31/05/2006
NEWS STORY
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Philippe Gurdjian, Paul Ricard HTTT President and CEO, has always worked to improve track safety, looking at several options to improve the circuit drainage system, and after research found the ACO Drain Monoblock Racing to be the best solution.
Common drainage systems for motor racing circuits, made of a concrete channel associated to a steel grid is raising concern with regards to safety. Single seater chassis hitting the grids with downforce up to 1 ton per cm² can cause severe problems as nuts and bolt can break and grids can become dissociated from one another. This is obviously very dangerous for cars and drivers… as different motor sport incidents have shown in the past seasons (Shangai F1 2005).
The new drainage system - ACO Monobloc Racing - tested at the Paul Ricard HTTT, is a one piece resin concrete construction which greatly improves track safety as there is no loose cover to separate from the drainage channel.
The different types of ACO Racing Drain (RD100/200/300) installed at the Paul Ricard HTTT can support forces from 15 to 900 kN (kilo Newton), meaning approximately 1.5 to 90 tons. The PowerDrain PD100/200, adapted to motorcycle tyre size can support from 15 to 250 kN, meaning approximately 1.5 to 25 tons. The support of the above mentioned forces are tested in accordance to EN 1433 – European Standard for Line drainage Systems.
The resin concrete drainage system is manufactured in one piece one meter length moulds, made for easy installation and maintenance. The absence of removable gratings means additional safety for cars and tyres at high speed.
Once again, Philippe Gurdjian proves his great involvement in active safety on race tracks: "Recent motor racing incidents involving track drainage systems has made the Paul Ricard HTTT aware of the teams and drivers concern, which has lead us to install this new drainage system and to be at the forefront of track safety and innovating design," said Gurdjian.
"This new draining system is certainly the true solution to safety problems that this sport has encountered lately on some new race tracks. Having applied it to the Paul Ricard HTTT will again make us one of the safest tracks in the world, giving teams and drivers additional confidence during their tests."
This new drainage system has been successfully tested at the Paul Ricard HTTT during the past year. This is the reason why Philippe Gurdjian gives full credit to this system and recommends it to all racing circuits.
On the unique layout of the Paul Ricard HTTT and its 180 track configurations of which 76 can be used for wet tyre testing, Philippe Gurdjian has laid some 4 kilometres of the new draining system which greatly improves water run-off on these track solutions.
Because safety in motor racing is one of his priorities, Gurdjian validated after one year experience at the Paul Ricard HTTT this new system for all motor sport tracks. The Paul Ricard HTTT demonstrates once more that it is the first track of the third millennium ahead of future.