Behind every great modern day racing driver is an equally talented race engineer, who is responsible for designing and tweaking the car so that every last tenth can be squeezed out of it come race day. Gone are the days where drivers would turn up to the track and simply attempt to “drive the wheels off” their respective machines with little regard for the intricate details of car setup and handling.
Jamie Whincup has been the dominant driver in V8 Supercars for the past six years, with four championships and four Bathurst 1000 victories to his name. A great deal of Whincup’s success can be attributed to the efforts of his race engineer, Mark Dutton. Dutton is the mastermind behind the #1 Red Bull Racing Australia VF Commodore, and has partnered with Whincup throughout Triple Eight Race Engineering’s sustained period of success. Graduating from Queensland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical), Dutton landed a job with Larkham Motorsport in 2001. Since then, he has become one of the most successful engineers in Australian Motorsport, and Mark was kind enough to speak exclusively with RaceDepartment about his role at Red Bull Racing Australia and the 2013 V8 Supercar championship.
Firstly, you’ve become arguably the most highly regarded engineer in the V8 Supercar paddock. Was becoming a race engineer always the goal after completing your Bachelor of Mechanical engineering? And has motorsport been a life-long passion for you?
MD: Thank you that is very kind, I am sure there are probably 27 other race engineers in the V8 paddock who would argue with that! My story is a little different from most race engineers. While many would have been watching motorsport and dreaming to be a part of it, I was out playing rugby union. That was my real passion and I still miss playing every day. Rugby did teach me how to be a team player though, and there is no greater team sport than motor racing.
That, combined with a love of all things mechanical, is why I ended up in motorsport. While I might not have been watching it; I did enjoy restoring an old LX hatchback Torana as my first car. Building motorbikes and ski boats among other things gave me the hands on approach, while Queensland University of Technology gave me the theoretical backing. The rest of the story is too long to bore you with.
As one of Red Bull Racing Australia’s leading engineers, you would’ve played a key role in designing and building the “Car of the Future” VF Commodore. Could you give us a brief summation of the differences between last year’s car and your current entry under the new regulations?
MD: It was a mammoth task and everyone did such an amazing job to hit the targets required to have the car ready for the start of the season. The key differences between the cars are:
The chassis was a point of difference in the past; however all of the teams now have the same basic chassis. The cars also have independent rear suspension, which has been one of the two major factors to affect the handling of the car. Increased wheel diameter, as this year we have changed from a 17 inch wheel to an 18 inch wheel, which is the second major factor to bring about the handling differences between the 2012 and the 2013 cars. We now have a transaxle instead of a centre mounted gearbox and a rear mounted differential, the two are now combined into a single rear mounted unit. The fuel cell has also been moved forward to in front of the rear axle, which is great for safety and weight distribution.
There are of course lots of other minor differences, but these are the biggest ones.
Triple Eight Race Engineering has become the dominant force in the V8 Supercars over the last couple of years. Can you pinpoint a reason for the team’s remarkable rise up the grid? Or is it simply a matter of working harder and smarter than all of the other teams?
MD: It all starts at the top with the team owner and filters down from there. Roland demands the best, so to enable Triple Eight Race Engineering to rise to the top; he brought over the crazy Frenchman Ludo Lacroix to be the Technical Director. With unreasonable and unrealistic expectations and demands coming down from the top, the whole team stepped up and rose to the occasion, and we have never missed a target since. Now it is not for me to say we work harder and smarter than other teams as I do not see what they do, however knowing how hard we work, there aren’t too many hours left in the day to do much more.
In terms of a typical V8 Supercar race, do you comprehensively plan for every possible race scenario that might occur? Or is there a degree of improvisation depending on the array of possible situations such as a safety car period or higher than expected tyre-wear?
MD: We do not actually plan for every possible scenario, so there is always the possibility of having to make split second decisions. We do however try to cover off most scenarios which may occur throughout a race, and this is a big part of preparation leading up to a race weekend. Every weekend is different in some way from the previous. Sometimes there are small differences, and sometimes there are big differences such as the Bathurst 1000 weekend.
When you’re setting up the car before a race weekend, do you factor in Jamie’s personal preferences in terms of car handling? Or do you simply set the car up for how you think it will handle best and make adjustments for Jamie during the practice sessions?
MD: They are one and the same. There is always an element of personal preference; however it is not as big of a factor as a lot of people think. Jamie and I work together to prepare and develop the car’s setup, thus when I am setting the car up before a race weekend and thinking about all the factors of the specific circuit and relating them to car setup, the previous knowledge that I am basing my decisions on is all linked back to instances when the car performed…with Jamie driving. Even if it is a new circuit and we are trying something new, we still build off the foundation of what has worked in the past.
You and Jamie are once again in a wonderful championship position as we approach the half-way point of the season. Has it been difficult to adjust to the new “Car of the Future” regulations? And do you like where the category is heading with the addition of Nissan, Mercedes and Volvo (next year)?
MD: It has been difficult; the car build was very tiring. We supply more components (to the championship) than anyone else, so it stands to reason that we had more to do for a longer period of time than other teams. However, everyone here at Triple Eight Race Engineering dug deep, and the results have started to show our dedication. As you said it is only nearing the half way, so there is a long way to go.
I think it is fantastic that other so manufactures have joined, and I am excited by Volvo’s recent announcement and hope there are more to come. Motorsport and all sport for that matter is the dusting on the cherry on the icing on the cake of life. It is not essential, so sharing the financial costs among as many manufactures while bringing fresh models to the party can only be seen as a good thing.
Lastly, do you have any advice for aspiring race-engineers? And what aspects of the job do you most and least enjoy?
MD: Advice is simple, work hard! I cannot emphasize that enough. It is amazing the lack of work ethic you see in people, even when they have been given a golden opportunity. Next is to ask questions and listen to people, there too many egos getting around! Thick skin and broad shoulders come in handy too.
The best part of my job is working within a team, all striving and working together to be the best. The worst aspect of it is the pay!
