原標(biāo)題：Sky’s The Limit: A Prodrive BTCC?Mondeo

原作者：Chaydon Ford

The British Touring Car Championship has always been a way for the manufacturers to bring the relatable and more affordable models in their line-up to TV screens?– usually on a Sunday. Children across the schoolyard would argue whether the Ford Mondeo sat on the driveway was superior to the Renault Laguna that their friend’s parents owned, based on the outcome of the recent races.

對(duì)于汽車制造商來(lái)說(shuō)，英國(guó)房車錦標(biāo)賽一直是一種讓他們的車型陣容中更有吸引力、更實(shí)惠的車型出現(xiàn)在電視屏幕上的最佳方式——通常是在周日。校園里的孩子們會(huì)根據(jù)最近的比賽結(jié)果，爭(zhēng)論停在車道上的福特蒙迪歐(Ford Mondeo)是否比他們朋友父母的雷諾拉古納(Renault Laguna)更好。

The Super Tourer era of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) is often remembered fondly for the no-compromise, open-chequebook mentality it embodied. While the annual budgets have never been disclosed, rumours abound of numbers?between 8 and 12 million pounds to run three cars for the 2000 season, with the cars themselves costing close to 1 million pounds.

Prodrive undertook the mammoth task of developing the Ford Mondeo for the 1999 and 2000 seasons, and chassis number PR-ST/F-2K-01 – as driven by Alain Menu in period – was brought out of hibernation from their collection to be displayed at Bicester Heritage’s recent Spring Scramble.

英國(guó)房車錦標(biāo)賽(BTCC)的超級(jí)房車時(shí)代經(jīng)常被懷念，因?yàn)樗w現(xiàn)了一種不妥協(xié)、無(wú)限制的心態(tài)。雖然年度預(yù)算從未公開，但有傳言稱，2000賽季三輛賽車的運(yùn)營(yíng)費(fèi)用在800萬(wàn)至1200萬(wàn)英鎊之間，而賽車本身的成本接近100萬(wàn)英鎊。

Prodrive承擔(dān)了為1999年和2000年賽季開發(fā)福特蒙迪歐的艱巨任務(wù)，而底盤編號(hào)PR-ST/F-2K-01 -由Alain Menu在期間駕駛-的這臺(tái)賽車從他們的收藏中蘇醒過(guò)來(lái)，在比斯特遺產(chǎn)最近的春季展覽上展出。

Such a prominent paint job was identifiable from halfway across the site, the vivid blue and yellow standing out against the backdrop of weathered brickwork and green buildings.

如此引人注目的油漆工作在場(chǎng)地中間能輕易地辨認(rèn)出來(lái)，鮮艷的藍(lán)色和黃色在風(fēng)化的磚墻和綠色建筑的背景下顯得十分突出。

As you moved ever closer, you start noticing the more obvious differences to the road-going counterpart. Big center-lock wheels tucked into the arches and the prominent front splitter hugging the ground, paired with a boot wing.

當(dāng)你走得越來(lái)越近時(shí)，你開始注意到這臺(tái)賽車與公路上的對(duì)手更明顯的區(qū)別。巨大的中心鎖定車輪塞進(jìn)拱門和突出的前分離器牢牢地貼住了地面，還搭配上了可以放上一雙靴子的尾翼。

The body shells underwent a huge amount of preparation to?bring them up to?Super Tourer standard. As the story goes, the shells were shot-blasted, left exposed to the elements to rust, and the process repeated again few times to thin the metal down. The?cars?then received a single coat of gloss paint, with no primer. Any non-essential brackets were removed from the interior, and underneath the fuel tank was flat-bottomed to aid aerodynamics.

車身外殼經(jīng)歷了大量的改造來(lái)達(dá)到超級(jí)房車的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。之后，外殼部分被噴砂，暴露在自然環(huán)境中生銹，這個(gè)過(guò)程重復(fù)了幾次，以使金屬變薄。然后，這些車只上了一層光漆，沒(méi)有底漆。任何不必要的支架都被從內(nèi)部移除，在油箱下面是平底的，以適應(yīng)空氣動(dòng)力學(xué)。

While the front wings look like stock items that have been reworked, they are actually completely bespoke. Starting with a flat steel sheet, each wing was hand-formed to provide the required wheel and tyre clearance. This combined with the tubbed inner wings?returned some room for?steering lock.

