An old episode of Top Gear had one of the guys driving an F1 car. The problem was the engine/clutch, he kept stalling it trying to get going.
Thatās what happens when you couple an engine with no flywheel to a ā1st gearā thatās tall enough to go nearly 100 mph in.
One of the reasons they used flat cranks in their V-8 engines instead of the more conventional cross plane cranks is because flat cranks donāt need counterweights which add to the flywheel mass.
Yup!
Richard Hammond was put behind the wheel of a Renault factory racing team F1 car, and no matter what he did, he couldnāt manage to get it going for the longest time. I think thatāeventuallyāhe got the hang of it, but it took a very long time.
And Hammond was in no way a driver of normal abilities.
@B.L.E. You keep asking a variation of the question;
Why would you want to compete on a bike that was ultra tricky to control?
I answered that question. Because it makes the car (bike/plane) faster.
You even point out that a flat plane crank and super light flywheel are used. So why do you think that is? A heavier flywheel would make it easier to drive but it would make the car slower to accelerate. Thatās the compromise you have to make.
Tricky for the average driver to control but not the expert. Hammond could not even keep the tire temperatures up enough to allow the car to turn nor keep from spinning.
Even cold tires will take a turn if you go slow enough, and the throttle works both ways even on a F-1 car. It looked to me like most of his spinouts were due to him trying to see how fast he could go in a car that is totally unfamiliar to him instead of doing a slow parade lap.
It would have been just as amusing to see him try to fly a radio control airplane without crashing it, or sail an International Moth sailboat in a 20 mph wind, (or any wind strength for that matter).