Formula 1 News

Spyker: B-Spec car ready for Monza’s Italian Grand Prix 

Mike Gascoyne, Spyker’s chief technical officer, believes the team’s B-spec car should allow them to fight in the midfield from this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix. The Dutch squad are finally introducing the heavily revised car for this weekend’s race in Monza after having been forced to delay its planned debut when it failed a crash text ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix, where it was originally going to race for the first time.

Spyker, yet to score a point in 2007, are hoping the new car will mean a step forward in performance, after having fought at the back of the field for most of the season. “We could see an increase in our race and qualifying race pace and be up there in the mix of the midfield if everything works out,” said Gascoyne. We would like to think the update could see us competing with people around us and when you’re in that position anything can happen. This is just the start and there are many areas of the car we will revisit – there is a lot more to come from this team.”

Gascoyne also downplayed the importance of not having raced the car in Turkey as planned, as the team would have competed with an untested machine. The car, however, has now been tested for three days at Monza prior to this weekend’s race. “We passed the crash test at the first attempt after the Turkish Grand Prix,” Gascoyne added. We were really trapped by the structures we already had in production before Turkey but we did have structures available after that weekend which we could incorporate our findings into and make larger changes, and we passed at the first opportunity as we were confident we would. Of course it’s disappointing not to have the new car in Turkey, but ultimately this race would just have been an extended test session for us as we had only done a 50km shakedown beforehand. Now we have had two days’ testing at the circuit where the car will make its debut.”

Spyker F1 B-spec technical specification:

Chassis: Full carbon fiber composite monocoque
Front suspension: Composite pushrods activating chassis mounted in-line dampers and torsion bars, unequal length composite aerodynamic wishbones, front anti-roll bar and cast uprights.
Rear suspension: Composite pushrods activating gearbox mounted in-line dampers & torsion bars, unequal length composite aerodynamic wishbones, and cast uprights.
Transmission: In-house Spyker design. 7-speed + reverse longitudinal gearbox with electrohydraulic sequential gear change
Wheel base: More than 3000mm
Front track: 1480mm
Rear track: 1418mm
Overall height: 950mm
Overall length: Approx. 5000 mm
Overall weight: 605kg (with driver, by regulations)
Clutch: Triple plate AP racing clutch
Wheels: Forged BBS wheels to Spyker specification
Fuel tank capacity: Over 90 kg
Engine: Ferrari F1-056H
Number of Cylinders: 8
Capacity: 2398cc
Horsepower: More than 700bhp
Revolutions: 19,000rpm(by regulation)
Valve actuation: Pneumatic
Throttle actuation: Hydraulic
Spark Plugs: NGK