|
The Ligier JS29 was a Formula One car designed by Michel Tétu and Michel Beaujon for the Ligier team for use in the season. It was originally developed for use with an Alfa Romeo turbo power plant but prior to the start of the season, Ligier lost the use of the engine. The car had to be re-designed around a Megatron Straight 4 turbo engine. Redesignated the JS29B, it scored a single point during the season when driver Rene Arnoux finished 6th in the Belgian Grand Prix. Later in the season, the car was further refined to a JS29C specification. ==Development== The JS29 was originally to be powered by a brand new turbocharged Alfa-Romeo 415T 4-cylinder engine. However, during pre-season testing lead driver René Arnoux compared the engine to used food which gave Alfa's parent company Fiat the excuse they had been looking for to pull the plug on the project. It was reported at the time that Fiat did not want Alfa Romeo involved in Formula One as a competitor to Ferrari who at that stage they part-owned. As a result of losing their engine supply so close to the start of the season, Ligier had to come up with an engine in order to compete. The team managed to get a supply of Megatron Straight 4 turbo engines for the season (the Megatron engine was the old BMW M12 engine formerly used by such teams as Brabham. They had been acquired from BMW by Arrows major sponsor, American insurance company USF&G, and were re-branded ''Megatron'' for 1987 and ). The updated car with the Megatron engine was now designated the JS29B. Arnoux was retained for the season and he was joined by Italian veteran Piercarlo Ghinzani. The JS29 should have made its debut at the 1987 Brazilian Grand Prix using the Alfa Romeo 890T V8 turbo until the 415T was ready. However, following Arnoux's unfavourable comments, and Fiat's withdrawal, this meant that the team had no engine with which to compete until the second race in San Marino. It was there that the JS29B with its Megatron engine would make its competition debut. The JS29B was updated following the Detroit Grand Prix to its final JS29C specifications. While the JS29 was originally designed for the 4-cylinder Alfa engine, it wasn't simply a case of slotting in the replacement Megatron 4-cylinder in its place. Major differences in the 'plumbing' of the two engines caused the team to have to redesign the car, including its rear suspension, as the Megatron was causing bad vibrations which was causing suspension failures. As a result of the late start to the season due to their switch of engines, the Megatron powered Ligiers were never close to the pace of the Arrows A10-Megatrons of Derek Warwick and former Ligier driver Eddie Cheever. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ligier JS29」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|