Corsa Motorsports P1 Prototype with KERS to debut at Utah Grand Prix
Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2008 Corsa Motorsports Zytek 07S
Back in September of 2008, Corsa Motorsports announced it would be shelving their Ferrari F430 in the GT2 category and instead campaign a new P1 Prototype fitted with a KERS system. While the planned debut at Petit Le Mans didn't happen in order to further develop the system, the Utah-based race team is still pushing ahead with the hybrid racecar that will introduce the kinetic energy recovery system to the ALMS. Today, Corsa Motorsports tested the Ginetta-Zytek GZ09SH laden with the 85kg KERS system for the first time at the Silverstone circuit, and Steve Pruitt, team owner, has announced that the car will make its competition debut at the Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park on May 17. If all goes well, the appearance of the new racecar will bring some much needed competition to the P1 category which has been dominated by the Acura prototypes the last two races. Corsa Motorsports proved to be very quick last year in a Zytek 07S (pictured above), finishing third in class at the season finale at Laguna Seca.
Gallery: Corsa Motorsports Zytek 07S
Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
hashiryu 5:12PM (5/05/2009)
85Kg...... Seriously?
losers.
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Javanese 7:24PM (5/05/2009)
I wonder which bright mind in the team push for kers tech in the prototype. KERS is next to useless in endurance racing. It's only good for sprint races like F1 where you need to get pass the guy asap. Most of the time in enduro racing you spent time all by yourself or wait to pass someone by biding your time.
But 85kg penalty? it surely going to half any advantage you might have and that extra weight will force the suspension and brakes to work much harder and over 12 hour period?... bye bye.
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Cypher09 3:18PM (5/06/2009)
I think you need to widen your horizons on this subject. As per the ACO regs. on hybrids, the Zytek system isn't a push to pass system like used in F1. Instead it is constantly running under acceleration to supplement the gas motor and increase the MPG of the car. I'm no expert on the subject, but being able to go further on the same amount of gas sure does sound like a benefit to an Endurance racer.
Also the original post doesn't mention anything about an 85kg handicap/penalty, just that the system is 85kg in weight. I don't think that coming close to the min. weight will be a challenge for Zytek seeing that their chassis is a LMP2 spec one that can be ballasted up to meet LMP1 weight regs. Simply put they can remove lead ballast and add batteries in their place.
dukeisduke 10:13PM (5/05/2009)
If that thing looked any more like the Audi R10, Audi would have grounds for a lawsuit.
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Izzy J 10:44PM (5/05/2009)
Sweet! Another car for audi to beat!
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Ed 11:38PM (5/05/2009)
I don't know how this KERS thing compares to the F1 one. I'm guessing if it's less restricted in how much energy it's allowed to expend per lap, it could plausibly be quite useful. Also less fuel will be required to generate that energy, which is effectively a weight saving. That might not be significant, but also the cars have a minimum weight limit, so they may as well use the weight, although they would have less ballast.
It's a complicated thing, but i'm guessing the rules are set such the KERS isn't useless. Presumably this team thinks it's worth doing.
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