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The Riley & Scott Mark III (Mk III) was a sports prototype auto racing car developed by Bob Riley, Bill Riley, and Mark Scott of Riley & Scott Cars Inc.. Initially designed in 1993, the car was created for the World Sports Car (WSC) category which was to debut in the North American IMSA GT Championship during their 1994 season. It was not until 1995 that the first Mk III was completed, but the construction of further cars allowed a variety of teams to campaign in several North American and European racing series, including competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1999, Riley & Scott evolved the Mk III's designs in order to adapt to the newer Le Mans Prototype (LMP) regulations which were now used in several series. An all new third design officially known as the Mark III Series C debuted in 2001 as the final variant developed by the company before they moved onto other programs. Several private teams also made their own modifications to their Mk IIIs in attempts to improve the car's performance to suit their own needs. The original Mk IIIs were used in competition until the end of 2002, in the process accumulating 47 overall race victories in both North American and Europe, as well as championship titles in the IMSA GT Championship, United States Road Racing Championship, Rolex Sports Car Series, and American Le Mans Series. Mk III Cs continued to compete until 2005, although they were never able to achieve victories like their earlier predecessor. ==Development history== In 1993, Bill Riley began initial work on a design for a sports prototype to meet the International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) World Sports Car regulations. The new regulations, announced during the 1993 and intended to be debut in the 1994 season, sought low-cost open-cockpit prototypes to replace the expensive closed-cockpit GTP models used in the IMSA GT Championship. Riley & Scott, already experienced constructors in the Trans-Am Series, were looking to enter the sports prototype category of motorsports. The new car, known as the Mk III, featured a radical design with tapered rear sidepods that flowed into the rear wing mounts. This opened a large amount of empty space around the rear wheels and exposing much of the floor of the chassis. Radiators for cooling were all placed at the front of the car, under a simple sloping nose. Interest in this design was however low, and Riley & Scott did not construct a car for the 1994 season. During that same year, Dyson Racing contracted Riley & Scott to aid in improving the team's current WSC car, a Spice DR3 chassis with a Ferrari engine. After completing the improvements for Dyson, Bob and Bill Riley returned to their Mk III design with new knowledge from their Dyson experience.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 MK III, WSC )〕 After the Mk III was redesigned, Riley & Scott were able to convince Dyson Racing to replace their Spice-Ferrari with two new Mk IIIs for the 1995 season.〔 Bill Riley's redesigned Mk III was simpler in its design, allowing more variety for customers as well as a low cost. Although the extreme aerodynamics of the original design were gone, the car was conceived to be fast enough to compete for overall wins.〔 The redesign and eventual construction of the first car took only four months.〔 The chassis featured a steel tube frame with panels made of carbon fiber. Behind the cockpit the engine bay was designed to be large enough to allow for a variety of naturally aspirated engines, mostly the V8s of Ford, Chevrolet, and Oldsmobile that were common amongst IMSA GT privateers. All cars used a 5-speed transmission. The suspension consisted of double wishbones with coil springs attached by a pushrod. A power steering system was also part of the standard Mk III. The redesigned carbon fiber and kevlar bodywork of the Mk III was developed by aircraft designer John Roncz, who assisted Bob Riley in using early computational fluid dynamics programs to refine the aerodynamics of the new car.〔 Final aerodynamic testing was performed at a Lockheed windtunnel.〔 The nose of the final Mk III was very similar to the original design model from 1993, featuring a nose which sloped downward towards a splitter extended from the front of the car. In the center, a wide intake allowed air into the radiator mounted flat under the nose. The air exited the radiator from two openings on top of the nose and in front of the cockpit. Between these exit vents, teams had the option of installing extra headlights for night races. A circular duct was placed on either side of the radiator intake to allow air to the front brakes for cooling. Behind the front wheels the bodywork was now relatively square and flat, with full sidepods running the full width of the car. A rules-mandated full width roll hoop was positioned behind cockpit. Positioned under the roll hoop was an arched intake for the engine airbox. On the sidepods several square holes were created in order to allow teams to adjust their cooling and aerodynamics dependent upon circuits and conditions. The squares could be filled with bodywork of various shapes and sizes effectively closing or opening the holes as much as the team wished. At the back of the car, the bodywork ended immediately behind the rear wheels, with only the rear wing placed beyond the end of the bodywork. Overall, the aerodynamics of the Mk III were designed to be low in drag, but still offer large amounts of downforce.〔 In total, 17 Mk IIIs were built by Riley & Scott from 1995 until 1998, with a price of approximately $285,000 for a chassis sans engine.〔 In 1999, Riley & Scott continued their development of the Mk III by created a second series of Mk IIIs. These cars had minor alterations, and a further four chassis were built to this specification. Several teams, hoping to remain competitive with the Mk III, also upgraded their cars to match the Series 2 specifications. 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「Riley & Scott Mk III」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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