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Research Working Group /
AT GP Technical Director Frédéric Guyot has been impressed by the work conducted by the Research Working Group.
Prodrive tech boss David Lapworth has been a stalwart of motor sport safety groups for many years and helped oversee changes to the WRC.
an ear piece… all that stuff is really interesting. It’s fascinating to see what can be done, and that feels like some really good research. “I can also see potential in the work that’s being done on the next generation of harnesses, and there’s talk about maybe being able to integrate harnesses into seats. There are a lot of interesting projects.” Certainly, safety is a never-ending process, especially with the constant developments of new championships, disciplines and formulae for racing cars. “Each time you raise the level in one area, you expose the next weakness,” says Lapworth. “The HANS device has been very effective in reducing the number of fatalities and making quite big accidents survivable. But now we need to raise the seat standards, the standards of the belts, we need to look at all these things that weren’t on the radar before when people weren’t even surviving the initial impact.” The increasing prevalence of hybrid and electric cars has become a whole topic in itself for safety researchers. “There’s a lot of work being done that kind of almost gets missed in terms of embracing electric and hybrid vehicles.
Every time you remove a weak link, you expose the next one, and there’s almost no end to that journey. You keep raising the safety level.” But the most important area for Lapworth is the rollout of safety to the lower levels of the sport. “We need to recognise that the rollout is as important as the pioneering. It’s great to have the top-level formulae like F1 being able to engineer new solutions and push the boundaries, but in terms of saving lives the rollout is where the big numbers come. “There are 22 or 24 guys in an F1 race at the weekend, but there are thousands racing in different categories worldwide. So that’s the area that is getting more focused through the discussions we’re having. Let’s consider not just what F1 needs, but how can we make this universal and how can we make it happen as quickly as possible.” This is one of the key objectives of the Global Institute – to ensure that the safety developments at the top of the sport are relevant and applicable to the lower levels. With advice and direction from senior engineers like Lapworth, Guyot and other research group members, this process is gaining pace.
CHAIRMAN Prof. Gérard SAILLANT President, FIA Medical Commission MEMBERS Jacek BARTOS, Rally Safety Delegate, FIA François CHATRIOT, President, Oxygene PSA / former rally driver Lionel CHEVALIER, Technical Director, Signatech Automobiles Nuno COSTA, Safety Engineer, FIA Thomas GIDEON, Safety Director, NASCAR Frédéric GUYOT, Technical Director, ART GP David LAPWORTH, Technical Director, Prodrive José María LÓPEZ, WEC / FE driver Laurent MEKIES, Safety Director, FIA Andy MELLOR, Senior Research Engineer, Global Institute Sam MICHAEL, Director, Australian Institute for Motor Sport Safety Gilles SIMON, Technical Director, FIA Prof. Jean-Charles PIETTE MD, Special Medical Delegate, FIA Matteo PIRACCINI, Senior Research Engineer, Global Institute Christian SCHMIDT, Technical Delegate, DMSB Charlie WHITING, F1 Race Director, FIA Peter WRIGHT, Senior Research Advisor, Global Institute OBSERVERS Nikil ABRAHAM, Consultant, Global Institute Franck ADAMSON, Technical Manager, Supercars Australia Laurent ARNAUD, Technical Dept, FIA Jo BAUER, F1 Technical Delegate, FIA Alain BEAUFRÈRE, Researcher, Global Institute Guillaume CAPIETTO, Technical Director, PREMA Dr Herve FARINES, Anesthetist Dr Michael HENDERSON, Doctor, Australian Institute for Motor Sport Safety Colin HILTON, Board Member, Global Institute Jeff HORTON, Director of Engineering, IndyCar Tom KRISTENSEN, Vice-President, FIA Drivers’ Commission Sameer PATEL, Research Engineer, FIA Safety Department Davide TERLETTI, Consultant Dr Paul TRAFFORD, Medical Director, British Touring Car Championship Terry TRAMMEL Safety Advisor, IndyCar