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MRDC-10A Introduction
The MRDC-10A is the first GP class car fielded by the Midpack Racing Drivers' Club and so has been aimed at ensuring that it delivers right from Race 1 of the 2010A season. Here are the details of the car.
Car Shape
The MRDC-10A will use the Benetton 91 car shape for a few reasons:
- as things stand it will be unique on the grid
- the cockpit view is clear, but does give a reasonable central reference to give a visual clue on how the car is moving during turns
- its history suits what the Midpack Racing Drivers' Club is about.
In 1991, Michael Schumacher entered Formula 1, with his first drive for Jordan at Spa. But for his second drive, and for the rest of the season, he drove for Benetton in the B191 that we'll be using. He scored 4 points from 6 races with a best finish of 5th. So this is the car that Schumacher drove when he was a midpacker. Frankly, he turned out ok, so if it's good enough for him it's good enough for us.
Car Livery
The general design layout will be as for the original Benetton from the 1991 season, but we've tidied the design a little, replaced and reworked the logos, and chosen our own colour scheme of Red, White and Blue to replace the Yellow, Green and Blue of the original.
Drivers signing up before the skin submission date (likely to be November 28th) will be allowed to make their own 3 colour selection as they wish. Options to also customise logos will be detailed once the layout is finalised. The Livery Guide with instructions and the templates to use is here:
Car Design Choices
Based on the 2010A menu of design choices, and the MRDC design aims of a car that is easy and consistent to drive, this is how the MRDC-10A looks.
| No. | Item | MRDC-10A Choice |
Cost | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Aero Package |
gp_flex | 1 | Flex front wing gives consistent behaviour in traffic |
| 02 | Diffusor | medium |
1 | Widens the envelope of good downforce and good grip in turns |
| 03 | Suspension Type |
gp | 0 | |
| 04 | Front Track |
1630 | 0 | |
| 05 | Rear Track |
1600 | 0 | |
| 06 | Suspension Material |
polymer | 1 | Unbreakable suspension. Removes suspension damage as a possible DNF reason |
| 07 | In-car Brake Bias |
no | 0 | |
| 08 | Longtitudinal CG |
.555 | 0 | |
| 09 | Advanced Materials |
232 | 0 | |
| 10 | Advanced Packaging |
0.02 | 2 | A key control for personalising the feel of the car. Should simplify the MRDC setup approach. |
| 11 | Third Spring |
No | 0 | |
| 12 | Pit Stop Technology |
gp_3 | 2 | |
| 13 | Brakes | nanotech | 2 | Minimises brake variability as a factor. Should allow consistent performance on each turn and each lap. |
Most of the principle features of the car were clear from the outset, with the final 2 budget points being down to Advanced Materials (to lower CG height) and Pit Stop Technology (to reduce tyre change time). The default CG at .555 is based on the 09C championship winning Antares configuration. However, as the MRDC-10A has good longtitudinal adjustability, this value has been slightly forward for the final submission, but in such a way that the .559 value is still within the adjustment range.
Today's final testing session used the three prototypes over in the local content browser (MRDC-01a, b and c) at Paul Ricard, Northamptonshire GP and Laguna. Clearly there's a balance to be struck between the experience in practice and the experience in the race. After some discussion, the engineers have recommended that the final two points be invested in pit stop technology (MRDC-01a config)
The key factor is to maximise the fun of race night. This car, with the 232 CG height is the young sibling of 09C Antares. and is a great car to drive. By investing in more cinnamon swirls for the pit teams, we'll ensure that you're right back in the action on race night.
If you finding you're seeing too much cockpit vibration, the page linked below gives some hints on how to fix it
Setups
Standard packs of setups are available from the Setups section : MRDC10A Setup Guide