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Virgin Racing still facing reliability problems
26 March 2010

                                                                           


Virgin's Formula 1 team continues to struggling on track as the team faced several reliability problems in Melbourne on Friday. Both Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi were unable to complete today's work without facing several problems.

Lucas di Grassi had a positive morning's running, clocking up 25 laps of the 3.295mile circuit. Glock's first session though was curtailed by a gearbox oil leak. In the afternoon Di Grassi completed two installation laps, by which time the overcast skies gave way to rain. He then experienced a telemetry box problem which confined him to the garage. The fix to Glock's car was effected in time for him to secure at least some running towards the end of the session but the combined problems meant that neither he nor Lucas were able to set representative lap times at any point during the day.




Speaking about Friday's free practice Glock said: "It has been a tough day for sure. We had a gearbox oil leak this morning - a new problem which arose and we had to spend a lot of the day fixing it. This afternoon I managed to get back out on track at the end of the session but it was frustrating to lose so much track time. I think we will be playing catch-up in the morning so we have to hope things go our way in time for Qualifying."


Lucas di Grassi commented: "Today was a mix of a very good session in the morning and some problems in the afternoon. In P1 I was just looking to get the first feeling of the track and everything went as planned. This afternoon was a bit more troubled and as soon as we went out we experienced some problems with the telemetry box and I lost the rest of the second session. Not the perfect situation to go into a race weekend at a circuit that is new to me, but we will keep our heads up, fix the problem and go for it tomorrow."


      
Courtesy of:  f1.gpupdate.net

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Virgin Racing claims other Formula 1 teams may have fuel tank problems    
Source - GMM    
Saturday, 27 March 2010



More Formula One cars on Sunday's Melbourne grid might also have fuel tanks that cannot carry enough fuel to the end of races.

That was the suggestion on Saturday of Virgin's primary sponsor Sir Richard Branson and technical boss Nick Wirth, as the Formula 1 paddock expresses amazement at the new British team's apparent design blunder.

Wirth insisted to the BBC that a last minute switch to lower density fuel for 2010 fudged his numbers, admitting: "We pushed the boundaries and got something wrong, possibly we're not the only people to make that mistake."

British billionaire Branson, in the Albert Park paddock on Saturday, added: "I think you will find that there are a number of cars that are challenged in this area."

Virgin aside, the only teams that did not get at least one car to the chequered flag in Bahrain two weeks ago were Sauber and HRT.

Mercedes boss Ross Brawn admitted on Friday that getting the fuel tank size right for 2010 was a challenge.

"I think all of the top teams, certainly, have had enough knowledge from previous years to be able to judge the size of fuel tank (required) and none of us have made them any bigger than they need to be," he said.
 
 

Courtesy of:  f1sa.com




Branson's 'Virgin won't go all the way'   

Mar.27 (GMM)  Sir Richard Branson's arrival at the Albert Park circuit on Saturday coincided with an unfortunate headline in Britain's The Sun tabloid.

The headline said the British billionaire's "Virgin won't go all the way"; a cheeky reference to the bizarre story about the VR-01 car's fuel tank being not big enough to last a full race distance.

The newspaper said the new team is now the "laughing stock of F1", and that the car's redesign will cost Branson a million pounds.

Said a rival team boss: "It sounds to me as if they missed a decimal point."

The Daily Telegraph broadsheet was less unkind, but nonetheless reflected the amazement in the paddock about how the blunder could have been made by the team.

"The three other Cosworth-supplied teams did not make the same mistake despite the same fuel consumption," read the article.

But Virgin chief executive Graeme Lowdon told BBC radio that the problem is a "supplier issue", coinciding with suggestions the fuel tank was supplied by a different company than the rest of the 2010 field.

Courtesy of:  f1complete.com

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Virgin fails to modify both cars
03 May 2010

                                             

Virgin Racing may have increased the size of its fuel tank - a fundamental problem which marred the new team over the course of the first four races - although Technical Director Nick Wirth is aggravated over the fact that the team has only had time to redevelop one car, essentially meaning that two different chassis will be in use at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya this weekend.


Nick Wirth of Wirth Research, Virgin Racing Technical Director

Having finalised its car design before Formula 1 governing body the FIA presented more pre-season technical details, Virgin Racing has since been forced to modify its car's core basis in order to increase the length, necessary to accommodate the required larger fuel tank.

"Since Shanghai, we have conducted an extensive investigation into the failures that halted the obvious progress the team has been making since its debut," Wirth explained on Monday.

"That investigation has highlighted a number of issues that are currently being addressed by the race team, Wirth Research and our key suppliers and our continuing aim is to put an end to the reliability issues that have dominated our Grand Prix debut."


Lucas di Grassi will not benefit from car changes this weekend

However, with much of the team having been stranded in Shanghai for up to a week after their original departure dates - due to the European travel chaos - Wirth is disappointed and frustrated at the recent sequence of events which means that only Timo Glock will be competing in a customized car this weekend.

