Up to Formula 1

The future of motorsport is decided in the heart of Graz

The test bench at AVL is directly connected to the simulator

(Bild: AVL Racetech/Riedler Peter)

The global future of motorsport is being shaped on test benches and with computer software in the heart of the Styrian capital - right up to Formula 1! The "Krone" was allowed to take a look behind the otherwise top-secret scenes at AVL Racetech, which is even used by the FIA.

Several current Formula 1 drivers have already taken a seat in the bucket seat that Colombian racing driver Tatiana Calderon is using this morning for a few demo laps on the Red Bull Ring. In a Formula 3 car. Virtually. And in the middle of Graz.

The construction, which costs around half a million euros, has been on the second floor of an inconspicuous hall at the AVL technology group since 2015. "But that's just the price of the hardware," explains Ellen Lohr, Motorsport Director in the Group's Racetech division and once a racing driver herself in the DTM or the Dakar Rally.

Formula 1 drivers have already taken a seat here

(Bild: AVL Racetech/www.photoworkers.at)

Simulation program for the FIA
The real heart of the company, which is helping to shape the future of motorsport worldwide, is invisible: the simulation software, which has been worked on for a quarter of a century - currently with 30 people working full-time. No one can say exactly how much money and man-hours have gone into the system.

But it has been worth it, because the program is now even used by the FIA, the International Automobile Federation. "The FIA uses our program exclusively to work out regulations for their championships. They use it to calculate whether everything is going in the right direction in terms of target lap times and so on. From Formula E to Formula 1," says Lohr. 

A head start through technology
Thousands of laps can be simulated within a short space of time and the corresponding results read out. "In the process, 12,000 parameters that make up a racing car are calculated simultaneously," explains Lohr. In Graz, however, things are even more unique: one floor below is a complete test bench that can be connected to the simulator. 

The complete car is clamped in below and the driver drives this vehicle in the simulator above. The system is Formula 1-compatible.

Ellen Lohr, Motorsport-Direktorin AVL Racetech

"The entire car is virtually clamped in at the bottom, while the pilot drives this vehicle in the simulator at the top. This system is Formula 1-compatible." If, for example, the pilot on the second floor overuses the brake directly connected to the vehicle, it can actually fly around the ears of the car on the first floor.

"You can use it to test components, try out setups, see tire wear and adjust driving styles," says Lohr. Which teams are currently using the know-how from Graz is partly a secret. Of the Formula 1 teams, only Red Bull Racing openly talks about its partnership for the use of AVL's test benches. 

Driver analysis in every detail
However, the focus of the simulation professionals in Graz is not only on the vehicle; racing drivers can also be analyzed down to the smallest detail: "We can measure parameters such as pulse, pupil size, sweat development or field of vision. We even have a hood here that can measure brain waves. This allows you to see how much a driver has to concentrate to master a certain corner." This is said to have been the deciding factor for some racing teams when choosing between two potential drivers.

Tatiana Calderon concentrating on her work in Graz

(Bild: AVL Racetech/Toni Muhr)

"Of course, it's not exactly cheap. But a test day at a race track costs more," Lohr is certain. What's more, testing is strictly limited in many championships anyway. Several hundred racing teams in 17 different championships worldwide are in AVL Racetech's customer database. 

From Formula 1 to rally
Calderon, who, like Austrian Le Mans driver Ferdinand Habsburg, is an official ambassador for the Graz-based company, can still remember her first time in a simulator: "In 2017, I was a development driver for Sauber in Formula 1. The team didn't have its own simulator at the factory at the time and I was able to complete the maiden voyage of the car here, so to speak."

Further challenges await in the future, as the entire world of motorsport cannot yet be fully simulated. Lohr: "Rally racing is the next challenge. With jumps or gravel as a surface, there are completely different requirements. But we are working on it."