Toyota Motorsport tunes race cars on virtual hub

Toyota Motorsport’s Formula 1 team practices Toyota’s Kaizen philosophy of continuous improvement and John Howett, president of Toyota Motorsport, says Dassault’s PLM (product lifecycle management) is part of that process. “We view all partnerships, and in particular the one we have with Dassault Systèmes, as a win-win opportunity. Dassault Systèmes offers us car development solutions that give us the cutting-edge performance that is required in Formula 1,” says Howett. “At the same time, we like to think we’re pushing Dassault Systèmes’ technology to new limits because of the ultimate challenge of material and performance that Formula 1 demands.” One of its biggest challenges is to quickly adapt car design for Panasonic Toyota Racing to upcoming race conditions, such as circuit configurations, driver racing style, and weather conditions, as well as to comply with FIA regulations. Says Markus Schwarze, manager of IT technical applications, Toyota Motorsport: “The software’s speed and accuracy for nonlinear analysis let us fine tune the chassis and optimise vehicle performance very quickly. This is critical since every two weeks we face a different track with different characteristics that impact performance.” The tools are also being used in the engine department, enabling Toyota Motorsport to test and perfect models before actual production and ultimately make quicker race cars.