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Gamle racing forder


Kverna

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Concept:

 

With Gr.5 regulations, only the silhouette of the car above the wheel arches and a few other body parts need be maintained from the production line model. The engine had to be based on a production unit from the same manufacturer and located along the same axis. Also, the suspension layout had to be as per production model. Aside from this, pretty well any other mechanical or aerodynamic changes were permitted. This gave Ammerschlager and Zakspeed team chief Erich Zakowski the scope to produce a more pure-bred racing car than the MKI.

 

CHASSIS & AERODYNAMIC DEVELOPMENT

 

The design brief was devised by Ammerschlager at Ford Werke in Cologne in the winter of 1977. The racing machine would feature a huge flared front wing, massive rear spoiler and be much lower than its road-going counterpart. 16" front and 19" rear wheels and tyres would be accommodated by increasing the car's width and incorporating huge wheel arches into the body, providing extra downforce. Optimised weight distribution would be achieved by situating the engine and driver as centrally as possible. To develop the aero package, 1/5th scale models were produced and tested in the two wind tunnel facilities at Aachen University. Initially, the increase in downforce was estimated to be 50% above the road car, with the crucial surface being the overhanging front wing. Blueprints were then produced for Zakspeed to realise the full-scale car.

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As with most pure-bred racing machines of the time, the chassis was to be of space frame design, with a welded tubular roll cage structure forming the basis of the car to maximise torsional resistance. To arrive at a design that would provide the maximum stiffness and minimum weight that the Capri's slippery shape would allow, the Ford engineers hand crafted a scale model of the body shell and fabricated pieces of wire to fit inside. Lengths were removed and replaced until the optimum balance was found.

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The initial phase of construction of the first full size chassis (ZAK C00178) began in the early summer of 1978 at Zakspeed's Niederzissen base with the construction of the roll cage. This took around five weeks and consisted of 80 metres of 30 to 40mm tubular aluminium. Erich Zakowski achieved much of this himself, along with his Chief Mechanic Helmut Barth and engineer Bruno Bunk, hand fabricating the tubular framework to fit inside the Capri's upper body, following the model produced at Cologne. Some square section was also utilised for the side rails at the top and bottom of the structure. The total finished weight of the entire tubular structure was just 75 kg.

 

LEFT: Thomas Ammerschlager said of the Group 5 Capri: "It's a big roll cage, really"

 

For the cockpit floor panel, thin gauge aluminium sheet was cut to shape and bonded to the bodywork using ultra-strong adhesive, mimicking the concept used in Formula 1 at the time. The gauge of sheet used was commented on by Zakspeed engineer Marco Fichter (the man who recently rebuilt Klaus Ludwig's 1981 car) in a recent interview: he noted that the sheet was so thin that light finger pressure would cause it to deflect - a dropped spanner would cause a permanent dent. And, with hardly any surface area on the bottom of the car to safely place a jack, four pneumatic jacks had to be incorporated into the lower chassis.

 

Group 5 regulations determined that the roof section, A-pillars and part of the bulkhead had to be the original steel work, so these parts were cut and welded to the bespoke spaceframe. However, for all the other body panels outside the steel cockpit area, cost considerations were cast aside and high-strength/low-weight Du Pont "Kevlar 49" Aramid fibre reinforced plastic was used as opposed to commonplace GFRP (glass fibre reinforced plastic). This handed the car a considerable weight advantage. The Kevlar doors, for example, weighed 65% less than a standard door - albeit at ten times the cost! All of the other panels were attached to the chassis with Dzus fasteners for quick removal.

 

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ABOVE & BELOW: How the Group 5 car compares to its road-going cousin

 

Production Capri 1.3L

Lengde: 4373mm

Bredde: 1700mm

Høyde: 1351mm

Vekt: 1169kg

 

Group 5 Ford Capri Turbo

Lengde: 5060mm

Bredde: 1980mm

Høyde: 1140mm

Vekt: 790kg

 

COCKPIT

 

The interior of the Turbo Capri is described as 'functional', at best. The bucket seat, covered with fire resistant Nomex material was located inside the bare shell housing constructed from aluminum piping, sheet metal and plastic. The driving position was moved as far to the rear as possible in order to improve weight distribution. The small three-spoke leather steering wheel (from the Granada) with a safety impact absorber, was adjustable as was the instrument unit attached to the steering column. The rest of the instrument panel, which was tilted towards the driver thus making it easy to see, contained a batch of instruments, automatic fuses and switches. Two additional knurled hand wheels were located on the instrument board with which the driver could regulate the brake distribution turbo boost.

