Prior to departure, one of the final installation checks of the car’s state-of-the-art engine is to ‘dry crank’ it, checking all the systems are correct and working perfectly. This involves running through the start-up sequence and turning it over with no fuel or ignition.
A dry crank test is a crucial stage of the pre-testing programme as it confirms the engine and all its ancillary systems, fuel and electrics are correctly installed and ready to fire up once the car is in the full system test, confirming the engine can be started.
To perform the test the team will used an Air Start Cart (a small jet engine) to blow high pressure air into the onboard Aircraft Mounted Accessories Drive (AMAD) gearbox, which will both spin the jet’s turbine up to required speed and, once spinning, generate 3-phase AC power for the car, which then sends power to the jet engine’s fuel pumps.