Engineering firm backs CF Racing — F3 Racing with Hywel Lloyd

Engineering firm backs CF Racing

Young Welsh racing driver Hywel Lloyd is ready to unveil some ‘shock’ tactics this weekend – thanks to a partnership with a hi-tech engineering firm.

His CF Racing team has a new sponsorship deal with Flintshire-based DRB Engineering who have come up with a special modification aimed at keeping his Dallara Mugen-Honda car glued to thetrack.

And it will debut when Hywel competes in the next two rounds of the Formula Three International Championship at Snetterton, near Norwich, on Sunday. DRB will provide CF Racing with the technological expertise they need including some ‘secret’ development work on the car’s shock absorbers and suspension.

And already the DRB effect is coming into play for Hywel who said: "In racing every ounce counts and DRB are providing engineering back-up and specially made development parts to give us an edge.

“They’ve made the car a lot quicker already – I would say they’ve sliced between half a second and three-quarters of a second off our lap times."

In technical terms it helps reduce the unsprung weight of CF Racing’s Dallara car with its Mugen-Honda engine and that means they can move the weight to where it counts, balancing the car.

The man overseeing the CF Racing project for DRB at their Deeside Industrial Park base is Production Engineer Kevin Brooks and he said: “The lighter the car is the more ballast you can put on it to change the way it handles.

“What happens is that Hywel and his father, Harry, the team manager, come to us with a part and see what we can do with it.

“We’ve replaced certain steel parts with specially engineered aluminium to make a weight saving. “We have sophisticated computerised design equipment and machine tools that we use to help Hywel get the best out of the car.”

And that ‘secret’ piece of kit for the shock absorbers is something that CF Racing like to keep under wraps – literally.

“We throw a towel over it if we’ve got the engine cover off,” Hywel explained: “Everyone does it. They’ve all got something and we hope it gives us a bit of an edge.

“It’s only in F3 and F1 that you get the chance to do this kind of development work on the car so it’s a good reason for us having this partnership with DRB.”

Dave Bennett said: “We think Hywel has the potential to make a real impression and what CF Racing is doing is absolutely brilliant.”

Hywel is pictured with DRB’s Phil Davies, left, and Kevin Brooks.

---