Watch Full Video of NCME’s Ensign Aerodynamic Project

Last year, we supported the National Centre for Motorsport Engineering at University of Bolton (NCME) with an exciting project.

Ensign 180b, which is owned by motor racing supremo Dr Bob Fernley, is a former Formula 1 car which also later raced in the US CanAm series.Students at NCME had the rare opportunity of working directly on a Formula 1 car, taking the theory of the classroom onto the reality of the race track.

Collaborating with NCME’s Director, Dr Mark Busfield and Professor Willem Toet, Head of Aerodynamics at Sauber, the students utilised 16 EvoScann® P-16 pressure scanners, which provided 256 channels of digital data whilst the car was driven on a test track.

Johnny Herbert returned to the F1 cockpit when he raced the Ensign 180b at the Brands Hatch Masters Historic Festival in 2020, a car prepared by students at the University of Bolton.
You can watch the full feature below, including onboard footage of Johnny racing at Brands Hatch in August: