JEP
3D printing service provider Midlands 3D has entered into a technical partnership with West Surrey Racing (WSR) for the 2022 British Touring Car Championship.
Parts additively manufactured in the Midlands 3D facility will be used on the Team BMW 330e M Sport race cars as they take to the Donington Park grid on April 23rd for the season’s opening race.
Leaning on FDM, SLA and Multi Jet Fusion technologies, Midlands is manufacturing parts that are both strong and durable, while also utilising sustainable materials like recycled filaments from Filamentive and HP’s High Reusability PA12 nylon to support WSR in moving towards a more environmentally friendly way of working. In 2022, the British Touring Car Championship has switched to hybrid power in all cars, with the incorporation of electric-hybrid powertrain technology.
Throughout the season, four-time BTCC champion Colin Turkington and teammate Stephen Jelley will use components printed by Midlands 3D. The team has turned to 3D printing because of reduced lead times, increased design flexibility and for the technology’s capacity to produce parts on-demand.
“We’re very pleased to announce this technical partnership with Midlands 3D,” commented Dick Bennetts, WSR Team Principal. “Using components produced with Multi Jet Fusion technology is a first for WSR and we’re very interested to see how we can not only reduce lead times, but also – through the use of HP’s High Reusability PA12 – improve the sustainability of what we use to build and prepare our championship-winning BMWs.”
“We’re extremely pleased to enter a technical partnership with WSR; one of the most successful teams in the 60-plus year history of the British Touring Car Championship,” added Paul Moloney, Managing Director of Midlands 3D. “We see BTCC as an ideal platform to showcase our capabilities and processes showing how our sustainability focus can be of benefit to the motorsport industry. We believe WSR are perfect partners to help us achieve this.”