"Having worked tirelessly to prepare the new car for the race, including its successful rehomologation, it is a bitter pill to swallow that we are unable to complete the second car due to the 'volcanic delays'," Nick continued.

"Running two fundamentally different specification cars at Barcelona will certainly challenge the team but, as the reliability fixes apply to both specifications, we'll keep our heads down and focus solely on getting both cars to the chequered flag."


Courtesy of:   f1.gpupdate.net

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Virgin links up with Full Tilt Poker.Net
07 May 2010

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The Virgin Racing team has begun a sponsorship association with Full Tilt Poker.Net, with the partnership having been announced at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya on Thursday. The company name will now feature predominantly on the cars of Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi.

Having endured a tough start to the 2010 campaign, Virgin was able to develop just one fuel tank which is large enough to house enough fuel to last the race distance this weekend, with the technical team having been badly delayed after China due to the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud which caused aviation chaos across Europe.



The new partnership with Full Tilt Poker.Net, one of the world's leading online poker schools, will see the company's logos appear on the cars, driver overalls and team gear of the outfit originally entered as Manor GP.

"We are absolutely delighted to welcome Full Tilt Poker.Net to Virgin Racing," said Graeme Lowdon, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Racing. "We are proud to add an industry-leading brand to our healthy partnership portfolio and I am particularly pleased that we have worked hard together with a partner who has seen the team develop from its birth through to our first competitive steps."



Courtesy of:  f1.gpupdate.net

[mymandann]

the amount of cash richard branson has and his desire never ever to fail at anything i can see this being a massive winning team in the very near future!!

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Virgin confirms new di Grassi car for Turkey
16 May 2010

                                                  

Lucas di Grassi will be able to enjoy Virgin's revised car at this month's Turkish Grand Prix. Team-mate Timo Glock already enjoyed the team's revised car at last week's Spanish Grand Prix but the team was unable to bring two of them due to a delay in transport.


Di Grassi in Monaco

Nick Wirth, Virgin's Technical Director, confirmed to Autosport: "We were really pleased with its debut. Obviously very, very disappointed for Lucas that events conspired to prevent us getting that car done, but it was down to timing and we were about two or three days out when the freight came back so we couldn't do it.

"I'm glad that this weekend is going to be the last race with the old spec (for Di Grassi)."

Wirth furthermore said the team's new chassis is about half a second quicker than the old chassis.


Courtesy of:  f1.gpupdate.net

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Virgin adds Canada-specific car parts
08 June 2010

Nick Wirth was pleased to see both Virgin Racing cars make the finish of the Turkish Grand Prix but stresses that the team now requires more of the same in order to keep on top of development work as best as possible. The team originally known as Manor GP will be racing with aerodynamic parts tailored to Montreal this weekend.
Having suffered from unreliability for most of the season so far, both cars races with correctly-sized fuel tanks for the first time in Turkey, with Timo Glock having received his modified chassis two races before team-mate Lucas di Grassi.


Nick Wirth, Virgin Racing Technical Director

"Getting a two-car finish in Istanbul was very important for us, as it is finally allowing us to focus on performance," Technical Director Wirth explained.

"Whilst the big performance steps for us this year are yet to be brought to the track, we have a nice Montreal aero package which consists of new aero parts all over the car, specifically for this track.

"The circuit itself is another interesting challenge, mainly in that it changes throughout the weekend and that makes getting the best race setup quite tricky. Brake wear and temperatures are something which will challenge the teams this race and, if a number of people get that wrong, things can get very interesting close to the finish."



Courtesy of:  f1.gpupdate.net

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[size=115pt]Virgin prepares for biggest aerodynamic upgrade[/size]
07 July 2010

Silverstone this weekend will mark Virgin Racing’s first ever home Grand Prix and, more importantly for the 2010 season, the Sheffield-based outfit’s most significant aerodynamic update so far.
With Nick Wirth’s design team using only computer software for design as opposed to wind tunnels, the CFD approach was slated by some pre-season although the squad remain optimistic that more gains can be enjoyed in the Northamptonshire countryside.



In Valencia, Lucas di Grassi finished as the highest-placed representative of F1’s new teams

“It certainly looks exciting on our real-time simulators and I really hope the spectators get some more great views of F1 cars on the limit,” Wirth said, referring to Silverstone’s modified Arena circuit.

“For us, the focus has been delivering a major step in aero performance to the cars straight from our unique all-digital development process.

“We’re looking forward to seeing how we progress, as the update represents a significant change to many of the car’s inherent characteristics.

“The engineers and drivers have been busy on the simulators getting an understanding of what setup changes will be required to get the best from the package and now we’re all relishing the challenge of our home Grand Prix.”


_{Courtesy of:  gpupdate.net}