Following a solid season in 2011, which saw the Juno on the front row of the grid more often than not including pole position at Donington and four trips to the podium, the design team based in Leyland, Lancashire are working on significant developments for 2012. With two orders for new cars already in place, the team are pressing ahead with what they expect to be a big step forward in terms of pace for the coming season.
Juno have an enviable background in Speed having won it in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The big step forward in 2011 came largely as a result of F1 aerodynamicist, Jason Somerville taking a stake and interest in the company. Jason, recently appointed as Head of Aerodynamics at WilliamsF1, has provided the aerodynamic direction on the Juno CN2011 and his input coupled with a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) programme conducted by TMG (formerly Toyota F1) has yielded significant gains, evidenced by a car that was dominant at the Silverstone races this year in which Darren Burke built up a big lead prior to the driver changes.
Over the winter, the Juno team will continue with the CFD development programme and expect to make significant gains, targeting lap time improvements of 1.5 seconds per lap.
“During 2011 we did a large amount of work on the undertray of the car,” reports Juno boss, Ewan Baldry. “Whilst this produced a step gain in downforce, the truth is that we only really scratched the surface and there is a lot more to come. I know that a well sorted aero package will offer far more performance than a carbon fibre chassis can, so that is where we will focus our time and investment. Having Jason on board has made a huge difference. Clearly his day job is very time consuming and limits the input he can make, but he assists massively with the interpretation of our CFD and in steering us with our aerodynamic developments. We are also in the process of re-designing our inlet and exhaust systems which coupled with some mapping work with our electronics partner, Ole Buhl Racing, should contribute to improved performance in 2012.”
In light of recent performances, the company has experienced significant interest from potential customers for 2012, and has recently received two firm orders, which is very pleasing at such an early stage in the close season. One has been bought and will be raced by Duncan Williams who raced at the 2011 Donington round of the Speed EuroSeries. “Having seen the Juno CN2011 at close quarters on the circuit, I was immediately convinced. The car has very effective downforce which of course is a pre-requisite of Donington. Darren Burke put the car on pole and set the fastest lap in the race and so following the race I decided that was the car for me in 2012”.
So the company looks forward to a successful season in 2012, the foundations of which were laid in 2011 and the team returned impressive results against some very strong driver line ups. “Our aero developments didn’t really come on stream until after Spa this year and so a challenge for the overall championship was left a little late; for 2012 we will be able to hit the ground running. We can offer Speed EuroSeries contestants a proven fast, reliable car at a very competitive price and with a very high level of customer support. We can’t wait to get going,” added Baldry.
