Besides being thoroughly entertaining, one of the most exciting aspects of motorsport is its function as a brutal testbed for new precision technological advances, with so many of them moving from the racetrack to the road.
Traction control, active suspension, semi-automatic racing gearboxes, moveable aerodynamic components, four-wheel steering, electronic stability control, carbon fibre and countless other technologies were made for motorsport before ending up in everyday machines. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.
However, for every technology that originated in motorsport that became ubiquitous out of it, there are a few that were tried and simply failed to materialise.
Turbine Engines
More commonly seen in power plants and jet planes than in cars, gas turbine engines were nevertheless a major innovation that multiple motorsport manufacturers tried to get the most out of.
Turbine engines were potentially extremely powerful, much more reliable owing to their simplicity compared to contemporary petrol engines and relatively light, but the consequence of that lightness was exceptional throttle lag.
Turbines, unlike petrol engines, took a lot of time to speed up and slow down, meaning that they relied heavily on powerful brakes to actually slow down and stop, similar to the lag found in early turbochargers.
After several failed attempts by the likes of Rover, STP and Lotus, many racing organisations banned turbine engines and they have not been seen on the road since.
Flexible Engine Parts
In 1999, one of the most unusual and controversial technologies was the development of beryllium alloys used in engine development.
Used in an alloy with aluminium, beryllium is elastic and yet strong, which when used in certain types of engines allows for greater power delivery.
It was ultimately banned in 2000 in Formula One after complaints over its use, but ultimately due to the expense of its manufacture, it was unlikely to ever be used outside of the upper echelons of motorsport and particularly expensive luxury hypercars.