REBELLION RACING STRENGTHENS ITS TECHNICAL TEAM FOR 2011
REBELLION Racing has appointed Ian Smith as the team's Engineering & Operations Manager and James Robinson as the Race Engineer for the #12 Lola- Toyota. Steve Wills remains as REBELLION Racing's Technical Manager and Race Engineer for car #13.
Ian Smith, 42, has enjoyed success as an engineer in endurance racing since the early 2000s. Ian was Race Engineer for Nissan-Sumo Racing in the FIA World GT1 championship in 2010, winning the Tourist Trophy. In 2009 he was the Race Engineer for the Speedy Racing Team Sebah LMP2 car, winning the 1000 km of Silverstone, and finishing second at Le Mans 24 Hours and second in the Le Mans Series championship.
Ian Smith was Creation Autosportif's Chief Engineer and car designer from 2004 to 2009. Ian was with Creation from its inception and he engineered all of Creation's podium finishes in the team's history, working with drivers such as Jamie Campbell- Walter and Nicolas Minassian. Previous to his work with Creation Ian engineered and developed the Lister Storm GT1 that won the FIA World Championship in 2000.
James Robinson, 50, boasts an impressive motor racing career and has been a Race Engineer, Senior Operations and Chief Engineer in Formula 1 over two decades, winning World Championships in senior engineering rolls with Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve.
James has worked in Formula 1 for Williams, McLaren, Jordan, B.A.R. and Arrows. James also has experience in endurance racing and the Le Mans 24 Hours, overseeing engineering on three occasions with McLaren, and Bentley, claiming outright victories in 1995 and 2003. More recently, James has worked successfully in British F3 with Bruno Senna and Mike Conway, GP2 with new rising F1 stars Kobayashi and Jaimie Alguersuari in World Series and of course finally A1GP with team Switzerland, and the Championship winning Neel Jani.
Steve Wills has been part of the Speedy Racing Team Sebah and REBELLION Racing operation since 2008. Formerly an engine and chassis electronics consultant, Steve became the Race Engineer for the team's first LMP1, the Lola- Aston Martin in 2009. In 2010 Steve continued in the role of Race Engineer but he also assumed the position of the team's Technical Manager, designing the electronic systems used in the REBELLION Racing cars and overseeing their implementation. For 2011, Steve resumes his working relationship with the drivers of car #13.
REBELLION Racing Team Manager, Bart Hayden, welcomed the new appointments, "With the changes enforced upon our team at the end of last year, we needed to bolster the management team so that we could be sure of delivering to the highest level. Ian was with us in 2009 and I'm pleased that he's back with us again in 2011. With his wealth of experience in sportscars, he will ensure that we are well prepared. James Robinson is an Engineer of the highest level who will help us to optimise the set up of our cars. His record of achievement speaks for itself and we hope that that record will be enhanced even further by achieving great successes with our team. Steve's been a part of the team since we stepped up to prototypes in 2008, so it's great to keep that continuity and I know that he will be keeping James honest as a bit of healthy, intra-team competition kicks in !"
TOYOTA RV8KLM ENGINE SPECIFICATIONS
The engine's designation is derived from 'racing V8', giving the RV8 prefix which has been used for Toyota racing engines for several years. The current Toyota Formula Nippon engine is the K specification and this has been modified by TMG for Le Mans, adding the initials LM and giving its full designation of RV8KLM.
In order to adjust to the specific demands of endurance racing and the mandatory air restrictors in use at Le Mans, TMG has modified the compression ratio and increased the engine's efficiency, delivering over 500PS in a reliable package.
Development began early in 2010 and testing on TMG's advanced suite of dynamometers began in June 2010, culminating in a shakedown test at Snetterton in England in October.
The first full track test for the RV8KLM engine took place at Monteblanco in Spain, where more than 750km were completed in two days, before a further two-day test at Portimao in Portugal saw more than 1,100km achieved.
Toyota Motorsport GmbH LMP1 Engine Specification
Designation: Toyota RV8KLM
Configuration: 90 V8
Displacement: 3400 cc
Valve Train: Dual overhead camshaft with four valves per cylinder
Cylinder Block: Aluminium
Fuel: Petrol, specification according to ACO regulations
Weight: Around 120kg
Power: Over 500PS
Air Intake Restrictor: 2 x 30.6mm
Engine Management: Pectel MQ12 ECU by Cosworth Electronics
Lubrication: Dry sump
Cooling: Water cooled
-source: rebellion racing
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