The Importance of the Garage Wiring Harness in Motorsport

The Importance of the Garage Wiring Harness in Motorsport

As racing teams travel around the world there is one constant that is very important to the operational efficiency of a race weekend, the garage set up.

The teams rely on garage uniformity that is replicated wherever in the world they are racing, as it not only serves as a work space for the preparation and operation of the race car, but also as an information hub for the transfer of data between the engineering team, the mechanics and the car itself.

The garage set up technicians will build the wall boarding to an exact plan, which has been developed to maximise the exact dimensions of each individual pit box they visit during the season, to ensure the most efficient working environment possible.

One of the key elements within this build process is the installation of the garage wiring harness, as this will support many operational functions, and the varying harnesses have to be manufactured to fit exact specifications within the garage build plan.

The main area for data transfer is via the umbilical cord located in the power hood that is directly plugged into the car, as this transfers and reads specific information such as engine / gearbox / diff / load sensor / air meter / temp and kers data, which is transferred to a bank of computer stations located at the rear of the garage for analyses by the systems engineers from the on board logger system.

The computer harnesses are manufactured in a modular fashion, to ensure that they are interchangeable between work stations, along with a secure wireless router harness, as the car’s operational parameters can also be read in real time when the car is out on track.

The kers system on the car will require its own harness, as there is a relatively high voltage requirement for this system when testing functionality and set up.

Also within the garage there will be a number of normal power feed harnesses located in specific areas, along with coax harnesses supplying the TV/race control and timing feeds.

The tyre warmers will also have their own harness, which will link a number of sets of tyres that are being heated to operational temperature before being fitted to the car.

The power hood that is located directly above the car, contains what is probably the most complex harness in the garage, as there needs to be power, umbilical, tyre blanket, tv, lights, kers, radio, air connectivity, just to name a few of the functions that are required.

Along with all the normal earthing requirements as well, it is plain to see that the garage wiring harness fulfils a very important role with regard to the operational efficiency of a team on a race weekend.

For further information on Tekdata and its products and services, please visit www.tekdata-interconnect.com and we will be very happy to talk to you regarding your garage wiring requirements.

Article first published : 8/8/2014