Earlier this year, Red Bull Formula 1 designer and aerodynamicist, Adrian Newey, was asked by the creators of Gran Turismo to design his ultimate racing machine.
The result is the Red Bull X1 Prototype – a machine that is part Formula 1, part prototype Sportscar and part-Batmobile. His design – in conjunction with Polyphony Digital – is a car unrestricted by modern regulations, drawn up by using some very real technologies; most notably the long-banned “Fan-car” made famous initially by the Chaparral 2J car in Can-Am in 1970 and later by Gordon Murray for Brabham in 1978.
Other noticeable differences include a canopied cockpit and covered front wheels, to help reduce aerodynamic distortions.
Powered by a 1500ps direct injection V6 twin turbo engine, the machine could potentially produce a maximum lateral acceleration of 8.75G. At 15,000rpm, the engine would potentially produce an astonishing 1483hp and reach 200 mph in only 6.1 seconds. On paper, the car should reach an astonishing 450 kph at the top end of the longest straights, while also using some truly phenomenal grip to take each corner at extraordinarily high speed.
In this simulation, Red Bull’s Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel lapped the modern Nurburgring circuit with a time of 1:04.853 – some 27.4 seconds faster than Mark Webber’s 2009 pole time at the circuit.
It is truly a fascinating concept and something that I would love to test (should I ever get my hands on a PlayStation 3 with a copy of Gran Turismo 5). Although the release date for the game had continually been pushed back, it is expected that it will finally be released just prior to Christmas.
Now all that’s left is for someone to design it for real…
