BMW motorsport tests renewable textile fibres

BMW i Andretti Motorsport and the BMW iFE.20 have got off to a successful start in Season Six of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship with their victory in Diriyah in November, but the BMW iFE.20 proves an asset for BMW i Motorsport away from the track as well. It features a flax cooling shaft and is thus the first BMW race car fielded by a works team with parts made out of renewable textile fibres.

"The flax cooling shaft that we use in the BMW iFE.20 is further proof of the hugely important role of BMW i Motorsport as a tech lab for the BMW Group," said BMW Group Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt. "We are consistently using Formula E as an innovative platform for series development - in this instance for testing flax in extreme weather conditions. What's particularly remarkable is the fact that in some areas this renewable material even has advantages over materials established in racing, such as carbon. Our ambition is to always use the best suited material for each part."

Compared with carbon, flax has greater absorption and greater impact resistance, which can be advantageous on the street circuits with their bumps and crash barriers, on which Formula E takes place. The same is true of contact with other cars during races. The expansion of the use of renewable textile fibres in other BMW Motorsport race cars is currently already in the development phase.