McLaren complete testing run ahead of 2022 debut
Ahead of its official participation in Extreme E season two, McLaren Racing’s McLaren Extreme E team put its new ODYSSEY 21 E-SUV through its paces in the UK recently, with drivers Tanner Foust and Emma Gilmour.
The British team ran at the same Bovington location where Exteme E season one will conclude with the Jurassic X Prix on the UK’s South Coast county of Dorset later this month (December 18-19).
And, while New Zealand driver Gilmour already has Extreme E experience in her locker, having made appearances for the Veloce Racing team this year, it was also an opportunity for American driver Foust – a multiple drifting and rallycross champion – to get his first taste of Extreme E action.
As the more experienced Extreme E driver, Gilmour began the running at the two-day test. “It was good, we had a really productive first morning, the car was in a pretty good window, so we were able to try a few different things to see how the car reacts to it,” she explained. “It was going great.”
Gilmour then accompanied Foust in the ODYSSEY 21 for his maiden runs, which was documented on McLaren's ‘Uncharted’ YouTube series.
“It was good, we were making a lot of changes in a realm that was new to both of us, changes to how power is delivered front to rear in the electric powertrain, rather than just with springs and alignment changes,” said Foust. “It’s kind of like a fourth dimension, you can use the steering angle to determine how much power gets sent where and it’s all the stuff you sort of dream of ‘what if you could do this’ and now we’re trying it out.”
The team tried a variety of setup changes on the ODYSSEY 21, while trying out some of the route that will be used by teams racing in Extreme E season one in the Jurassic X Prix.
“With most rallycross and rally cars now they don’t even have a centre differential, but as there’s a motor in the front and a motor in the rear, you can determine how much power each motor is giving. That kind of stuff makes so much more difference [to the setup] than just a spring rate or even clicks on the dampers. It’s interesting to feel what a big difference that has on handling, even on a chaotic, muddy, sloppy course like this. It was freezing and so the data was kind of tarnished by how gnarly the conditions were but it was still super-fun, and really cool to test some new parts for 2022 and see what an actual course is going to be like next year.”
