Incidentally it turned out to be rather useful in rallying.

Technology Transfer: Was it ever true?

Claus Ebberfeld
motorsport

Or “Why manufacturers take part in motorsport”. Or would like us to think they do.

The reality is sometimes confusing, isn’t it? For years I used to view motorsport as a gentleman sport not unlikely those Golden Days of good ol’ Woolf Bernato and his gang of Bentley Boys. It was sort of for the honour, adventure and maybe sheer fun of it all. For the competitors. But why did Bentley, Alfa Romeo and Bugatti and later Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar and Mercedes supply cars for these purposes at all? An answer that manufacturers likes to deliver is that motorsport is a good thing for development of the road cars. But is it?

A bit exaggerated, perhaps.

To the best of my knowledge, this is no longer the case: Since the disc brakes were tested at Le Mans, it is relatively limited how much has been transferred. At least directly. Diesel did not come on the field either, because it was better as such – but because the regulations opened up for a diesel car to be able to win. Out on the street, we were already burdened with more diesel cars than good, so that was where the technology was first. And all later racings cars with hybrid technology is the same thing really, although the development here is completely in line with that on the street: This technology only entered the cars because it is subsidized with either money or free kilojoules or favourable computations of c02.

Incidentally it turned out to be rather useful in rallying.

Since the mid-eighties, where computerized engine management really made power both cleaner, leaner and more reliable, I have a hard time seeing where there should have been a specific technology transfer, as it is called, from the racetrack to the street. Of anything important, mind. Any ideas?

Another issue, of course, is that motorsport indeed is the ultimate test – but mostly of things for and in motorsport. You are allowed to wonder how that can be transferred to queuing in the inner city. Not to mention that road cars today are often allowed to be more advanced than the race cars, active aerodynamics and all.

Reverse technology transfer is, in fact, much more widespread: Manufacturers for decades have been building road cars so they can win on the track – regardless of the inconvenience caused on the street. Here’s a 1970 Plymouth Superbird.

I believe the real case to be one of image transfer rather than technology transfer. And then again that is nothing new:  The saying “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” is not based on the sale of race cars (except maybe for Lola, Chevron, Van Diemen and Dallara and the like in the old days…) but on a much more holistic view on things – such as that when Toyota wins Le Mans, then their road cars must also be good for the trip to football with the boys. If you think that sounds reasonable you have deserved your AMG floor mats.