One of motorsport’s most liked and respected figures, as well as a cornerstone of customer GT racing’s success, Peter Wright, has died at the age of 79.
Principally an aerodynamicist and engineer, he was responsible for developing active suspension and the first ground effect Formula 1 car, the Lotus 79, during his career with Team Lotus.
But his significant contribution to motor racing stetches far wider thanks to another of his concepts, Balance of Performance, which now underpins all GT, sportscar and touring car racing around the world.
Wright joined the FIA as its technical advisor in 1995, after which he also became head of its safety commission for several years. During this time he helped develop the HANS device and halo used in Formula 1.
However, it was in his technical role that Wright first encountered SRO’s founder and CEO, Stéphane Ratel, and the FIA’s then president, Max Mosley, whose respective organisations worked closely during the FIA GT Championship’s spectacular GT1 era in 1997 and ‘98.
Porsche’s controversial 911 GT1, which joined the BPR series in 1996, initially highlighted the danger posed by ‘homologation special’ GT cars before an unchecked arm’s race between major manufacturers resulted in FIA GT’s demise two years later. It rebounded, first with GT2 cars and then under the Super Racing Weekend moniker, but history was in danger of repeating itself towards the end of 2004 when Maserati unleashed the MC12: essentially a purpose-built race car homologated for the road.
“That was the biggest crisis at the end of 2004,” said Ratel. “At one point I thought that was it – that the whole thing would collapse because I wouldn’t have a grid.”
Mosley had other ideas and tasked Wright with developing a solution he’d previously proposed.
“I sometimes wonder how on earth I got involved in GT racing because it wasn’t my field at all, but recently I found an email that I had sent to Max Mosley a year or two before, saying that the only way to run GT racing is to do Balance of Performance based on simulation,” he recalled in 2017.
The FIA informed Maserati its new car could compete in 2005 subject to BoP, a concept untried at this level of complexity before. Maserati graciously accepted and agreed to cooperate, giving Wright six months to find a solution.
Data from the MC12’s race outings at the end of 2004 was validated with post-season testing alongside the Prodrive-built Ferrari 550 Maranello that had established itself as the class’ standout performer up to that point.
The results, implementation and ongoing developments duly restricted the MC12’s inherent advantages, which helped four manufacturers to win races in 2005. Maserati claimed the teams’ title via its crack Vitaphone outfit, but it was a Ferrari squad – Larbre Competition – that won the drivers’ crown.
With the merits of BoP proven, the FIA GT Championship name returned in 2006. But it was Ratel’s next project, GT3 – which he presented to the FIA towards the end of 2005 – that took Wright’s concept to the next level.
His enduring contribution to the sport globally was neatly summed up by Mosley who in 2017 remarked: “Peter Wright did the difficult stuff and he’s brilliant at that sort of thing. He ran the whole balancing exercise and it worked. I don’t remember anyone complaining to us about it.”
On Wright’s passing, Ratel added: “It’s very sad. He was a great man both on a personal and professional level who achieved so much throughout his career. The Formula 1 achievements will naturally take centre stage but his legacy as the father of BoP along with Max Mosley has likely had a much wider impact on motor racing globally. Without it there would be no GT3, GT4, Hypercars or TCR. The sport owes him a debt of gratitude.”
Image credit: eSkootr Championship (top) and John Brooks (bottom)