InMotion IM01 Hybrid Racecar aims for Nurburgring record

InMotion, a project created by students from the Technical University of Eindhoven and the Fontys University of Applied Sciences – both in the Netherlands – are aiming to break the Nurburgring lap record with their radical InMotion IM01 racecar.

To take the record – which has stood since 1983 and belongs to Stefan Bellof and a Porsche 356 – the InMotion IM01 needs to get around the demanding and extensive circuit in 6 minutes and 11 seconds.

The car is technically rather complicated. It isn’t just a light chassis and a big engine. It’s a hybrid vehicle which uses a lightweight rotary engine as an electricity generator to power batteries which in turn supply four individual electric motors – one for each wheel. The car will employ regenerative braking, and also recoup the considerable thermal energy created by the engine and electric motors to improve overall efficiency and performance.

The design of the car gives it the appearance of a futuristic Le Mans prototype. It’s ludicrously low, quite literally covered in spoilers and winglets to control airflow and downforce, and it features a fully enclosed single-seat cockpit for a better aerodynamic profile. Interestingly the wheels are also almost completely covered by individual casings which sit inside the wheel arches themselves. Another technology which the car will make use of is a blown diffuser. Basically it’s a rear air diffuser which in addition to managing air flow around the rear of the car, also channels the exhaust gases through the diffuser to create more downforce and reduce turbulent air around the rear wheels. The idea of a blown diffuser isn’t new, in fact it’s been around since the early ’80s, but it’s currently banned in Formula 1.

InMotion are hoping that if they are successful with their Nurburgring record attempt, they can get approval from the FIA to run the IM01 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2017. If so, they will utilize the Garage 56 slot, which is reserved for highly unorthodox and radical designs to give them some real-word testing in some of the most grueling racing conditions.