[TOCA] wanted a push-to-pass system that drivers can use at the exit of a corner to try and bring them alongside opponents in the next corner
At the end of 2019, a tender was awarded to Cosworth by the TOCA-organised British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) to develop a hybrid system for the series. By the middle of 2020, some testing of the system had begun, but Cosworth first had to understand how to build its system alongside the prescribed turbocharged, inline, four-cylinder ICE.
Rob Morrow, now at Delta Cosworth, was initially project leader but handed over the reins in mid-2021 to Richard Woodgate, lead applications engineer at Cosworth, who was put in charge of the hybrid system and integration of it with the Cosworth 12V electronics. Based in Cambridge, UK, his role is purely working on the BTCC project.
Design philosophy
TOCA’s primary target for the hybrid drive was 15 seconds of deployment per lap when the system was available to a given driver. This should translate to that car gaining 15m within those 15 seconds, assuming a corner exit speed of 100km/h. The organising body didn’t want it to act like a DRS, only being deployed in some regions of the circuit and only rewarding chasing drivers, as it believes this overtaking is too fabricated. Instead, it wanted a push-to-pass system that drivers can use at the exit of a corner to try and bring them alongside opponents in the next corner. However, the driver in front would also be able to push to defend that position, keeping the racing close.
Cost was a significant consideration for the system. TOCA placed a lease cost limit on what the tender winner could charge. It was therefore evident a custom design would not be appropriate because the cost would have run out of control.
‘The motor, inverter and ancillaries needed to be mostly off-the-shelf components for cost reasons,’ confirms Woodgate. ‘The only component that sits outside is the battery, which has been designed uniquely for BTCC by Delta-Cosworth.
‘Because this is a hybrid system, and it isn’t the primary drive for the vehicle, peak efficiency isn’t the main driver for the specification. We
