Nick Wirth is a busy man.  He is not lacking in projects with his design office, Wirth Research, and since he is involved in F1 through Virgin Racing, his schedule is kept full.  But the British engineer was nice enough to give us a few minutes to answer a few questions, and the answers are quite interesting…

First, lets take a small step back.  In January 2009, Acura unveils its new weapon, the ARX-02a during the Winter Test of the American Le Mans Series.  The car is a huge hit, with an aggressive look and a unique concept: big front tyres.  The man behind this car is Nick Wirth, having been in charge of developing the Acura ARX-01b and ARX-01c in LMP2.  The potential of the car is promising and confirmed at the Petit Le Mans, where Acura is fastest in the twisty bits of track, including turn one.  But against the diesels, it was impossible to turn this positive sign into victory, frustrating Mr. Wirth. “For sure the balance between gasoline and diesel was, and still is, too big” he said.  “And the way by which the performance of the turbo-diesel engines is measured/controlled leaves too many options for competitors to exploit.” A year after its first appearance, the ARX-02a has been relegated to the garage.  A decision everyone regrets…

Nick Wirth and his team of highly dedicated engineers have not missed a beat.  He designed the VR-01, Virgin Racing’s F1 car.  Sportscar endurance racing and F1, two completely different disciplines, but remain similar in the eyes of an engineer.  “The technology transfer goes both ways,” he said.  “But for sure the intensity and technology of competition in F1 will benefit our sportscar program – we have already seen the benefits on the ARX-01c and our own new sportscar car.”  A new prototype?? More on that later.

Firstly, Nick Wirth has concentrated on the HPD ARX-01c, run by both Highcroft in ALMS and Strakka in the Le Mans Series with a new aero kit making its debut.  “Actually the ARX-01c 2010 aero package was born out of the never-raced low-drag aero developments of the ARX-02a.  It is primary purpose is to allow the car to be very very competitive on low-drag tracks, particulalry Le Mans, but also suitable for some of the other fast tracks such as Spa-Francochamps, Paul Ricard, Elkhart Lake and Road Atlanta.”  It’s worth noting that these improvements will be identical for these tracks as well as Le Mans.  Highcroft will use the package starting from Le Mans with a few evolutions depending on the track.

But like many others, Nick Wirth is already thinking of 2011.  And Wirth Research is also launching into a new LMP1 project.  “Yes, we are working very hard on this, but for testing in 2011 and racing in 2012. It will be a very interesting Coupe…”  It’s also worth noting that this car will only be available to factory teams as “this is the only way to win LMP1, and we like winning !” Although the 2011 rules have not yet been confirmed, it has been known that shark fins will be present.  “I think there will be a shark wing, for safety reasons.” explained Nick Wirth.  “The FIA have seen the additional benefit of these devices in preventing blow-overs, even though the WR curved skid seems to have have helped this problem go away already since the beginning of 2009.”

So, after Audi, Peugeot and others, Nick Wirth has confirmed the development of a new car for the new rules.  We can only rejoice.  He was able to make the ARX-01b competitive against the Porsche RS Spyder.  The ARX-02a seemed to run along those same lines as well as the ARX-01c, which looks to have a potentially dominating season this year.  So when Mr. Wirth invokes a “very interesting Coupe,” we are obviously excited to see this thing.

Rainier Erhardt and Anthony Megevand