MONOPOSTO1200 – WHICH WAY NOW?

The Monoposto1200 class came into being due to the emergence of the motorcycle engine as a viable alternative to the traditional car engine. Initially these cars were cheaper than their car engined equivalents and offered comparable performance without the complexity of a separate engine and gearbox. Peter Whitmore puts forward propsals for carrying the success forward.

The Monoposto Racing Club was one of the first to incorporate the motorcycle engined race car into its championship structure and so the Mono 1200 class was borne. The name Mono1200 is a bit of a misnomer as very few motorcycle engines over 1000 cc appeared in race cars except for the Honda Blackbird, which was 1137 cc. Kawasaki also produced an 1100 cc engine that was found in one or two race cars, but the majority of the Kawasaki engines went into the more robust Radical 1100 Club Sport cars. The main problem with the bigger engines was their weight. Generally they were 20 kilograms heaver than their 1000 cc counterparts and were not as powerful in standard form.

The mainstay of the Mono1200 class has been the Jedi chassis, produced by John Corbyn. Other chassis were homologated, OMS, Arcoboleno/Gloria, Force (Aluminium chassis), Van Diemen P281 (RF05) and the South African built Speads. Apart from the Speads there was little take up of the other chassis. There also existed an opportunity for a competitor to build his own chassis as Adrian Wright has done or to convert an existing race car, say a Swift, to a motorcycle engine configuration.

Despite other chassis availability, it is the Jedi that has remained the most favoured by Mono1200 competitors and there is a very good reason for this. The Jedi is the perfect chassis for the current technical regulations in that its weight is about 325 kilograms and with the average driver on board comes in very close to the 400 kilogram limit of the class. When powered by the latest motorcycle engines, either the Suzuki K5-7 or the latest Yamaha R1, the Jedi is certainly the car to have.

For a period of time, around 2003-6, the South African Speads threatened the Jedi’s dominance of the class. Since that time Jedis are once again the most viable option for the 1200 class.

At this point you may ask, what’s the problem? Well the problem is that when John Corbyn decided to create his own series for his Jedi cars, the Mono1200 grid size decreased.

How do we encourage more motorcycle engined cars to join the Monoposto Car Club?

When considering any change to existing technical regulations, the most important aspect to keep in mind is that any change must not alienate the members currently racing with the club and the class. When considering this I want to grow the number of chassis in the class and also the number and engines available. With that thought uppermost in my mind my proposals are based on:

• Retaining all cars presently racing in the Mono1200 class
• Encouraging other chassis to race in the Mono motorcycle engined class
• Encourage the use of bigger cc motorcycle engines for the bigger chassis
• Increase the motorcycle cars to the point of being able to form their own grid
• Control costs.Retaining all cars presently racing in the Mono1200 class

Presently we have two classes within the Mono1200 class, Free and Standard. All cars regardless of class are running engines of less than 1000cc and are bound by the 400 kg minimum weight limit. The minimum weight restriction is perhaps the biggest deterrent to new chassis as it precludes ‘proper’ race car chassis from being used as the basis for a Mono1200 class car as they are too heavy. A Formula Ford for example weighs in at around 445kgs.

Proposal

The Mono1200 class is renamed Mono1000 with all technical regulations in place as now. Ultimately the intention is that the class be moved to a standard engine configuration.

Time scale

2010 – Mono1000 – two classes with engines restricted to 1000 cc using the technical regulations as Mono1200 2007 Free and Standard, minimum weight 400kgs.
2011 – Mono 1000 – one class with engines restricted to 1000 cc as per Mono 1200 – 2007 Standard regulations. Allow the use of Power commanders.

Effect

All cars presently competing will be able to compete in 2009/10 without change. In 2011 any ‘Free’ engine will not be eligible for the class. I do not see this as an issue as most ‘Free’ engines would need a rebuild by that time and a rebuild is as costly as buying a standard engine.

Encouraging other chassis to race in the Mono motorcycle engined class/ encourage the use of additional motorcycle engines.

The present regulations favour the lighter Jedi/Spead chassis and therefore restrict the concept of engineering a motorcycle engine into say an early model Dallara. This is the way many Hillclimbing competitors have gone recently with much success. The Hillclimbing class structure is different to the Mono class and is based on 1600 cc engines. Consequently engines such as the Hyabusa and Kawasaki’s 1400 engines are being used in a modified state

One factor against this approach for Mono is that it is difficult to engineer these cars to the minimum weight limit of 400kgs and the 1000cc engines are not ideally suited to these larger heavier cars.

