The FIA Institute has commissioned motor racing design and engineering specialists Delta Motorsport to help investigate the re-emergence of car launch incidents in sportscar racing.

There have been a number of such incidents this season and drivers Marc Gene and Stephane Ortelli were lucky to survive when their Le Mans sportscars flipped into the air at high speed.

The sport faced a similar problem in the 1999 and 2000 seasons where the aerodynamic design of some of the cars created a launching effect, causing them, in certain situations, to fly off the track. At that time, the FIA undertook extensive research and brought in new aerodynamic regulations to solve the problem.

From 2004 to 2007 there were no more instances of launching amongst Prototype Sportscars. But this season they have re-emerged.

Nick Carpenter, Delta Motorsport’s Technical Director, says: “The goal of this first phase of the project is to understand much more about the aerodynamic – and possibly other – mechanisms involved in the lift-off accidents experienced by a number of constructors in 2008. With input from all the constructors via a Technical Working Group, organised by the FIA, we will then test a wide variety of devices to establish their effectiveness at reducing the likelihood of these cars leaving the ground.”

The ultimate goal of this project is to find aerodynamic devices that stop cars from suffering these types of accidents. These devices (or bodywork shapes) can then be mandated by the FIA for use in those championships.