Zircotec in technical partnership with Strakka Racing

World Endurance Championship LMP2 entrant Strakka Racing has entered technical partnership with coatings specialists Zircotec. Strakka, currently co-developing the new Strakka Dome S103 car, will be able to access a range of thermal management products and be among the first to trial new technologies emanating from Zircotec’s research projects. In return, Zircotec will receive real world test data to understand how its coatings perform in high performance endurance applications.

“Strakka Racing is our highest profile and most prestigious technical partner,” says Zircotec’s managing director Terry Graham. “This partnership will enable us to acquire data about how our coating performs over long race durations and in testing conditions. As a ‘cost-capped’ car we also will be trialling more affordable technologies than those typically selected for LMP cars. An example would be using lower cost aluminium coated sheet to replace the gold reflective foils often found at this level.”

“Thermal management is a key reliability factor in sports car racing,” says sportscar team manager Karl Patman. “We look forward to using Zircotec’s expertise to solve any heat issues we encounter during development and having access to more affordable products that are in the spirit of the ‘cost capped’ regulations.”

Zircotec has already prepared a ThermoHold coated exhaust set for the first S103 that will be used to acquire data for back to back tests with an uncoated manifold. It plans to share the results at the end of the season.