雖然前翼看起來(lái)像復(fù)制的原廠配件，但它們實(shí)際上完全是定制的。從平板鋼板開始，每個(gè)機(jī)翼都是手工成型的，以提供所需的車輪和輪胎間隙。這與筒狀內(nèi)翼相結(jié)合，為轉(zhuǎn)向鎖定提供了一些空間。

The rear arches obviously didn’t receive as much care; they look to have been rolled fairly hastily in an effort to fit the wheel/tyre package. Despite a multi-million pound budget, sometimes things get the hammer treatment.

后輪拱顯然沒(méi)有得到足夠的照顧;它們看起來(lái)是為了適應(yīng)車輪/輪胎包裝順利滾動(dòng)而匆忙制作的。盡管有數(shù)百萬(wàn)英鎊的預(yù)算，但車隊(duì)在一些方面還是要能省則省。

Opening the doors and you’ll see the drilled-out hinges and thinner latch – a further reminder of the strict diet the car underwent.

打開車門，你會(huì)看到鉆出的鉸鏈和更薄的門閂-進(jìn)一步證實(shí)了這臺(tái)車為減重做的不懈努力。

The seat isn’t where you expect it to be; it’s moved back in line with the B-pillar and hugs the central tunnel. Its position is as close to the centreline of the car as possible, all in aid of optimal balance. Neither the steering nor the brakes are assisted, making for a physically-demanding drive.

座位不在你期望的位置;它被后移，與b柱對(duì)齊并正對(duì)著中控臺(tái)。它的位置盡可能接近汽車的中心線，這一切都有助于實(shí)現(xiàn)最佳平衡。無(wú)論是轉(zhuǎn)向還是剎車都沒(méi)有輔助，因此這是一種對(duì)身體要求很高的駕駛。

Carbon fibre adorns any surface which is not bare metal, with only two gauges present on the dash in the sightline of the driver?– oil pressure and temperature.

車內(nèi)的內(nèi)飾不是金屬就是碳纖維，儀表板上目前只有兩個(gè)儀表，在駕駛員的視線中央-油壓和溫度。

A carbon centre console houses essential controls and fuses, along with providing a mounting location for the Xtrac 6-speed sequential gearbox shifter.

碳中控臺(tái)包括基本的控制元件和保險(xiǎn)絲，以提供安裝Xtrac 6速順序變速箱的空間。

Moving round to the front, it’s obvious to see that a huge portion of the money went into the engine. The 2.5L V6 originally from a Ford Probe was downsized to 2.0L to meet regulations, and while Prodrive retained the Cosworth-developed engine for the 1999 season, they were developing their own engine for the?following one.

To quote George Howard-Chapell, Prodrive race team chief engineer, “When Prodrive took on the cars for the beginning of the 1999 season we knew we had to improve most areas of the car, including the performance of the engine. The majority of the chassis-related issues were addressed for the 1999 car, so to win the championship in 2000 meant splitting our efforts – 1/10th on the mechanical systems, 2/10ths on the aerodynamics and 7/10ths on the engine.”

轉(zhuǎn)到車的前面，很明顯可以看出，大部分錢流入了這臺(tái)引擎。這款2.5升V6發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)最初來(lái)自福特Probe，但為了符合規(guī)定，它被縮小到了2.0升。Prodrive在1999賽季保留了考斯沃斯開發(fā)的發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)，他們正在為接下來(lái)的賽季開發(fā)自己的發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)。

引用Prodrive車隊(duì)總工程師George Howard-Chapell的話，“當(dāng)Prodrive在1999賽季開始的時(shí)候，我們知道我們必須改進(jìn)賽車的大部分方面，包括發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)的性能。大多數(shù)與底盤相關(guān)的問(wèn)題都是在1999年的賽車上解決的，所以在2000年贏得冠軍意味著我們的努力是分開的——1/10在機(jī)械系統(tǒng)上，2/10在空氣動(dòng)力學(xué)上，7/10在發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)上?！?/span>

A number of key areas were identified and worked on heavily during the development. Gearbox, valvetrain, the oil system, breathing and combustion were all closely dissected and improved upon. The cylinder heads were purported to have cost the same as their F1 equivalents at the time, and 682 of the 806 major parts in the engine were modified or changed. The result? Over 300hp at 8,500rpm.

