• Categories
    • Car Racing
    • Featured Articles
    • Motor Shows & Car Events
    • History of Cars
    • Automotive Photography
    • Behind the Scenes
    • #MiniSeries
    • Travel
    • Review Books
    • Review Cars
    • Review Products
  • Porsche Only
    • Engine downsizing at Porsche racing
    • PORSCHE 911 RSR – MARCH OF PROGRESS
    • Porsche 919 Hybrid – Technological Advantage
  • Book Shop
    • AC-Shelby Cobra
    • Ferrari 250 GTO: Owners’ Workshop Manual
    • Ferrari Design: The Definitive Study
    • Jaguar E-type: Portrait of a Design Icon
    • Porsche 956 962: A Photographic History
    • Porsche 911 Carrera RS interactive eBook
    • Porsche 911 Scrapbook: The Air-Cooled Cars
    • Porsche 917: The Complete Photographic History
    • Porsche 924/928/944/968
    • Porsche at Le Mans
    • Porsche: The Carrera Dynasty
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
  • Contributors
    • Alisdair Cusick
    • Annie Proffit
    • Elke Smale
    • Glen Smale
    • John Mountney
    • Pim van der Veer
    • Roland Harrison
    • Zoltan Papp
  • Contact

Virtual Motorpix

Images and stories on cars and motorsport

Size doesn’t matter

June 4, 2015 by: Virtual Motorpix | Leave a Comment

Fernando Rees and Alex MacDowall of Aston Martin say that size doesn't matter
Alex MacDowall (left) and Fernando Rees (right) of Aston Martin say that size doesn’t matter

Hands up, who shares a car, possibly with a loved one? When you get in it the fuel tank is empty, classic FM is on the radio and the seat is in the wrong place. That can be a real problem on the morning commute and by the time you’ve got to work the seat is almost in the right position, the tank has fuel but classic FM is still on the radio.

Imagine a similar scenario, but this time it’s 2.00 am on Sunday morning and instead of the daily commute it’s your stint in the #99 Aston Martin competing in the Le Mans 24 hour race. Ok, you have staff to sort out: the fuel issue and tyres, there’s no Classic FM, just your race engineer burbling in your ear, but the seat is in the wrong position. Instead of your commute you have until the wheels start moving to get it right. This is the real problem that Fernando Rees and Alex MacDowall face on every hand over.

#99 Aston Martin Vantage Aston Marting Racing driven by Fernando Rees, Alex MacDowall, Richie Stanaway, Le Mans 24hr test day  2015
#99 Aston Martin Vantage Aston Marting Racing driven by Fernando Rees, Alex MacDowall, Richie Stanaway, Le Mans 24hr test day 2015

I caught up with Alex and Fernando on the grid at Le Mans and asked the question: Does size matter? Alex is a good 30 cm taller than Fernando and both assured me with a wry grin that size doesn’t matter. So I probed them further. How can that be with seat fitting and safety harnesses, roll cages and all the technology to keep them safe? Surely they can’t compromise on something as fundamental as seat position. The answer was remarkably simple just like the Mondeo thundering up and down the M6: the seat position is adjustable. All the way forward with a thick seat liner for Fernando and all the way back with a thin seat liner for Alex.

The #99 Aston Martin Vantage and #18 Porsche 919 Hybrid putting their cars through the paces at the test weekend
The #99 Aston Martin Vantage and #18 Porsche 919 Hybrid putting their cars through the paces at the test weekend on May 31, 2015

Alex goes on to explain that some cars have adjustable steering columns and some have moveable pedal boxes all of which can be set in seconds during the fury of a pit stop. The FIA don’t like seat liners because the driver isn’t actually as secure as he should be sitting on a liner and not in the seat, so moves will follow to introduce fixed seats with no liners but adjustable steering columns and pedal boxes to allow for height differences in drivers.

So I think we can all rest safely in the knowledge with sympathy and adaptations, size doesn’t matter, when you drive an Aston Martin.

Written by: John Mountney

Save article as PDF

OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT FIND INTERESTING

Share this:

Categories: Car Racing, Featured Articles Tags: Alex MacDowall, Aston Martin, Fernando Rees, Le Mans 24H

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Top quality commentary and photography on cars, motoring and motorsport across the ages.

Connect with us

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Recent Articles

  • The Best of 2017 WEC – LMP2 Part 1
  • BEST OF 2017 WEC – LMP1
  • Looking back at WEC Pit Lane Action 2017
  • Aston Martin DBR9 – The Definitive History
  • Memorable Audi Moments
  • FERRARI – THE GOLDEN YEARS

Popular Tags

Aston Martin Audi Bahrain Bentley BMW Chevrolet Cobra Corvette Ferrari FIA FIA WEC Fiat Ford Formula 1 Geneva Motor Show Honda Jaguar Krohn Land Rover Le Mans Le Mans 24H Lotus Mercedes Motorsport Nissan Nurburgring ORECA Peugeot Photography Porsche Prologue Rebellion Silverstone Silverstone 6 hours Silverstone Classic Spa Spa 6H Toyota VW WEC
All Tags ››

Archives

Our other websites

OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT FIND INTERESTING

Join us on Facebook

Please share our website

Follow us on Twitter

Tweets by Virtual Motorpix Blog

Contact us

We welcome your questions, comments and feedback. Please click here to contact us.

Connect with us

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2021 Virtual Motorpix. All Rights Reserved.