HSO 1972 Formula 5000 1.0 mod for rFactor.
Installation :
Extract the archive content in your rFactor folder.
History :
Formula 5000 was an international single-seater formula that was
created by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) in the late
1960s, in a effort to promote F1-like road racing in America.
The SCCA came up with an equivalency formula, limiting the
category to cars powered by either 3-litre pure racing engines
(the F1 limit since 1966) or 5-litre production-based engines.
The 5-litre limit was aimed at Detroit iron such as the
Chevrolet and Ford V8s. Originally known as “Formula A”, the
formula was soon adopted as “Formula 5000” in Great Britain,
thanks to John Webb and the British Racing Sports Car Club (BRSCC)
who organised the first British series in 1969. The motor racing
authorities in Australia and New Zealand, who were looking for a
replacement formula for their ageing 2.5-litre Tasman Formula,
also embraced the Formula A/5000 road, as did South Africa and
Canada.
By 1972, Formula 5000 was a well established category on the
International racing scene, with top constructors such as Lotus,
Lola, McLaren, Surtees, Chevron or Eagle all building and
selling cars worldwide. The prestigious Tasman Cup Series which
opened the season, and the lucrative SCCA Continental
Championship in the USA were the most sought after and
competitive F5000 series. The British-based European series had
been struggling in its first three years with low fields and
dull races, but 1972 saw a step up in prestige with bigger grids
and more competitive entries. South Africa was another hot spot
for F5000, with a dozen cars mixing it with a handful of F1 cars
for the South African Championship honours.
Description :
This mod is based on the 1971 and 1973 mods by Dave Sabre, which
we have used (with permission) to create a 1972 field. All the
physics have been redone from scratch, and many additional skins
have been created as well.
14 different chassis are available, each with specific physics :
Begg FM5
Chevron B24
Crosslé 15F
Elfin MR5
Lola T190
Lola T192
Lola T300
Lotus 70
Matich A50
McLaren M10B
McLaren M18
McRae GM1
Surtees TS8
Surtees TS11
14 different engines are available :
V8 Chevrolet Morand (490 HP @ 8,000 rpm)
V8 Chevrolet Smith (480 HP @ 7,900 rpm)
V8 Chevrolet Bartz, CRM, Molloy (475 HP @ 7,800 rpm)
V8 Chevrolet Bolthoff, Traco (470 HP @ 7,900 rpm)
V8 Holden Repco (470 HP @ 7,400 rpm)
V8 Chevrolet HRE, MRE, RES (465 HP @ 7,700 rpm)
V8 Ford Bartz & V8 Pontiac Yunick (460 @ 7,500 rpm)
V8 Rover 3,500cc (400 HP @ 8,500 rpm)
Two tyre brands are represented : Firestone and GoodYear.
36 combinations of chassis/engine/tyres are available and the
mod features 46 different cars.
The top chassis are the Chevron B24, Lola T300 and Surtees TS11,
with the McRae GM1, Surtees TS8, McLaren M18 and Matich A50 a
bit behind. The average cars are the Begg FM5, Elfin MR5, Lola
T192, Lotus 70 and McLaren M10B, while the underpowered Crosslé
15F and the fat Lola T190 are the slowest ones.
This chassis hierarchy is somehow modified depending on the
engine in the back of the car. The best engine was the V8
Chevrolet, but several tuners had their go at it, with various
results. The mod’s most powerful Chevy is the Swiss Morand
version, with the Alan Smith one not far behind.
The two tyre brands also influence the cars’ performance.
Firestones are a bit quicker than GoodYears but will tend to
fade away faster as the race progresses.
One could describe a Formula 5000 car as an overweight F1 with a
Chevrolet Camaro V8 engine in it. The main characteristic of the
engines is their fabulous torque. In fact, such was the power
available that F5000 drivers only used first gear to get out of
pits - race starts were usually taken in second gear ! Power is
available from very low in revs and there is no need to push the
engine to its limit to go fast. Engines are by the way very
sensible to over-revving and you must be very careful not to hit
the red line if you want to finish a race.
As most F5000 cars were customer cars (the constructor selling
some to private teams), the general trend was to built simple,
solid and easy to maintain cars. The F5000 chassis bears much
ressemblance to a contemporary F1 chassis, with similar
dimensions, construction type, suspensions and gearbox, but was
built along more simple lines and with longevity of each element
as the main concern.
It also shares with a period F1 car that fabulous characteristic
every decent racing car should have : its engine delivers more
power than the chassis can decently handle ! Aero and mechanical
grip are limited, and the name of the game is sliding. However,
as pleasant as it feels, four-wheel drift is not always the fast
way and we hope you will find the challenge of finding the right
balance between sharpness and style to your liking.
Compared to F1, the other main difference is the extra-weight,
which accounts for much of the gap between the two categories.
Being heavier, the F5000 is less nervous, probably easier to
handle, but much less efficient in the turns. It is particularly
lazy entering slow corners, and you usually won't get two
chances at getting the apex right !
Thanks, sources and acknowledgments :
Many thanks to Dave Sabre for putting up so much work into a
great historic mod, and for allowing us to use his great 3D
work.
We also would like to thank the members of the HSO Modding Team
for all the time and passion put into this mod.
Special thanks to Allen Brown, webmaster of http://www.oldracingcars.com/
for all his work on F5000 in general, and for helping out on car
specs in particular.
Original 3D models : Dave Sabre
HSO physics and overall project manager : Guillaume Siebert.
Research, data, humour & style : Frank Verplanken.
Additional skins : Gianluca Desposito, Carl Larrad, Guillaume
Siebert.
Beta testing : Gianluca Desposito, Carl Larrad, Jukka Maattanen,
Tiago Malafaya, Karel Marciniszyn, Steve Parker, Pierre Pfleger,
Carlo Pozzi, Guillaume Siebert, Frank Verplanken.
Moral support : Martin Audran, Antoine de Mautor.
Antechrist : Ben Paulet.
Have fun !