 

Another clear demonstration of the commitment Ford and Zakspeed were making to the success of the project is the material chosen for the wiring harness - 0.435mm2 silver-wire cable, as commonly used in aerospace. This achieved a 50% weight reduction on standard cable even though the wiring harness would only ever have been a fraction of the total weight of the machine.

 

ENGINE

 

Back in 1977, the DRM series consisted of two divisions for Group 5 cars - those up to 2 litres (division two) and those above 2 litres (division one) - with turbocharged cars restricted to 1.4 litres in division two. For the 1978 and 1979 seasons at least, Ammersclager planned to run the new Capri in division two. Regulations stated that the engine had to be from a Ford production model and the unit selected was based on the circa 1968 Cosworth BDA, originally used on the roadgoing 1600 Escort. However, rather than using the highly race tuned 2.0 litre version (as in the Zakspeed RS Escorts), they opted to reduce the capacity to 1427cc and boost it with twin KKK turbochargers, Garret intercoolers and Bosch fuel injection. With the agreed multiplication factor of 1.4, this would just allow the Capri to squeeze into division two (1427 x 1.4 = 1960cc). The in-line four cylinder had a DOHC alloy head with 16 inlet and exhaust valves, four per cylinder. This gave the first version of the car 380bhp and a top speed of 170 mph - with much more to come! Engine development was carried out by Zakspeed's engine man Ernst Hirsch, in conjunction with the Schrick company who helped with the manufacture of bespoke heads and crankshaft.

 

Squeezing so much power from the BDA unit was not without problems. Highly boosted, small capacity engines develop peculiar vibrations and the Group 5 Capri suffered initially from broken pistons, camshafts and cracked distributor rotors. A lot of work was required to iron out these teething problems and pictures show that various combinations of single and twin KKK turbos and Garret intercoolers were investigated. The problems were eventually resolved by fitting the engine with a single but larger KKK turbocharger unit with the twin intercoolers. By the 1980 season, the division two car was quoted as reliably delivering 450-460 bhp at 9200rpm - for a car weighing just 790kg.

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Citroen side radiator, skillfully heated and bent to fit in front the rear wheel arch

 

Heat was also a big problem, which led to many interesting additions, including a chrome-nickel alloy exhaust manifold capable of withstanding 800 Celsius. The car was also festooned with various cooling devices, notably the Citreon radiators skillfully 're-fabricated' to fit just in front of the rear wheel arches (see above). There were also three oil coolers - one each for the axle, gearbox and engine oil.

 

SUSPENSION & BRAKES

 

The design for part of the front suspension was based on a method that originated in formula racing: aluminium wishbones in the shape of isosceles triangles in conjunction with screw-adjustable ball joints to guide the front wheels. The rest of the suspension was taken care of by MacPherson struts which, except for the Bilstein shock absorber units, were made of light metal. The shocks worked according to the single-tube principal with gas padding, each holding a concentric titanium coil spring supporting a vertically-adjustable aluminium spring plate. Two Girling brake callipers were used on each front brake disc, these were also cast from an aluminium alloy. For temperature and weight reasons the brake discs were internally ventilated and horizontally perforated and could be water-cooled under extreme conditions.

 

As with the front wheel suspension, the rear axle was designed for substantial weight reduction. Here, where it could be most advantageous it was not only a matter of reducing the overall weight, it also had to do with the unsprung mass. This was kept as low as possible to allow for good road surface contact. For the above reasons, light metal was used in the rear wheel area wherever it was sensible and feasible. The rigid rear axle, representing a relatively large unsprung mass, was made of light alloy as used in the Gr 5 Escorts. However, it was initially found that the extra 100 bhp and high rpm torque caused too many problems and they temporarily switched to a stronger steel unit until an improved and strengthened light alloy one was developed in 1980.

 

The rear shock absorbers were similar in structure and operation to the principle involved on the front spring struts and also consisted of coil springs made of titanium. However, the Turbo Capris rear axle did present internally ventilated and perforated disc brakes of different dimensions. Due to better traction and a lower vehicle centre of gravity as a result of the 19 inch high rear wheels, the Capri was able to employ brake discs on the rear axle as had been used on the Escorts front wheels. Compared with the brakes on a conventional 16 inch wheel with a diameter of 285mm, their diameter was 302mm. On the rear axle the Capri could manage with only one brake calliper per brake disc.

 

The first chassis, ZAK C00178 was completed in the summer of 1978.

