Welcome, from sunny Australia!

Motorsport Trivia
(A bit thin right now, but I'm constantly on the lookout for things to add)

- The famous Ralt racing car brand, by Ron Tauranac, gets its name from both Ron and his brother, ie, Ron & AustinLewis Tauranac.

- Depending on your point of view, the Repco Formula One engines used in the Repco-Brabham cars were the most successful of all, because in the mere three years they were used they won the World Championship twice.

- Sir Jack Brabham, of Australia, is the only person to have won the World Drivers Championship in a car that he designed and built mostly by himself.

- In addition to Sir Jack Brabham, Sir Frank Williams, and Sir Stirling Moss, who have all the only people to have been knighted for services to motorsport, there are two other people who have been knighted for Land Speed Record endeavours; Sir Malcom Campbell and Sir Henry Seagrave.

- The Thrust SSC (SuperSonic Car) that was the first car to go supersonic (mach 1.07) on the ground on the 15th of October, 1997, did some other amazing things; When the car was supersonic, the wheels were only rotating at just over 90% of the actual speed of the car (The reason for this is not entirely known), the car left almost no tyre tracks as the ground beneath it (and 12ft either side of it) was pounded by the shock wave to the consistancy of a semi-liquid like substance down to a depth of 5". British driver, Andy Green, was also a fighter pilot with the British Air Force.

- The twin cam, mutli-valve engine was invented by an Englishman, Ernest Henry, in 1912. Henry was working for Peugeot in France at the time. Henry also invented the desmodromic valve system, where valve springs are not used. 

- The famous Offenhauser engine, used in US speedway racing, was largely a copy of the Peugeot engine. Harry Miller obtained one in 1913 and made his own version, the Miller, which then because the more famous Offenhauser when the company was bought by Fred Offenhauser in 1933. 

- The V-8 configuration for engines was invented in 1901, by either the French or English. (The records are not clear, unfortunately)
 

Ten facts about the Cosworth DFV (Double Four Valve) engine.

- Originally it consisted of two 1.5 litre four-cylinder F2 engines, mated to form a single 3.0 litre V-8 for F1.
- Even the most basic long stroke DFV needs rebuilding after 600 race miles, at a cost of £6,000-£7,000 at today's prices.
- Modern day ED incarnations have a life of about 200-250 race miles. They are of little use after this, because the bores are so volatile that they twist out of shape.
- The most powerful version was the 1487cc GB, produced for the F1 turbo era in 1986/87. Running with maximum 4.0 bar boost, it produced over 1,000hp at 12,000rpm in race trim.
- In 1981 Ford produced an 'endurance' DFL version, primarily for Group C sports car racing. Two sizes (3.3, 3.9 litres) were created, the first with a 'reliable' 490hp and the second with 540hp
- The official price of a DFV engine in 1967 was £7,500 - But you couldn't buy one unless you were working for the Lotus GP team. In 1967, a brand new Cortina cost £500.
- In 1967 the 2993cc, 75 degree DFV V-8 weighed 370 lbs, was 21.6" long, 26.5" wide, had four valves/one spark plug per cylinder, would rev to 9,000rpm, and produced just over 400hp. Thirty years later the specifications read 2998cc, 75 degrees, 291 lbs, 23.4" long, 24.4" wide, four valves/one spark plug per cylinder, 15,000rpm, and around 700hp
- The DFV was fitted to the Lotus 49, which made its debut at the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. It won in the hands of Jim Clark. Keith Duckworth, the engine's designer, apparently positioned the two engine mounting bolts to match the exact width of Clark's backside ...
- So far the engine has won 174 GP's and 13 world F1 drivers championships, the first seven of which were successive, starting in 1968 with Clark.
- Ford paid £100,000 to Cosworth on 1-3-1966 to 'construct a Formula 1 Engine that would be ready for use be May 1967'. The team chosen to run the engine was entirely at Ford's discretion.