National Post from Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 64

DRIVER'S EDGE IIRACING DT2 NATIONAL POST, I'M DAY, SKI'TKMBIi 13, 2002 II i I SAFETY NET Ch assis story Sleepy drivers get ready to rumble By David Df.iiaas all about what ies beneath REYNARD V.LOLA Battle rages between ndersteer, oversteer when on the track 15 Ross While the Reynard versus Lola saga seemed to have played itself out months ago, the rivalry between the two ChampCar chassis has gained new life with rumours that Paul Tracy's move to Team Player's-Forsvthe might be contingent on the team switching from its Reynard chassis. It is not quite that way, Tracy says. "I wouldn't say it's critical, but, for me, the Lola has been a better chassis. It has been more driver-friendly. The handling is a bit more to my liking.

It has been important to me, but it's not a make-or-break deal." Team Player's-Forsythe is one of only three teams still using the Reynard chassis; several teams that started the season on them moved to the Lola when Reynard went into receivership. One of the reasons Team Player's-Forsythe stuck with the Reynard is it does so much fabricating in its own shop that there was little reason to worry about such issues as parts supply or development. Derrick Walker, who owns and operates Walker Racing, has since rescued Reynard as a ChampCar supplier. Motorists who have been paying close attention will have noticed something new on some of Ontario's rural highways: The shoulders are wholly or partly paved. Moreover, beyond the yellow line, a pattern is cut into the pavement, looking like one-half of a set of bulldozer tracks.

They are, in fact, "shoulder nimble strips" the Ministry of Transportation describes as "a grooved formation installed within the paved or partly paved shoulder of a highway." Close inspection reveals them to be shallow, parallel grooves, cut about eight centimetres wide by about 25 cm in length. They are, says Bob Nichols, a spokesman for the ministry, a "cost-effective warning device intended to reduce run-off-road accidents." Run-off road accidents, or ROR, as the Ministry calls them, are believed to be the leading cause of fatal accidents on rural highways. And the leading cause of ROR accidents is drivers falling asleep. One of the first effects of drowsiness is that drivers will start to wander, still under some degree of control, out of their lanes. That is where the rumble strips kick in.

"The intended purpose," Mr. Nichols says, "is to provide the motorist with both an audible and tactile warning that the vehicle has partially or completely departed the travelled way of a highway." It does this, in less technical terms, by causing the wheel running over the grooves to make an incredibly loud noise that sounds like someone has started up a chainsaw. It also makes the vehicle and the steering wheel ibrate quite a bit. It is, Mr. Nichols says, "expected to alert an inattentive motorist to steer the vehicle back onto the travelled way." In fact, it is enough to wake the dead, which is the point.

A drowsy motorist who hits a rumble strip can be expected to be wide-eyed for some time thereafter. "Ontario's current policy," Mr. Nichols says, "requires that shoulder rumble strips be installed on all rural freeways with fully or partially paved shoulders, both on the median side left side and outside right side." Rumble strips are being installed on most new roads and whenever repairs or upgrades are made to existing roads. The priority is to install them where they are expected to have the best chance of reducing run-off-road accidents, Mr. Nichols says.

'( This includes urban freeways and rural highways with either fully or partially paved shoulders, and at such critical locations as alongside the shoulder before a bridge. National Post dehaasntl.sympatico.ca PAUL CHIASSON THK CANAIAN 1'RKSS For Torontonian Paul Tracy, the Lola has been a better chassis. "It has been more driver-friendly," he says. something that I don't cope with very well." Understeer is, of course, the tendency for a car to want to resist turning into the corner. The front wheels will actually skid sideways, requiring the driver to wind in more steering angle than would be theoretically necessary in a perfectly neutral car.

This is often referred to as "push." Oversteer is exactly the opposite. Tracy's preference for tail-out cornering has been with him since he started kart racing as a youngster; old habits die hard. "I'm more used to sliding the car into the corner with the tail out," he says. "With the Reynard, the entry is good, but when you get to the middle of the corner you get a really big understeer. Sometimes, you can deal with it; sometimes, it just makes you slow." It is not all about understeer and oversteer, though.

While CART's regulations on chassis design keep the cars looking quite similar to the layman, they are put together very differently. "The Reynard is much simpler to work on. Mechanically, it's much more sound. The Lola is much more difficult to work on because everything is more compact." That compactness is at least partially responsible for another important factor in its favour. The Lola is lighter.

Although all Champ'Cars must meet the same minimum weight for competition, this still poses an advantage. It means teams can use ballast in the car and place it where they want for optimum weight distribution and handling. There is, however, a disadvantage to all that lithe construction. "It's a little bit more fragile because everything is made so light," Tracy says of the Lola. "That's why you see things like the wings breaking off, because everything is lightened so much.

