Historic unveiling marks realisation of a dream and low-cost grand prix revolution

HERE it is at long last – Yorkshire's first Formula 1 car.

Virgin Racing's black and red VR-01 car was unveiled online yesterday ahead of its scheduled debut in Bahrain next month.

Sir Richard Branson's team, born out of the Manor Motorsport operation at Dinnington, Rotherham, have designed and built a unique Formula 1 car that bucks the trend of conventional F1 methods and drives the sport towards a new low-cost era.

Technical genius Nick Wirth has designed the VR-01 digitally, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as opposed to the more traditional, expensive and resource-heavy scale-model wind tunnel testing.

In line with such forward-thinking and advanced technology, Virgin launched the car away from the glare of the media spotlight and in the safe environment of their own website yesterday – only for the technological gremlins to undermine their grand ambitions and delay the pictures' release.

However, with a sleek-looking machine that harks back to the days of the iconic all-black John Player Special-sponsored Brabham car, and progress towards the opening race developing on schedule, expectations are high that the bug that got into the website will not find its way into the car.

The internet mishap could not detract from what was a historic day for the team, and in particular John Booth, the man who launched Manor from his own garage in Rotherham 20 years ago.

Yesterday's unveiling marked a significant step towards the realisation of a dream that began last March when Booth started putting a plan together to break into motor-sport's top tier.

The support of Branson's Virgin empire and Wirth's technical acumen have helped it towards fruition.

"It is the culmination of a very emotional journey which really began in June last year when we celebrated the fantastic news that our entry into Formula 1 had been accepted," said team principal Booth, who takes his team to Silverstone today for a systems shakedown.

"The celebrations were brief because we were already in a race against time to design and develop a race car at the same time as building a new team of people and premises.

"I have always had the utmost confidence in Nick Wirth to design a good race car, just as he has the faith in the race team to make a good job of operating it. Having worked closely with the technical team over the past 10 months, I know that the VR-01 is the product of a very intensive and thorough design and development process and my excitement at seeing our first race car make its track debut later this week is shared by every single person involved with Virgin Racing.

"I would like to congratulate our new race team – a great bunch of guys working together for the very first time in the pressure-cooker environment of a demanding car-build schedule. Logistically, it hasn't been easy, since the initial build of the two race cars is taking place in Bicester, rather than our operational base in Dinnington.

"Their commitment and professionalism have been exemplary and they have set their own very high bar in terms of trackside performance this season.

"All in all, we have a lot to look forward to as we progress towards our racing debut in Bahrain next month."

Booth and his team were able to earn ascension to the Formula 1 grid due to the proposed budget caps that were to be introduced in 2010.

Initially, a ceiling of 40m a year was put on team spending but that has now been vetoed in favour of a paddock-wide move to reduce costs by 2012.

Virgin will operate on an annual budget of 40m – the lowest in the sport – hence the need to design a car in a revolutionary manner.

Wirth, who had Formula 1 experience in the 1990s with Benetton and Simtek, said: "When you see what the existing teams have achieved using the conventional but proven design approach, it is unsurprising that there is a great deal of scepticism about our all-CFD approach.

"But we are competing in a sport that is undergoing significant change, having come face to face with today's harsh economic realities.

"Under resource restriction, convention will become too costly and necessity really will be the mother of invention.

"I have absolute belief in the digital design process and the opportunity to put the all-CFD approach to the test at the highest level. To demonstrate that this could be the way for the future of F1 is very exciting."

The CFD technology is not alien to Formula 1 design, but to base an entire car on such theories without scale model testing has never been done before.

Added to that, the rule changes imposed by FIA in 2010, such as the outlawing of mid-race refuelling, and Wirth and his team at Virgin's design base at Bicester, Oxfordshire, had a massive task on their hands. Wirth said: "The VR-01 is the product of an intensive exploration and appraisal of all the factors that go into creating a great racing car, coupled with the more specific parameters of the 2010 Sporting and Technical Regulations.

"The chassis design implications created by the refuelling ban were obviously considerable. The requirement to carry the entire race quantity of fuel creates significant packaging and optimisation challenges.

"Similarly, the reduction in the width of the front tyres and the effect that will have on front-end grip called for extensive modelling and simulation work since we had no data to refer to from previous years.

"We believe we have achieved a car that has first-class design integrity and which will benefit from a high degree of aerodynamic efficiency and stability.

"Reliability has been a major focus and all key areas comply with the FIA safety regulations and crash test requirements for the impact structures – the nose, monocoque, side and rear-impact structures – which are particularly stringent in light of the increased fuel load."

It all adds up to a very exciting Formula 1 season for Yorkshire's Virgin Racing.