Wind tunnel testing has been a key element in the development of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Powered by Ferrari car with a scale model performing as expected to giving the development team a good aerodynamic data to work with.

Wind tunnel testing has been a key element in the development of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Powered by Ferrari car for season four. The car that had its first public running at the Mugello circuit was the product of many hours spent by the A1GP technical team in wind tunnels at the University of Southampton’s School of Engineering Sciences.

John Travis, A1GP Technical Director: “To ensure we continue the A1GP tradition of strong racing, coupled with lots of overtaking, the effort of the design team has been to provide a chassis that has a good level of down force, but without the normal penalties. This will make for much closer racing particularly in the corners as cars will be able to run together. We have spent in excess of 300 hours in the wind tunnel and have tried hundreds of different aerodynamic variations to ensure the close, exciting racing the series is famous for not only continues but gets better.”

The University of Southampton’s School of Engineering Sciences has a variety of wind tunnels which have been used extensively by Formula One, Indy Racing League and CART racing teams over the years. A 40 per cent scale model of the A1GP Powered by Ferrari car was tested at the facility and performed just as expected giving the development team a good set of aerodynamic data to work with as they continue the on track testing programme in Europe.

The testing has been continuing in France with Andrea Bertolini in the car for three days at Paul Ricard near Marseille with 400-kilometres covered on one day alone. Testing then moved to Magny-Cours, with Patrick Friesacher at the wheel last week increasing the total distance covered by the new A1GP car to 5,667 kilometres.

Pitting nation against nation in the World Cup of Motorsport, A1GP unites 23 countries in a competition where human bravery, skill and excellence determine victory. Racing identical single-seat cars, the deliberately equalised technology allows countries as diverse as the USA, Lebanon, France, China and South Africa to compete on a level playing field. With three days of on-track action, an A1GP event offers a rare opportunity for fans to interact with teams and drivers. Exclusively inclusive, A1GP brings the thrill of international motorsport to billions of fans across the globe.

Now preparing for its fourth season, A1GP takes in a mix of established world-famous venues plus exciting new state-of-the-art facilities and tight twisty street circuits, delivering high-speed adrenalin fuelled action at every turn. The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport 2008-09 season will officially get underway later this year with A1GP Mugello, Italy, 19 – 21 September 2008.