Interview with Team CoolDrive Race Engineer Chris Stuckey

30 Sep, 2015

The role of a race engineer in a V8 Supercar team is critical; they have a huge influence over the performance of the car and are heavily relied upon by the drivers. So we asked Team CoolDrive’s race engineer Chris Stuckey from Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport a few questions about what his role actually involves and what are some of the big challenges he faces in this role.

Working in V8 Supercars as a Race Engineer is a pretty cool job, how did you end up here?

My father has a motorsport tyre business supplying race tyres from back before I was born so I spent a lot of time as a kid riding my bike around race tracks. I loved being around it and got more and more interested as I grew older. Ultimately I decided it was for me (once I realised I couldn’t drive) and went to Uni to study engineering with the goal of being a race engineer.

As a Race Engineer what does your role actually involve?

Primarily the role involves the setup and tuning of the car. We spec the parts and configuration of the car for each event and monitor performance to determine areas we need to focus on. We are responsible for the race weekend plan from race strategy to tyre and brake use. We setup the car up on a flat patch before and after each session and keep records of critical settings such as ride height, spring and damper combinations, suspension positions and aerodynamics.

Any new parts or configuration of parts has to be closely monitored with respect to performance and reliability. Reports are required to relay important information to the team regarding findings into car performance and areas of focus going forward

You have a data engineer supporting you, what role do they have in running the car?

The role of the data engineer is critical, they are relied upon constantly to provide quick and accurate information. During the race they have to be on top of all the critical parameters via telemetry such as engine and driveline temperatures and pressures, all things that are critical to keep the car going.

Monitoring fuel consumption is the biggest single role during the race as we need to have accurate information regarding it from lap to lap. Things such as how many laps we can do on our current fuel load, how long our next stop will be, how far we will get if we short fill. They need to be able to supply this information on the spot so they are constantly working around that. General roles involve ensuring all the sensors are properly installed and calibrated and also contributing to setup ideas and reviewing data and performance.

What are some of the main challenges you face as a race engineer?

Improving the performance of the car is the single biggest challenge we face, we need to try and understand where and what factors are contributing to or hurting performance. It’s important to understand your strengths and weaknesses, this is an ongoing task and the best teams are always able to develop an accurate understanding of how to best make the tyre work. The driver’s feedback in developing this understanding is paramount.

Race strategy is also a challenge in the current format, balancing out track position versus tyre life is always a very fine line. There are always competitors who are prepared to stretch their tyre life window by pitting early and take advantage of fresh tyres, on the flipside they will be weaker at the end of the stint. Working out where you want to be on the fly is very challenging.

What sort of preparation do you do leading into a race weekend?

The car is serviced and setup on the setup flat patch according to the settings pre-determined for the upcoming event. Generally we determine what we want to achieve in practice and plan the sessions accordingly. It involves prioritising what specifications we want to change in order to learn about the car and applying it to the given track conditions. We need to plan how best to use our given tyre allocation for practice, qualifying and racing. Learning about the previous year’s tyre performance is important to get a heads up as to what to expect in the races. All tracks are different in terms of tyre life and we factor that in in planning the race strategy options.

Many things can change during a race, what are the main challenges during a race?

Monitoring our tyre life and keeping a close eye (and ear) on the cars we are directly racing. We are racing everyone but essentially we focus on the cars around us and focus on beating them through car speed and pit strategy. Keeping track of their progress against ours considering the different strategy options is difficult. Also the ever present possibly of a safety car can throw the race on its head and you have to be prepared and aware of your options at all times

A current V8 Supercar has a very high level of data acquisition, what sort of data is available and what are the main things you look for?

Data acquisition is extremely important, and extracting as much information within the rules and using it effectively is critical in learning from every outing and developing the car. In general we have sensors which provide information about the running condition of the engine and driveline, and sensors we use to analyse performance. Approximately 40 channels are logged at different rates. We measure parameters such as wheel speed, engine speed, oil temperatures and pressures, tyre pressure and temperature, suspension travel and brake temperature.

We can use these sensors also to generate Maths channels to calculate things like chassis roll, pitch, brake locking and wheelspin. Suspension travel needs to monitor performance over everything including small bumps, kerb strikes and chassis movement and therefore is calculated at 500 Hz (500 samples per second) whereas engine temperature for instance is relatively stable and therefore is calculated around 10 Hz.

We look at the vehicle speed and acceleration primarily and can break that down to try and understand the balance. Temperatures and pressures need to be closely monitored to determine the running condition of the car and keeping on top of all the systems to ensure they run at their optimum performance.

Tyres a crucial in any form of motorsport, how do you manage the life of tyres in V8 Supercars?

Tyre management is critical; there is no bigger single factor that can influence car performance, not only in lap time but also car balance. For each Tyre the tread depth is measured at 4 different points in their new condition which for our slick tyre is approximately 3.3mm. Wear is monitored and calculated against mileage which provides information about wear rate and tyre life, and also things like how our car setup is working the tyre. Camber and toe are factors that directly influence tyre wear. The surface condition can also give us information as to how the tyre is working.

We are allocated a set number of tyres for each event and given that there is a limit we have to use them wisely. We create a guideline as to when we can use each set and how many we have to use for a given race. We calculate tyre wear and lap times over tyre life to determine whether we will need to replace them during a race. For instance in Perth where the tyre wear is extreme it is quicker in a 100km race to go to pitlane and stop for tyres than complete the race non-stop, a pit stop for tyres at Perth adds nearly 40 seconds to your race time, that gives you an idea on how much the tyre fades. Compare that with Tasmania where there is very little wear on the same compound of tyre and you can do 40 laps without any tyre drop off at all.

Finally, we are heading into the Endurance race highlighted by the Bathurst 1000, what can we expect from Team CoolDrive?

It’s important that we can provide a strong and reliable race package. Qualifying is always important but coming into the Enduro season we put more focus on race performance and how consistent the car is going to be over a full tank of fuel, and how adaptable it’s going to be over the day. Bathurst starts and 10:30 and finishes late in the afternoon, the track conditions change a lot throughout and a car that is behaving well generally responds well to the small changes we can use once the race has started.

At Team CoolDrive we will focus on working through the day to keep up with the track and stay in the hunt and be a factor in the last tank of fuel. Our race package has been our strength and it’s the last stint where the race really comes alive. Just being there with 25 laps to go gives you a good shot at a result