The UK is the world leader in motor sport technology - almost all the leading Formula 1 teams are based in Britain, and large numbers of racing cars are produced in the UK for racing series around the world, including the US champ car series.
Around 4,000 companies are involved in motor sport engineering and manufacturing in the UK, and the sector turns over £2.9 billion a year, employing 25,000 engineers. Many of these companies are looking for new business opportunities, and they see the aerospace industry as a natural next step.
From aerodynamics to lubricants and from brakes to composite structures, the industries use similar technologies - a key example is Boeing's intention to build its 7E7 'Dreamliner' using lightweight and incredibly strong carbon-fibre reinforced structures, not dissimilar to those used in Formula 1 racing cars.
Indeed, Boeing and the Renault F1 team have recently announced that they are to collaborate on exploring the natural synergies between them.
Demanding
Both industries make liberal use of advanced materials and precision engineering techniques to develop products and components used in the most extreme environments and they also look for very similar skill-sets from their engineers, often operating within very demanding timescales.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed by the two parties, explains how technologists from Boeing's 'phantom works' - the company's advanced R&D unit - will work with race engineers from Renault F1, exploring a number of advanced design and manufacturing technologies.
Among the racing cars on display in the exclusive MIA Motorsport Valley Pavilion exhibition area (situated close to Gate B and the media centre) are a number of technology companies with expertise in such diverse technologies as composites, transmissions, instrumentation, rapid prototyping and fuel systems.
Some specific aerospace products are also on show, the most impressive of which is a UAV drone developed by Lola and made from advanced lightweight composites.
Source: Flight Daily News
