FastROOT - Kemppi

”
With determination
14
IN CO-OPERATION
and sheer hard work,
the small team can
provide a few nasty
shocks for the big
boys.
Kemppi ProNews 2 • 2006
Kemppi, Motor sport, F1
and the British
Grand Prix 2006
Kemppi have long been associated with
the design and manufacture of innovative,
technical welding solutions for
industry and extreme welding environments,
and motor sport carries no exceptions
in its demands for having the right
welding product at the right time, in the
right place. Travelling motor racing teams
demand compact, lightweight and precise
welding equipment that meets their
special needs for welding lightweight alloys.
For once, small is best
Considering logistics alone, F1
Grand Prix racing is probably the
toughest motor sport environment.
The GP racing teams carry many
tons of technical equipment to remote
corners of the globe throughout
the racing season, providing a
highly technical sporting spectacular
for the millions of motor racing
fans worldwide. When it comes to
welding equipment, like so many things in Formula 1,
size and weight really does matter, and for once small is
best. The bigger and heavier the gear the greater the cost
in transport, inconvenience and ultimately lower overall
performance of the team.
John Frost, Sales & Marketing Director, Kemppi (UK) Ltd.
A history with motor sport
Kemppi links with international motor sport have covered
many racing formulas over the years including the
FIA world Rally series and of course FIA F1 Grand Prix
racing, plus FIA F3, Formula Renault and many other
regional series – Where there’s motor racing, there’s
welding and that’s Kemppi business!
Kemppi fi rst established the supply of welding equipment
into the F1 Grand Prix scene with Jordan GP Ltd,
supplying MasterTig AC/DC TIG equipment during the
1997 race season and continued as a technical supplier
throughout 1998 and 1999; racing seasons where the
Jordan GP team enjoyed three excellent GP wins with
world class drivers Damon Hill (1996 World Champion)
and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
Technical solutions to technical issues
In 1999, Kemppi supplied an additional MasterTig
2500W water cooled machine at very short notice to the
Monza race track in Italy, to enable the repair of newly
designed gearbox cases that had badly cracked during
Friday practice on both Damon and Heinz’s race cars.
The cases were stripped, cleaned and following weld
repairs both cars made it through qualifi cation and the
full Sunday GP race distance. A strong points fi nish resulted
with Frentzen fi nishing fi rst for the best result of
the season.
Kemppi MasterTig AC/DC provided the Jordan GP team
state of the art solutions to traditional welding equipment
packaging and weight management issues that affected
both cost and convenience of having TIG welding
equipment in the garage during a race weekend. Kemppi