2005 became a bit of a changing of the guard for Redback Racing, with most
senior members of the team declaring that this year would be their last. With this in
mind, the team decided to launch an all out assault to win the 2005 competition. The
approach taken was not to be any radical redesign of the car, but rather a
consolidation of all the knowledge gathered over the previous five years of racing.
With the emphasis on building
a reliable car with plenty of track
testing before the event, design work
started early January. The biggest
design change for the RB2005 was
delivered through a chassis rethink. The aluminium honeycomb monocoque was retained for the front
end, but a steel space frame was
utilised for the rear end. This not only
allowed easier access to engine
components, but also meant that
production times could be significantly reduced, as front and rear ends could be manufactured independently at the same time.
The team was encouraged by a visit from Williams F1 Technical Director,
Sam Michael, who was very impressed by the team. Sam discussed some issues with the team, focussing on mechanical grip, and was able to make some suggestions on how we could better use our tires.
The manufacturing process was completed promptly, allowing a number of
test days before the event. During these, car balance was established, and drivers were
able to get used to the feel of the car. The team travelled to Melbourne with
confidence that the car was ready to race.
With a car in the
truck ready to race, the
event ran very well for
the team. Static events
went well, placing the
car in the top half of the
field after the first day.
Scrutineering was also
completed with
relatively few problems,
allowing the team to
enter the weekend with
high confidence in the
car.
Reliability of the RB2005 could not be faulted throughout the dynamic events.
This, combined with skilful driving resulted in consistent top ten finishes across all
dynamic events. These onsistently high results meant that the RB2005 triumphed
where most others failed, and made the Redback Racing team the fourth placed
Australian team. This fantastic result has led to RB2005’s invitation by Formula SAE
Australasia to compete in Germany’s Formula Student event at Hockenheim in
August.
Written by Aaron Azzopardi
Thursday, 18 May 2006