Malaysia: RicME RME-001

Here is a first look at the RicMe Motorsport car for the Malaysian Grand Prix. The car is quite basic in its looks, with unusual shapes, which reflect in recent results. The team have been challenging in the second half of the grid, and in some cases, they're pushing towards points finishes. The car has some interesting features, many of which will be discussed in this review.


Front Wing
The front wing is Brawn-esque, with a very large upper cascade, which will, for sure, affect the efficiency of the main plane of the wing. The natural evolution, would be an endplateless design, like much of the bigger teams, if they want to move up the field. 


Front Bodywork
The nose remains a smooth one, due to having a low bulkhead at the cockpit. This may have some benefits, but it means airflow underneath isn't as efficient as most of the teams ahead of them at the moment. This is something for the team to take into consideration throughout the season. The splitter area, may well be where the big downfall is for the car. The splitter, doesn't flow with the sidepods, which is where most of the airflow reaches to the rear and diffuser. This means the team won't have sufficient downforce at the rear of the car. A good example of this splitter area, would be found on the Cottrell or Innovo cars, where their splitters flow fluently with their sidepods, while generating strong vortexes.


Main Bodywork
One issue with the car, is the illegality of the headrest area. Despite the safety risks, they were allowed to race anyway. The unusual area, is the exhausts, where the whole bodywork appears to drop, to aid the exhaust plume. It is still unclear whether this has been a benefit to them. They have a blade roll structure, with a large airbox, to help cooling at Malaysia. The floor however needs looking at, as the frontal area is not thick enough to be safe.


Rear Bodywork
The gearbox area, is unusual, in the fact it extends out, to cover part of the driveshaft, perhaps in an attempt to gain an aerodynamic advantage. This could be advantageou