BMW WilliamsF1 Team-engine speed breaks 19,000 rpm barrier

14 September 2002

BMW enters a new stage with its Formula One power unit

Engine speed breaks through the 19,000 rpm barrier

Monza. BMW has entered a new stage of engine development. During Saturday¹s
qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, the BMW ten-cylinder units
of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya passed the speed threshold of
19,000 revolutions per minute for the first time. Both drivers of the BMW
WilliamsF1 Team achieved engine performance of 19,050 revs. In BMW¹s debut
race at Melbourne in March 2000, marking its return to Formula One, engine
performance was clocked at 17,000 revolutions a minute.

"With this record figure we have once again raised the threshold in terms of
our engine performance," said BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen after
qualifying. "For an engineer it is thrilling to see figures which not so
long ago were considered unattainable, suddenly becoming reality."

Werner Laurenz, the man responsible for the development of the P82, added:
"During the race at Monza the rev counter won¹t yet hit the 19,000 rpm mark.
But in principle we don¹t develop special qualifying engines. Each
development stage is ultimately destined for the race, following its
successful deployment in qualifying and the completion of endurance
testing."

Since BMW¹s Formula One comeback, engine speed - and with it power output -
has been steadily increasing ­ from 17,000 rpm (at the start of the 2000
season) to 18,000 (start of 2001) and 18,500 (start of 2002), all the way to
the first figure in excess of the 19,000 rpm mark at Monza. BMW assumed the
leadership in engine performance with the P80 in 2001 and has not
relinquished it since.

19,000 revolutions a minute means 9,500 ignitions a minute per cylinder.
That translates to 158 ignitions per second for each cylinder, or one
ignition every six thousandth of a second. The fuel/air mixture is drawn
into the cylinder, compressed by the piston and ignited by the spark plug;
then the flame front travels through the entire combustion chamber, the
combustion gas expands and, by means of the pistons, provides the engine¹s
power before being discharged through the exhaust ports. All this happens
158 times a second in each of the 10 cylinders. Awesome statistics. By way
of comparison, a production engine achieves around a third of this engine
speed.