Proposal

A new Mono class be introduced called Mono1400 which would allow standard motorcycle engines up to 1400 cc. The class would utilise the same restrictions as exist for the current Mono1200 standard engines with the exception that the minimum weight for this class would be 460kgs. Power commanders/after market ECU’s would be allowed to address fuel/ignition issues.

Time scale

2010 – This class be introduced

Effect

This change will allow other chassis to be used for motorcycle engines and remove the dependence on the Jedi chassis, now retailing at around £25k and the Spead/JKS at the same price of the Jedi. Chassis from Hillclimbing will become available as will other motorcycle engines, i.e. Hyabusa and Kawasaki. Currently Suzuki K6/7 and Yamaha R1 are the preferred choice for Mono1200 competitors. These are not as readily available as they once were and this proposal will allow Hyabusa and Kawasaki larger engines to be used. These engines are not in such high demand as the Suzuki K series and the Yamaha R1.
Also, this proposal will ensure that the Monoposto Car Club establishes a set of regulations that move it away from dependence on the regulations of the Jedi series, but still allows Jedi cars to compete with the Monoposto Club. This will allow other chassis to compete more favourably with the Jedi/Spead and generally provide an opportunity for more chassis to appear on the Mono motorcycle grid.Cost Control
By its very nature Motor sport is an expensive past time. It very rarely gets cheaper to compete. To think you can make Motorsport ‘cheap’ is a false assertion. What we must do is try to contain the costs. One way to do this is to move to a standard engine configuration that requires only reliability issues to be address, i.e. baffled sumps, clutch springs etc.
It can be argued that a Power Commander is something that can add to the cost of setting up a car. But as motorcycle engines continue to develop, the need to correct both the fuel/air mixture and the ignition timing, altered when the engine is put into a race car with a different air box, exhaust etc, will be required in order to provide reliability. The use of a Power Commander or an after market ECU will address this issue.

Conclusions and recommendations

There is a need to make changes to the Mono1200 class structure in order to encourage more competitors and reverse the decline in this class. There is also a need to move the emphases away from the lighter chassis, see footnote, and encourage more of the ‘proper’ race cars to be empowered with motorcycle engines to provide both a cheap alternative and a degree of engineering independence, which was I think one of the initial reasons for creating the motorcycle class.

Whilst these proposals and their timings may need further debate I would recommend that the class structure change and timings be adopted as a default as soon as possible and so allow competitors time to address any issues these regulations may present them with.

Footnote:

Chassis weight

The FIA and the MSA are currently reviewing single seat space frame regulations in an attempt to provide competitors with the safest environment in which to race. In discussion with former Van Diemen designer David Baldwin who has been a consultant to this process for the MSA, he confirmed that these regulations will be part of the MSA environment within a couple of years. He suggested that single seat space frame chassis weight will have to increase to incorporate the more rigid safety requirement of these chassis.

Power Commanders/After market ECU’s

After discussions with Jon Lee of Lynx AE, a motorcycle tuner and rolling road owner, I was lead to believe that in general Power commanders or after market ECU’s do not necessarily increase the power of a motorcycle engine over and above the manufacturer’s specifications. They are more about ensuring that the fuel/air mixture and the ignition can be modified to address the new environment the engine finds itself in.

Quote from the Power Commander web site:
‘’There are many variables to each application. The Power Commander allows for tuning to the perfect air/fuel ratio will ensure that the engine can produce the maximum possible horsepower for that given combination.’’

Peter Whitmore (with minor changes by the editor)
September 2008

As everybody knows what Jedis, Speads and Van Diemen FX/P281s look like, we thought a look at hillclimb bike powered cars would be of interest. This is not to suggest any could, would or should become Mono cars. We also show below some lesser (in the UK) seen circuit cars

OMS Hornet has had considerable success, and is unusual amongst current hillclimb cars in being a modern, outboard suspended spaceframe

Terry Davies produces circuit based bike powered hillclimbers. Here's a Reynard 913 Suzuki.......

...and a Dallara (393?) based variant.

The carbon Force has been very successful in hillclimb 600, 1100 and 1600 classes.

The Peak District built DJ Firehawk is a sophisticated, beautifully built carbon car with a price tag to match.

The Megapin, based on Allan Staniforth's principles, is built by Ian Scott and has a devoted following, especially on the more Northern hills.

And outside speed events...

The Gloria, also known as Arcoboleno.

The Image bike powered car

Leastone Formula 5 (as seen with Mono at Spa)

Lest we forget....

"Cheap" motorcycle powered single seater racing goes back to the immediate post war Formula III, exemplified by the Cooper 500, seen here in MarkIII form for the 1949 market. About £15,000 in today's money. Except you also had to buy a Norton racing bike, and throw away the frame to get an engine.

Pictures mainly from manufacturer websites and 500race.org.