Munich. As mobility companion, the BMW Group supplies the DSV biathlon squad with electrical automobiles. Early final summer time, the collaboration was expanded to include the switch of know-how from automotive analysis and improvement. For the primary time, BMW enabled the German biathletes to hold out checks in a wind tunnel. The standing shoot was simulated, analysed and optimised in a variety of wind circumstances within the BMW Group Aerolab. You can discover extra info on these checks, in addition to picture and video materials, right here: https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0420779EN/
In dialogue with the aerodynamic specialists on the BMW Group, the main target of preparations for the BMW IBU Biathlon World Championships, which start at the moment in Nove Mesto (CZE), shifted to incorporate gear and learn how to optimise it, along with the athletes themselves. The purpose was to enhance the aerodynamics of the rifle, so as to have the ability to maintain it extra secure in a facet wind, and thus to extend accuracy.
Holger Gau, Head of Aerodynamics Mid-Range BMW, and his group took precisely the identical strategy as they apply to their on a regular basis enterprise – the aerodynamic optimisation of autos. “As we do when developing a car, we used a computer simulation to sound out the aerodynamic extremes. In a second step, we then sat down with our colleagues at DSV Biathlon to consider what could be implemented and what could be done to improve the equipment,” mentioned Gau. The outcomes of those issues had been then examined within the wind tunnel to verify their effectiveness.
Karlheinz Waibel, DSV National Science and Technology Coach, shouldn’t be but ready to debate particulars. “The big challenge is to improve aerodynamics – and performance in general – without showing the opposition what we are doing. Otherwise, it will not be long before it is copied,” mentioned Waibel. One factor he’s certain of is that the know-how switch from the BMW Group is certainly a plus for the German group: “When you look at the races, and how close they are at the finish, then these nuances can make the difference – mentally too. It gives the athlete a psychological advantage to know they have material that the opposition definitely does not have.”
The BMW IBU Biathlon World Championships open on Wednesday afternoon with the combined relay. The closing two races, the lads’s and girls’s mass begins, happen on Sunday 18th February.