Ricardo in Rally1
As a company, Ricardo has a long history in the World Rally Championship. Stemming from research into the benefits of allwheel drive and the development of the viscous coupling through the middle of the last century, Group B was a landmark change in the use of both technologies in rallying and Ricardo has been involved in this competitive arena ever since.
When the regulations for a series change, it’s normally the best time to try and gain a competitive advantage. The change to the new Rally1 regulations for 2022 has allowed
Ricardo to leverage technologies from several different competitive arenas to try and develop the most competitive R1 driveline possible.
Working with a long-established partner is also a valuable step in reducing development issues. Avenues of communication are already well established, and the cross-company teams have the same frames of reference from existing programmes.
It is this background that led Hyundai Motorsport GmbH (HMSG) and Ricardo to come together to develop a new driveline for the Hyundai i20 N Rally1. The intention was to use some of the rally-proven components from their existing joint venture, the Ricardo driveline fitted to the Hyundai i20 R5. Refinements were planned to be introduced based on experiences from WRC and Formula E.
With the emphasis on cost reduction, semiautomatic gearshifts and centre differentials are now forbidden in the new Rally1 regulations. This prompted the use of technologies taken directly from the R5 product, namely the manual gearshift arrangement and its associated technologies in the gearbox, and the handbrake disconnect function in the rear axle.
Damage limitation
For Rally1, however, the partnership has continued to develop the gearshift to further reduce shifting loads in comparison to the
R5 unit. Having stepped back from a semiautomatic ’shift, the risk of gearbox (and engine) damage with a missed manual shift has increased substantially, and anything that can be done to offset this is critical.
The handbrake disconnect unit has also seen some refinements over the R5 version.
This is to ensure a more consistent operation in Rally1 with the increased torque the unit sees in that application, and to allow adaptions to add the hybrid drive to the rear axle. Ricardo has employed learnings from their success in Formula E here to help with this installation.
The hybrid drive gear train in Rally1 is restricted by regulation, meaning the ultimate solution for these components is somewhat compromised by the rules concerning gear face width, casing wall thickness and minimum axle weight.
The World Rally Championship, by definition, rallies all over the globe. No other discipline sees the variety of conditions a Rally1 car will see throughout a season of competition. This means that an ultimate solution needs the very best in drivetrain engineering to ensure performance and reliability, whilst complying with the new regulations. Taking lessons learnt from an existing, reliable product and adding refinements from other programmes to suit this revised application is what Hyundai Motorsport and Ricardo have been working towards throughout the joint development of this new driveline. Results during the new season will hopefully verify this philosophy.
‘We’ve partnered with Hyundai Motorsport in R5 for a number of seasons now and it’s fantastic to extend this working relationship to include the Hyundai i20 N Rally1,’ says Steve Blevins, head of engineering at Ricardo’s Performance Products team. ‘We announced our technical partnership with Hyundai Motorsport for all their four-wheel drive drivelines in April 2021 and this programme is the latest manifestation of this. Collectively, we’ve decades of experience between us and we’re hoping this will ultimately be reflected in the performance of the driveline in competition through the 2022 season and beyond.’