First impressions

Cranfield Impact Centre plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety of racecars. With tougher regulations coming into force in 2021, Racecar Engineering investigates

- Andrew Cotton

Hearing the news that a car has passed its crash test is now commonplace in racing circles. As advances in computer software through the design phase improves, so does the ability to predict how one will deform, but it was not always the case. Racecars from all series have often failed their first impact tests before heading to the track, particularly as rules tightened at key moments and design teams had to react quickly, perhaps with the risk of losing performance.

Long gone are the days when crash testing meant dropping a car, or component, from a crane into the ground to estimate the likelihood of a driver surviving the impact. Also behind us are the days when racecars would not even be tested, extra material only being added in order to improve performance, rather than driver safety.

Today’s crash test criteria are stringent and the results are clear to see. Advances in composite materials, accident investigation and computer design have all helped create regulations that have yielded some of the safest racecars ever produced.

Yet, in order to approve car design before the cars hit the track, a component, or car, needs to be properly evaluated. And for that to happen, FIA-approved crash testing facilities have been created in order to conduct repeatable, measurable tests. One of these is housed on the campus at Cranfield University in the UK, and it is not unusual to have Formula 1 and WEC cars pass through the doors to reach certification for racing.