Post Magny Cours: Willy Rampf letter

By BMW sauber F1
July 17 2006

The race at Magny-Cours turned out to be a truly hot battle. Throughout the weekend, the temperatures exceeded the 30 degrees Celsius mark, and during the race they reached as high as 36 degrees Celsius.

Dear motor racing enthusiasts,

The race at Magny-Cours turned out to be a truly hot battle. Throughout the weekend, the temperatures exceeded the 30 degrees Celsius mark, and during the race they reached as high as 36 degrees Celsius. The conditions in the French back lands represented an extraordinary strain for both man and machine. If you are - like our drivers Nick Heidfeld and Jacques Villeneuve - 11th and 16th on the grid and leave the venue having added a point to your tally, you just have to be happy. The point scored by Nick was a well-deserved one.

At the same time, we are also happy with the new aerodynamic devices we equipped our BMW Sauber F1.06 with for the French Grand Prix weekend - the devices we call nose wings and roll-hoop wings. Both attracted a lot of attention. The first time we used the new wings was the test at Jerez last week, and now, at Magny-Cours, they celebrated their racing debut.

In combination with the new lateral wings on the engine cover, the vertical wings mounted on the car's nose make for a better oncoming airflow at the rear, thus increasing the downforce. The result: a better stability while cornering and braking. At the same time, they don't reduce the drivers' field of view.

Since the beginning of the season, we have been working at our Hinwil wind tunnel in two shifts and this work is now paying off. For every single race, we will have new aerodynamic components available. Obviously, this also applies for the forthcoming back-to-back races, the German and Hungarian Grands Prix. It's our goal to make it to the final leg of the qualifying sessions in these events, and to score as many World Championship points as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Willy Rampf
Technical Director BMW Sauber F1 Team