 

LAUNCH

 

The aggressive look and power of the car led to it being dubbed the "Wunderwagen" or "Miracle Car" by an excited German press. It was quite an achievement as, despite the pure bred racing looks, there were still enough visual cues for the public to instantly associate it with its road-going cousin. ZAK C00178 joined the DRM field in the middle of the 1978 season. At the Nurburgring Nordschiefe it recorded a lap time of 7m 44 s - twenty-five seconds faster than the 1974 'Cologne Capri'. In the following year, Zakspeed entered two more cars (ZAK C003/79 and ZAK 05C002/79) which contested the entire season, achieving 8 wins and the Division 2 title.

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The original 1978 'roll-out' car - chassis no. ZAK C 00178. The louvre-style covers on the air intakes (directly behind the door) disappeared before it hit the track.

 

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

 

Despite the initial successes, by the middle of 1979 it was becoming clear that Porsche's stranglehold over Division 1 (which was effectively a one-make series) was too complete for Zakspeed to accrue enough points to win the overall title.

 

To counter this threat, Ford came up with the idea of a Division 1 version of the 1.4 ltr Capri to rob Porsche of its dominance. This was achieved by increasing the engine capacity to 1745 cc and refitting the twin turbos. A Division 1-spec car was first raced at Hockenheim in September 1979 at the tail end of the season, achieving a third place. Encouraged by the success, a newly constructed 1.7 ltr car (chassis number ZAK G5C-0-001/80) was entered for the entire 1980 season in Division 1 with Klaus Ludwig at the wheel.

 

The 1980 Division 1 Capri boasted up to 600 bhp and dramatically modified rear bodywork and front splitter. The new car instantly proved a match for the 800 bhp Porsches with its superior aerodynamics, power-to-weight advantage and top speed of 186 mph. Ludwig underlined this by taking points at the two opening rounds of the season. And in the March 30th round at the Nurburgring, his lap time was 7m 33.2s - another 10s faster than the 1.4 ltr car.

 

Unfortunately however, a row broke out over the span of a new larger rear wing, which marginally exceeded the width of wheel arches. By April of 1980, the design was outlawed by the race authorities and the points earned at Zolder and the Nurburgring were disallowed. Further development by Zakspeed to regain the advantage included tidying up the underside of the car and adding an advanced F1-style full-length ground effect venturi tunnel with flexible side skirts. At the rear, the diffuser slot extending from the aluminium floorpan produced a negative pressure (like an inverted wing), which in turn pressed the vehicle to the track. Zakspeed acknowledge that the skirts would quickly wear down during a race but the advantage gained in the opening laps was still worth having. Ludwig went on to win five races in 1980 but, with the points lost earlier on in the season, he was still unable to stop Porsche from taking the title.

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Niedzwiedz's 1982 D&W car in the foreground has the ground affect venturi tunnel (first introduced in 1980), whereas the Capri to the left of the picture has the pre-1980 aero spec

 

The 1.7 ltr car raced again in 1981 in the hands of Manfred Winklehock, with another 17 kg of weight stripped out. Winklehock's 'Killer Capri', as it was known, easily won the Division 1 category but was again prevented from winning the overall title. Fortunately for Zakspeed/Ford, this went to Klaus Ludwig who had switched back to a 1.4 ltr Capri and taken 11 Division 2 wins to Winklehock's six in Division 1. This was Ford Team Zakspeed's most successful season.

 

From 1982 onwards, the DRM was revamped - the two division system was scrapped and Group 'C' prototype cars were permitted to enter. Zakspeed/Ford ceased further development work on the Capri and those that were fielded for the final two seasons were 1981 'Division 1' spec (though not all of them boasted ground-affect). Despite a handful of podium placings, the production-derived racers could not compete with the prototypes and the Capris were withdrawn at the end of 1983.

 

FORMULA 1 & IMSA

 

As a footnote, a special short-stroke evolution of the Capri Turbo engine (used from 1981 in certain races) formed the basis for Zakspeed's Formula 1 project when the team made their entry into the Grand Prix world as a chassis/engine constructor in 1985.

 

Also, in 1981 the 4-cylinder turbo - along with most of the other technology developed by Zakspeed for the Capri - was transplanted into the Ford Mustang for an assault on the American IMSA series. Further details are given in the 1981 race history.

 

Thomas Ammersclager went on to become a tech boss at Audi, working on the Quattro, and at BMW on the M3 programme.

