1. Department of Mechanical EngineeringWilliam Archer 2013/2014
Based at Villeneuve la Guyard in the French
countryside, ART Grand Prix is a leading race team
that competes in the GP2, GP3, ELMS and Blancpain
Endurance Series. It is also well known for training
and promoting young, talented drivers in major
championships, F1 included. The ART Grand Prix
team has, for example, worked with Lewis Hamilton,
Sebastian Vettel, Kamui Kobayashi and Nico Rosberg.
The technical department in which I
was based, is responsible for
monitoring, maintaining and
improving all ready built racing cars
purchased from McLaren and the
GP2/GP3 organisations.
I worked as a data engineer, assisting
the chief engineers at racing events,
contributing to the development of the
cars, and contributing to the
development of simulations.
My assignments were centred around
the following themes:
 Monitoring:
 Dampers
 Sensors
 GT Rewiring
 Modelling:
 “In race” strategy simulator
 McLaren GT Suspension system
 Improved wheel nut spanner
 Data Recovery and Reports:
 After race reports
 Feedback reports for suppliers
 Tire, disk brake and brake pad
wear
 Develop a wide range of useful
skills from computer simulations to
soldering
 Learn how to work under pressure,
especially during race events
 Perfect time management – limited
time between races in which to get
the work done
 Build organisational skills – e.g. for
GT rewiring exercise – anticipate
supply needs, place orders and
produce an upfront execution plan
 Experience exciting pit lane
atmosphere particularly during
closely contested races
 Get to meet a wide variety of
people from all over the world
 Attend racing events while
travelling throughout Europe and
creating strong bonds with
teammates
 Put the engineering job into
perspective by following entire
processes from development to
implementation
Skills Developed /Other BenefitsMy Role and Tasks