Hyundai testing different brakes and dampers in Misano 24H race

The new Hyundai i30 N TCR is undergoing extensive testing at Misano, Italy. Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing, assisted on track by BRC Racing, are trying a number of different solutions on several parts of the car.

The i30 N TCR’s brakes are being put to the test in trying conditions, as the heat of the Italian summer and its high temperatures surely give the braking system a hard time. The nature of the Misano World Circuit is particularly hard on the brakes, as there is hardly time to cool them down on the relatively short straights.

Misano is therefore the ideal environment to test the different configurations, which include different manufacturers of calipers, discs and pads. The team will then study the data and decide which combination will be ideal for the final spec, as Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing manager Andrea Adamo explains.

“We knew the temperatures in Italy would be high at this time of year, so it was ideal for us,” said Adamo to TouringCarTimes. “Taking part in the Misano 24H will also help us to get some nighttime running, which you don’t easily get in testing conditions. We want to make sure the car is perfect for our customers in any conditions.”

As it is not allowed to release a different spec for endurance and sprint races, the combination of different manufacturers and materials will have to be both durable and high-performing. Testing them in an environment such as a 24-hour race allows the team to try the different solutions in long runs.

“The material we use on the car needs to be good in terms of performance and reliability, so this occasion allows us to get long runs in different configurations and make sure they can be durable for endurance racing and give high performances in sprint races. Once they work in both sides we can validate them to be featured in the final spec of the i30 N TCR.”

The team are also testing different dampers from different manufacturers, as well as the endurance kit which includes extra lights, ABS and a different refueling system. Although Hyundai would have surely been capable of building all the parts of the car in-house, taking off-the-shelf components allows a reduction in costs, and therefore in prices of the final product. The selling cost of the Hyundai i30 N TCR has not yet been determined.

The performances of the car at Misano compared to the other cars racing in the Misano 24H are hardly comparable. Although Gabriele Tarquini set a fastest lap which was more than two seconds quicker than the next TCR car, it is more interesting to compare these lap times to those clocked in TCR Italy just a month ago.

The fastest lap set by the Italian is two tenths faster than the pole position time set by Eric Scalvini in the MM Motorsport Honda Civic TCR, although for comparison purposes it is fair to say that the Hyundai’s best lap was clocked on the third lap of the race at around 9:00 am, with lower temperatures compared to those under which Scalvini set his pole position time.