So those are the things that are a concern when you don't have the experience with the car that other teams do. We're kind of learning as we go along." There is no doubt he will be sticking with the Lola at Team Kool Green for the remainder of this year, but next year is still up in the air. "Whatever happens happens. In talking to Team Player's, I think they're open to switching cars. Well just have to see where it goes." If they did switch, of course, Picks and predictions 'THE REYNARD IS MUCH SIMPLER TO WORK ON THE LOLA IS MORE DIFFICULT' they would have to learn the nuances of the Lola, which could cause problems.

As Tracy says, his current team has been learning as it goes, with the consequence that it has struggled to find the car's "sweet spot" at some tracks. In all, the team may have sacrificed good results for the better part of a quarter season before coming to terms with the Lola. "There is always a learning process, because the Reynard will change next year, too. The cars are going to evolve all the time." Despite Team Player's-Forsythe's long experience with the Reynard it has virtually reengineered it to the maximum allowable by the rules switching may not be out of the question. While other teams may have struggled with the switch this year, they do not have the benefit of something Team Player's-Forsythe does: technical director Bruce Ashmore.

He is regarded as one of the best race car engineers on the circuit. Before he joined Team Player's, he helped design the Reynard the teams now use. Before that? Why, he helped design the Lola. National Post NASCAR Sterling Marlin's silver bullet found its mark once again last weekend. He opened the door of opportunity wide with an early exit; but, in an effort reminiscent of a Three Stooges gag, nobody walked through.

Number one contender Jeff Gordon saw a return of his team's engine woes and left early. The only real contender was Mark Martin, who finds himself nine points behind Marlin. Considering the way NASCAR hands out points, he might be able to close that gap by showing up at this weekend's New Hampshire 300. Broadcast: Qualifying, today, 3 p.m. (Speed); Happy Hour, tomorrow, 11 a.m.

(Speed); Race, Sunday, 1 p.m. (NBC). IRL The IRL year wraps up this weekend at the Chevy 500 at Texas Speedway. Things are close at the top. Time for a Texas-style showdown between Sam Hornish Jr.

and Marlboro man Helio Castroneves. Fellow Marlie Gil de Ferran is out with a fractured wrist after crashing on Sunday, ending his title bid. Broadcast: Race, Sundav, 3 p.m. (ABC). Andrew Ross, National Post F1 His eminence Michael Schumacher, will go for season win number 11 down the road from Ferrari's headquarters at the Italian GP at Monza.

Getting all those wins for the black stallion hasn't been much of a horse race this season. Schumacher and teammate Rubens Barrichello have been one-two across the finish line six times this year, but the sheer dominance of those performances has been both awe-inspiring and yawn-evoking. Broadcast: Practice, today, 7 a.m. (Speed); Qualifying, tomorrow, 7 a.m. (TSN); Race, Sunday, 8 a.m.

(TSN). CART The CART teams are in England for the Rockingham 500, which produced a rain- and darkness-shortened race last year. Teams are trying to catch Cristiano da Matta, a feat accomplished in Denver by Bruno Jun-quiera with Scott Dixon second which only served to spread out the championship points and leave da Matta unscathed after finishing third. Broadcast: Qualifying, today, 4:30 p.m. (Speed); Race, tomorrow, 8 a.m.

(TSN). He purchased the assets of Reynard this summer and has said he will be able to supply chassis for next season. Tracy's Kool Green was one of the teams that switched from the Reynard to the Lola, so he has had the opportunity to drive both chassis in current trim. He knows which one he likes better. "The Reynard is more of an un-dersteering car than the Lola.

The Lola is more neutral and can even be a bit of an oversteer-ing car on entry into the corners. With Reynard, you're always struggling to get understeer out of the car, and understeer is Letting the valet drive is tip enough. Aita Inflniti Woodbridge (905) 856-8800 Inflniti ofYorkvllle Toronto (416) 975-2623 I "lwl(lll vv-'l Woodchester Infirtiti Mississauga (905) 820-4545 Infiniti of Willowdale Thorn hi II (905)881-4200 Doner Inflniti Newmarket (905) 895-4661 I I I I 401-Oixie Inflniti Mississauga (905) 238-5500 135 Lease from Includes destination and delivery charges The 2002 135 Drive an 135 and you'll instantly experience the perfect marriage of performance and luxury. The secret lies in an award-winning 255-horsepower 3.5-litre VQ engine combined with over 100 perfectly considered features. The spacious Sojourner leather interior, in-dash 6-disc CD autochanger and 17" alloy wheels, not to mention the security of its benchmark warranty, make a powerful case for driving one home.

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