Motorsports & Bodywork

This is NOT carbon.
Sustainable light weighting for high performance parts.

Matching the performance of carbon fibres with natural fibres

“For the first time since carbon fibre entered the motorsport market 37 years ago, there is an alternative material for bodywork, and clearly a step to prepare motorsport for the future and to attract new generations.”, said Wiliam Kimberley, RACE TECH Editor-in -chief, at the World Motorsport Symposium 2018. Bcomp’s solution for replacing carbon fibres with powerRibs™ reinforced ampliTex™ natural fibre composites is live in some of the largest racing series and have proven their place on tracks around the world for seasons.

Bcomp-powerRibs-Tech-Illustration-Only.j

High Performance

Matching the performance of monolithic carbon fibre parts

Improved Safety

Ductile fracture behaviour and no sharp edges, no toxic carbon fibre dust

More Sustainable

75% lower CO2 footprint from cradle to gate, end-of-life thermal recovery

Improved Cost Efficiency

Up to 30% lower material costs

Examples

Image NASCAR

NASCAR / ABB BEV Racecar

NASCAR’s innovative BEV prototype is the first major US motorsports project to incorporate flax-based composites. The high-performance bodywork uses ampliTex™ technical fabrics in conjunction with powerRibs™, which were first inspired by the vein structure of leaves, to harness the natural advantages of flax fibre.

This is a step towards implementing more sustainable measures into NASCAR competition vehicles. Under the NASCAR IMPACT umbrella, in April 2023 NASCAR committed to achieve net zero operating emissions by 2035 and set a series of five-year sustainability targets, including sourcing 100% renewable electricity at all owned tracks and offices and expanding EV charging infrastructure across the company’s facilities. ABB has come onboard as the first corporate partnership of NASCAR Impact.

"Integrating sustainable innovations into the design process helps set the standard for sustainability across our industry and supports forward progress towards the company’s sustainability goals and targets,” said Vice President of Vehicle Design, Brandon Thomas.

Porsche uses sustainable alternative to carbon fibres for Nürburgring 24h race

Porsche Motorsports partners with technology leader Bcomp and Four Motors racing team to run full natural fibre bodywork

Thanks to the powerRibs technology, the natural fibre parts cannot only match the performance of traditional monolithic carbon fibres, but also offer additional key benefits:

Sustainability: 75% lower CO2 footprint and viable end of life options
Cost reduction: up to 30% lower material cost
Safety: ductile crash behaviour without sharp shattering

McLaren Racing is pioneering sustainable lightweighting in F1

We are extremely proud and excited to collaborate with McLaren Racing on pioneering the use of #sustainablelightweighting in Formula 1

“Not only does this solution provide equivalent performance to carbon fibre, it represents another step forward in our evolving sustainability programme, while underlining our commitment to helping F1 turn its ambitious sustainability strategy into action.” – Andreas Seidl, Team Principal McLaren F1.

And the best about this, it is just the beginning: Read the full article on McLaren Racing’s page

All images copyright: McLaren Racing

Sustainability

The production of parts made from ampliTex™ and powerRibs™ has a 75% lower CO2 footprint than that of carbon fibre parts with equal weight and performance. Furthermore, as no bleeders and breathers are needed, production consumables are reduced, reducing both costs and waste. At the end of their life, parts can be used for thermal energy recovery without residual waste in the standard waste management system. Carbon and glass fibres on the other hand sadly often end up in landfills.

Process

RBT BioComposites offers both dry fibres and high-quality natural fibre prepregs from trusted partners. Thermoset production can be done using vacuum infusion, autoclave, prepreg compression moulding (PCM) or RTM in the same molds as for carbon fibre parts. The Bcomp engineering team provides optimisation of layups and can perform reverse engineering of existing carbon fibre parts to facilitate implementation. We support our clients all the way to the final parts.

Sustainable Lightweighting

Thanks to the powerRibs™ technology, a full-natural fibre layup of ampliTex™ + powerRibs™ matches the performance of carbon fibres for motorsport bodywork and other thin-walled shell elements. As opposed to carbon fibres, this natural fibre composite has a ductile fracture behaviour with blunt edges, thus improving safety without sharp carbon fibre shattering and toxic carbon fibre dust. Furthermore the vibration damping is significantly improved.

The products are used in more than 16 racing series around the world, from GT to Formula and Rallye. Bcomp is technical partner for sustainable lightweighting of the DTM and collaborates with Porsche customer racing team Four Motors as well as Aston Martin customer racing team Optimum Motorsports, who are both racing with Bcomp’s solutions.

In addition to racing series, several high-attention-projects such as the Gillet Vertigo for Pikes Peak, Electric GT racing adapted TESLA, and the ALTER by DAB Motors for YAMAHA all have ampliTex™ and powerRibs™ bodywork.