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Edited by Anders Kverneng
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Jarama-1987-7.jpg

Vinner av divisjon 3, 4plass overall: Ludwig/Dieudonné 1987 "4 Horas de Jarama (WTCC)"

 

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Rouse sierra cosworth "4 Horas de Jarama (WTCC)"

 

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Rouse og Ludwig "4 Horas de Jarama (WTCC)"

 

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"The Jolly Club" Sierra tilhørende Lombardi/Serratini. "Donington 500 1987"

 

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Wolf-sierra i pitlane under trening "Brno Grand Prix 1987"

 

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Wolf-Sierra tilhørende Winkelhock/Biela ble nr. 14 etter ett trøblete race. "Brno Grand Prix 1987"

 

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Percy/Hall i Pete Hall sin BTCC sierra "Silverstone TT 1987"

 

Gruppe A var arvtakeren til den "svake" Gruppe 2 kategorien. Den var basert på "gruppe 1B" reglene, som hadde erstattet FIA gruppe 1 i mange land. Uheldigvis, selv om løp(spessielt Spa) og til og med ett "European Trophy" skulle hatt innvirkning på ett samlet regelsett for Europa, forskjellige regler mellom land stoppet all meningsfylt internasjonal konkurranse.

 

Gruppe A var FIA's svar til dette. 5000 biler i året måtte bli produsert(mot 1000 i gruppe 2). Modifikasjonene lignet gruppe 1B, men bremser og girbokser var fritt, hvis de var homologert av bilfabrikken. Motor-modifikasjoner var begrenset, standard eksosmanifold, stempler og kammer fritt, men ventilstørrelse og løft var begrenset, selv om forskjellig løft ble lov i 1986.

Hjuloppheng kunne være modifisert, men feste/opphengspunkter måtte forbli som de var. Gruppe A startet med en vellkjent turbokapasitet-faktor på 1.4, men senere endret til 1,7 i 1988 - Selv om det allerede var for sent.

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I 1988 ble turbo faktoren endret til 1.7. I tillegg pre-1988 det ble tillatt å sette felger på bilen tilsvarende motorstørrelsen, hvis det var fysisk plass på bilen. I 1988 ble regelen endret, så man bare kunne gå opp(eller ned) 2tommer fra homologert bredde.

Derfor kjørte Eggenberger-sierraene på 10" brede felger i 1987(homologert med 7" felger), men kun 9" i 1988 selv om reglene fortsatt tillatte biler med 3.5 liters motorer å kjøre med 10" brede felger.

 

Divisjonene var 0-1600cc, 1600-2500cc og over 2500cc.

 

Ett problem med reglene var at bare 500 biler av en "evo" modell kunne bli homologert. Derfor fikk vi volvo turbo med vanninnsprut, og sierra rs500 med en stor turbo, som gjorde gateversjonen nesten ukjørbar.

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Silverstone in 1990 during the British GP support race:

 

Lawrence Bristow:

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Graham Goode:

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Denis Leech:

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Robb Gravett:

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Andy Rouse:

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Mike Smith:

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Rouse built Brock RS500, notice it has no Ford badges, Brock was really a Holden man.

 

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DJR 5, Dick Johnson's 1989 Bathurst winning car.

 

Japanese Group A - 1987 season - Gr.A Sierras:

 

#10 - TRAMPIO

#8 - TEXACO

#7 - TEXACO

#6 - TEXACO

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Japanese Group A - 1988 season - Sierras:

 

#1 - TRAMPIO

#6 - GRAND PRIX M3

#11 - CIESSE PIUMINI / TRAMPIO

#3 - DUNLOP SHIMIZU

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Japanese Group A - 1989 season - Sierras:

 

#1 - TRAMPIO

#2 - CIESSE PIUMINI / TRAMPIO

#9 - COSMO OIL

#13 - DUNLOP / SHIMIZU

#30 - DUNLOP / MARS WINE

#31 - LEVOC EVOLUTION

#32 - LEVOC EVOLUTION

#39 - ALAN MOFFAT / ANZ

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bilde mangler

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Japanese Group A - 1990 season - Sierras:

 

#2 - ENDLESS / ADVAN

#8 - F.E.T.

#3 - ARTNATURE

#11 - TRAMPIO

#13 - DUNLOP / SHIMIZU

#22 - CIESSE PIUMINI

#20 - NAPOLEX

#43 - CITY LIFE 43

#91 - ALAN MOFFAT / AIWA / CONTINENTAL AIRLINES

#99 - TEAM CMS Sweden

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Japanese Group A - 1991 season - Sierras:

 

#8 - F.E.T Sports

#66 - Team CMS Sweden

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