NOVEMBER 23, 2000
Webber to give new Renault engine first run
MARK WEBBER will give the Benetton B200B test car its maiden shakedown run at Silverstone next Friday (1st December) which will also mark the track debut of Renault's radical new 111-degree V10 engine.
Designed with the intention of keeping weight distribution as low as possible within the chassis, the Renault is the widest angle vee-configuration engine since the 120-degree turbocharged V6 units run by Ferrari in the early 1980s. Ferrari this year opened out its vee-angle from 80 to 90-degrees, but Renault has now taken the philosophy much further, producing a design which requires very tight packaging of the exhaust system outside both cylinder heads.
Benetton intends to carry out engine development work with this car at next month's Jerez test while a regular 2000-spec B200 will be on hand for Michelin tire test purposes. Jenson Button and Giancarlo Fisichella will take over from Webber in Spain once the Australian has given the B200B its preliminary systems check at Silverstone.