News: Virgin Racing launch F1 car

The new Virgin Racing Formula One team has proudly unveiled its debut race car - the VR-01.

The team was created last year when Rotherham's Manor Grand Prix teamed up with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin brand to embark on an exciting F1 adventure.

The VR-01 is the first of a new breed of race car designed entirely in the digital domain using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). It is the brainchild of Virgin Racing's Technical Director, Nick Wirth, who has gained an international reputation for pioneering a purely CFD approach to car development, wholly designing, building and testing race cars in computer simulation without the need for expensive, resource-heavy scale-model wind tunnel testing.

In theory, the team's pre-season testing programme began several months ago - in the virtual sense - courtesy of what is widely regarded as amongst the most progressive real-time simulator technology in motor sport. When race drivers Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi begin testing in anger next week, the VR-01 should feel very similar to the car they "drove" on the Wirth Research simulator.

Virgin Racing Technical Director, Nick Wirth said: "Today is a very proud day for everyone involved with Virgin Racing, however on this occasion, where the car is the star, I want to pay tribute to all the amazing people at Wirth Research who deserve so much of the credit for the VR-01. Putting together an F1 team, assembling an engineering group and designing a new car from scratch is an epic task in the timeframe we have been working to.

"We have assembled a fantastic design and engineering group, the calibre of which I could only have dreamed of attracting when we first started out on this journey."

Virgin Racing Team Principal, John Booth added: "Today is the culmination of a very emotional journey which really began in June last year when we celebrated the fantastic news that our entry into Formula One had been accepted. The celebrations were necessarily brief however, because we were already in a race against time to design and develop a race car at the same time as building a new team of people and premises.

"I would like to congratulate our new race team - a great bunch of guys working together for the very first time in the pressure-cooker environment of a demanding car build schedule. Logistically it hasn't been easy, since the initial build of the two race cars is taking place in Bicester, rather than our operational base in Dinnington. Their commitment and professionalism has been exemplary and they have set their own very high bar in terms of trackside performance this season.

"Finally, not only do we have a great bunch of people at Virgin Racing, we also have a great-looking car. We are delighted with our fantastic new livery which provides a fitting integration of our racing brand with our important commercial partnerships.

"All in all, we have a lot to look forward to as we progress towards our racing debut in Bahrain next month."

Virgin Racing website
Rotherham

Images: Virgin Racing