These engines weren’t easy to start. Such were the tight tolerances of the engine that?the oil?needed to be preheated, and once that was achieved the oil system would need to be primed manually followed by cranking to build oil pressure before eventually firing up.

“在開發(fā)過(guò)程中，我們確定了一些關(guān)鍵領(lǐng)域并進(jìn)行了大量工作。變速箱，氣門系統(tǒng)，燃油系統(tǒng)，進(jìn)氣系統(tǒng)和燃燒部分都被仔細(xì)剖析和改進(jìn)。據(jù)稱，氣缸蓋的價(jià)格與當(dāng)時(shí)的F1相當(dāng)，發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)806個(gè)主要部件中有682個(gè)進(jìn)行了修改或更換。結(jié)果呢?超過(guò)300馬力，8500 rpm。

這些引擎不容易啟動(dòng)。由于發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)的公差非常小，因此需要對(duì)機(jī)油進(jìn)行預(yù)熱，一旦預(yù)熱完成，機(jī)油系統(tǒng)就需要手動(dòng)啟動(dòng)，然后啟動(dòng)以產(chǎn)生油壓，最后運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)。”

The V6 itself is barely visible, sitting as far back as possible. A huge air box hides most of it, feeding fresh air to the six individual throttle bodies. And so low is the engine that the driveshaft to the passenger-side wheel from the gearbox runs?between?the V.

V6本身幾乎看不見，因?yàn)樗贿h(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地安放在機(jī)艙后部。一個(gè)巨大的空氣箱隱藏了它的大部分，為六個(gè)單獨(dú)的節(jié)氣門提供新鮮空氣。發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)的高度非常低，以至于從變速箱到副駕駛座車輪的傳動(dòng)軸就在引擎兩側(cè)。

All the effort was worth it though, and the cars were fiercely competitive in 2000 with 11 race wins from 24 races. This resulted in Ford Team Mondeo not only taking the Drivers Championship (Alain Menu), but second (Anthony Reid)?and third (Rickard Rydell) too. Unsurprisingly,?Ford Team Mondeo also won the 2000 Manufacturers?Championship and the 2000 Touring Teams Championship.

所有的努力都是值得的，在2000年的24場(chǎng)比賽中，賽車的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)非常激烈，該車贏得了11場(chǎng)比賽。這導(dǎo)致福特車隊(duì)蒙迪歐不僅獲得了車手總冠軍(阿蘭·梅努斯)，而且獲得了第二名(安東尼·里德)和第三名(里卡德·雷德爾)。不出所料，福特蒙迪歐車隊(duì)還贏得了2000年制造商錦標(biāo)賽和2000年巡回車隊(duì)錦標(biāo)賽冠軍。

The dramatic rule change to cut costs for the 2001 season put an end to the Super Tourer era, and while we mourn its demise, many of the cars live on either in historic racing or being brought out for special events like the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Until the opportunity presents itself to see another Super Tourer in such close proximity, I’m off to fire up TOCA 2 on the original Playstation to get my fix.

2001賽季，BTCC為了削減成本而戲劇性地改變了規(guī)則，結(jié)束了超級(jí)房車的時(shí)代。當(dāng)我們哀悼它的消亡時(shí)，許多賽車要么永遠(yuǎn)的成為了歷史，要么被帶到像古德伍德速度節(jié)這樣的特殊活動(dòng)中。

實(shí)際上，在如此近的距離上看到一臺(tái)超級(jí)房車，使我馬上決定在Playstation上重新玩起了TOCA 2（超級(jí)房車賽），而且沉迷其中，無(wú)法自拔。