Mclaren's "J damper" secret now exposed

So-called 'J-dampers' are set to become commonplace on formula one cars, as the intriguing history of the previously secret technology is revealed.

We recently reported that Renault delayed debuting similar technology earlier this year because of the spy scandal surrounding engineer Phil Mackereth's defection from McLaren.

In the World Motor Sport Council hearings before Christmas, it was revealed that among Mackereth's McLaren drawings was a device referred to as a 'J-damper'.

"What's a J-damper?" Renault engineering chief Pat Symonds replied memorably to the press at Montreal in June.

Symonds' answer may have been disingenuous, but it subsequently emerged that Force India recently started using on its 2008 car what boss Mike Gascoyne referred to as an 'inerter damper'.

'J-damper' was simply a codename developed by McLaren and the technology's inventor to put their rivals off the scent of what the device actually did.

McLaren has been using the inerter damper since 2005 - a year before Renault's mass damper system was banned.



It has emerged that, three years ago, McLaren penned an exclusive confidentiality agreement with the famous Cambridge University, the scene of the J-damper's birth and the owner of its patent.

Business Weekly reports that, with the McLaren agreement now lapsed, Cambridge has licensed the J-damper to the leading damper company and F1 supplier Penske Racing Shocks, thus allowing any other team to deploy the device.

Penske Racing Shocks' Technical Director Jim Arentz said: "We are confident that the ingenuity of Cambridge now combined with Penske... will promote greater exposure of the inerter in motor sport."

Source: GMM

 

It looks like a weight (the grey rectangular thing) mounted
on a pair of lever arms (light blue), which are joined by
a bar or torsion bar through an adjustable mount (blue,
centre of bar.) It may be used to adjust the angle of the
two lever arms, or it may be some sort of friction damper.

The brown/brass object appears to be a damper
(shock absorber)of some sort that can be adjusted.

The tab (or tabs, if this is a cutaway drawing
with parts omitted)might be bump stops.

There is also another rod extending from a U or E-shaped
slot in the top of the weight. It might be connected to
another, unseen damper, or it could be used to limit the
mass or tether it firmly.
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I guess if you can call the Ferrari flexi floor cheating (which I dont) then this is cheating as well. Mclaren knows how to bend light around the rules.