Gentlemen, Lift Your Skirts
The Formula One racing car is not really a car at all-it's an aerodynamic projectile on wheels. The most obvious feature of these ' wing ' cars is a device called a skirt, that seals aerodynamic suction beneath the car, sticking it to the road. British designers have developed the skirt to a point where their cars are faster than the more powerful factory cars. The tiny Williams team from Didcot won every championship last year with their skirted car. Now the Paris-based ruling body of the sport has banned the skirt and thrown this new technology into disarray. Horizon spent the winter with Williams and their World Champion driver Alan Jones. What is the essence of a modern racing car? How can they improve the performance for 1981 - with skirts lifted?
Narrator MARTIN JARVIS
Film editor JOHN LEE
Editor SIMON CAMPBELL-JONES
Written and produced by PATRICK ude *