and the heavy sound of the tires on the pavement.  No real engine note.  When the cars entered 3 all the PC 23’s were rolled off throttle, with the engine sounding slightly ruff.   Generally, EF, and PT were later off the throttle on entry and earlier on throttle relative to Jr.  They weren’t rolling back on the throttle till the car was nearly strait on the short strait between 3 and 4. 

 

On the section in the book covering PT’s spin late in Friday afternoon practice, his trip thru turn 3 was similar to all the other Penske PC23’s thru there that day.  The only difference was that he was carrying more mid corner speed thru the turn than seen earlier.  That seemed pretty clear.  He rolled the throttle on a little earlier than he had on earlier laps.   I remember being amazed a car going that fast could still apparently have that much reserve power to spin that late in the turn.   Jade,  PT is quoted in the book as saying he was flat thru turns 1, 2, and 3 on the lap he crashed.  Not from what I saw and heard that day in turn 3.

 

FB

[JadeGurss]

I'm thrilled you enjoyed the book, and the Jesus Flame is one of my favorite anecdotes in the entire project!

 

RE: Tracy's crash: I didn't have any evidence to counter Tracy's account of the Turn 3 incident, so I stayed with his description, but you may very well have heard a lift... 

 

Thanks for the review!

 

jade.

 

Two words:  “Jesus Flame”    : )

 

The book does a great job telling the technical and human side of the story of the “E”.   Key subjects covered from multiple perspectives.  It also also does a good job of explaining the development of the “E” against the backdrop of Indy racing history and the politics that proceeded it. 

 

I spent 2 days at the speedway that year (1994).  Final practice Friday and pole day Saturday.  I spent most of it inside the entry to turn 3.  I wanted to get the best prospective of the speed of the PC 23’s down the strait and how they carried the speed thru the turns. 

 

What I remember.  The cars were very quiet coming down the strait when viewed from the front compared to the other cars there.  You only really heard two things, a whistling aero sound and the heavy sound of the tires on the pavement.  No real engine note.  When the cars entered 3 all the PC 23’s were rolled off throttle, with the engine sounding slightly ruff.   Generally, EF, and PT were later off the throttle on entry and earlier on throttle relative to Jr.  They weren’t rolling back on the throttle till the car was nearly strait on the short strait between 3 and 4. 

 

On the section in the book covering PT’s spin late in Friday afternoon practice, his trip thru turn 3 was similar to all the other Penske PC23’s thru there that day.  The only difference was that he was carrying more mid corner speed thru the turn than seen earlier.  That seemed pretty clear.  He rolled the throttle on a little earlier than he had on earlier laps.   I remember being amazed a car going that fast could still apparently have that much reserve power to spin that late in the turn.   Jade,  PT is quoted in the book as saying he was flat thru turns 1, 2, and 3 on the lap he crashed.  Not from what I saw and heard that day in turn 3.

 

FB