2025-09-10 –, Forum
Overall vehicle performance optimization is the main target in race car and road hypercar development. Considering the complexity of current vehicles, a holistic approach to analyse the interaction of vehicle dynamics, powertrain cooling system dynamics, brake cooling and human drivers in the same simulation can be vital to maximizing the overall performance (Bouvy et al, 2012). This article is a continuation of a previous article written by Dallara and Claytex (“Race Car Cooling System Model for Real Time use in a Driving Simulator”, Stellato et al, 2023). The previous collaboration describes the implementation of a 1D cooling system model integrated with a vehicle multibody model to be used in the Dallara dynamic driving simulator with human drivers. This collaboration has continued into a new phase, where Dallara has developed a model to optimize the brake cooling of its vehicles, with Claytex’s VeSyMA suite use for the auxiliary vehicle systems and code compilation. The model has been validated through comparison with real data of an existing vehicle, showing an acceptable accuracy to size a race car braking system and for a refined assessment of the global vehicle performance on the driving simulator.
From 2024, he is a Vehicle Systems Engineer at Dallara Automobili, based in Varano de' Melegari (Parma, Italy).
2017 - 2020 Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering at "Politecnico di Torino".
2020 - 2023 Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering at "Politecnico di Torino".
2022 - 2023 Internship and Master's Thesis at Porsche Engineering, "Drivetrain Simulation Department" (Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany).
Alessandro Picarelli – Engineering Director – Bio
Alessandro Picarelli has been working in the automotive industry since finishing his MSc in Advanced Mechanical Engineering at University of Warwick in 2001. He started working in Powertrain strategy at Jaguar Land Rover in 2001. He then moved to the IARC (International Automotive Research Centre) at Warwick University in 2005 to develop simulation tools for a range of hybrid vehicle architectures ranging from refuse trucks to race cars. From 2007 Alessandro has been working in systems simulation at Claytex and has been responsible for the delivery of a variety of projects ranging from thermal management to watch mechanisms to whole vehicle modelling, powertrain modelling, virtual testing and driver-in-the-loop applications. He is an advocate for using a holistic approach for systems integration and vehicle engineering rather than it being carried out in silos.