The ground effect tunnels are designed to progressively move the centre of pressure rearward as the speed increases.
This controls front end grip at slow speeds while providing the driver with mega rear end grip and stability at high speed.
Jon Crooke. Design Director.
design
Some racing drivers dream of a fantasy car - a laid back driver becomes the chassis of the vehicle, with four wheels attached to the drivers shoulders and feet and a Grand Prix engine bolted to the drivers back. Four wheels, one engine and a driver. A vehicle that assaults the atmosphere and compresses space and time.
Designer, Jon Crooke, say's that the Hyper Racer X1 is the realisation of that fantasy, with some practical additions to make it a reality.
The main addition was a safety pod for the driver. All components were mounted to the pod - to save drilling mounting holes in the driver. Minimalism was the key to the X1 design. If a component or part was not essential, it was removed. If one component could do two or three jobs, it does. Component packaging was kept low and central to minimise polar or rotational moments of inertia. Every component was selected or manufactured to add ‘lightness’.