Sauber Petronas GP1 engine

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Sauber Petronas GP1 engine

Triplets on board

The Formula 1 forge Sauber-Petronas will enrich the new GP1 World Championship with a three-cylinder in-line engine. The Triple was developed in Switzerland by a Japanese technician.

In addition to the well-known Japanese and European motorcycle manufacturers, there is also an »outsider« taking up the challenge of the new GP1 World Championship, in which large-volume four-stroke prototypes are allowed from 2002 onwards. Sauber Petronas Engineering (SPE), a joint venture company from the Swiss Formula 1 racing team of Peter Sauber (60 percent) and the Malaysian oil company Petronas (40 percent), has built an in-line three-cylinder.
It is obvious that a successful team from the premier class of motor sport is developing such a concept for the Champions League of the two-wheeler scene. The single displacement of the ten-cylinder Formula 1 power packs is 300 cm3. With a ten percent increase in the stroke, three units of this result in the 990 cm3 that are maximum allowed in the GP1-WM. In addition to the already existing technical basis, according to Osamu Goto, head of development at SPE, extensive calculations and simulations on the computer clearly spoke in favor of the triple solution. When evaluating decisive factors such as engine power, engine weight, engine size, tire wear, acceleration, vibrations, fuel consumption and costs, the Japanese Sauber designer and his team saw the three-cylinder have an advantage over the concepts of the competition.
The SPE technicians compared the Triple with other GP1 solutions such as in-line four-cylinder and V4, as well as data from a 500 cc two-stroke engine and a V2 superbike engine. The most extraordinary representative of the new GP1 generation, Honda’s V5 four-stroke, was not considered in the Sauber thought process. When the company, based in Hinwil near Zurich, finally decided on the three in January 2000, nothing was known about the five from Japan.
The four-valve triple from Switzerland measures exactly 989 cm3, has electronic injection, two overhead camshafts driven by gears, wet sump lubrication and a three-in-one exhaust system. SPE can equip the engine with both conventional and with the pneumatic valve control common in Formula 1.
The 50 kilogram unit is now in the second stage of development, is more compact than the first prototype and has an output of around 200 hp. “A maximum of 250 hp is possible,” explains PSE manager Paul Fricker. The Briton calculates that the Petronas Formula 1 engine from Ferrari produces around 750 hp from a three-liter capacity. A motorcycle engine that is one third as large can therefore mobilize a third of this power.
That’s the theory. Whether the SPE development team is right with its concept, whether the power delivery and the engine speed range meet the needs of motorcycle racing, must now be seen on the racetrack. In the meantime, a suitable chassis for the triple has been built, and the fans will experience the first public roll-out of the Sauber Petronas racing machine as part of the supporting program for the Malaysia Grand Prix at the end of October. However, the scene will have to wait until the summer of 2002 until the SPE motor will premiere in the GP1 World Championship. The engine will probably initially be used by the Petronas team currently active in the 250 World Championship.
NOf course, SPE is also looking for private teams or smaller European manufacturers to buy the engine. “The development of the engine was not started primarily out of a passion for motorcycling, but for economic reasons,” is how German SPE technician Thomas Walter explains the philosophy of the GP1 concept. What does the fun cost? Customers will have to invest between six and ten million marks per season, including engine revision, if they want to equip a two-man team with the three-cylinder four-stroke engine. Truly not a stick of paper? but there won’t be any other high-tech four-stroke engines for the GP1 World Championship at a cheap rate.

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