BMW Engine Breaks 19,000rpm Barrier

Williams engine supplier BMW have entered a new stage of engine development when during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza their P82 engine passed the speed threshold of 19,000 revolutions per minute for the first time.

According to the German manufacturer, both pole setter Juan Pablo Montoya and teammate Ralf Schumacher achieved engine performance of 19,050 revs. In BMW's debut race in Australia in March 2000, marking their return to Formula One racing, engine performance was clocked at 17,000 revolutions a minute, according to BMW.

"With this record figure we have once again raised the threshold in terms of our engine performance," said BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen. "For an engineer it is thrilling to see figures which not so long ago were considered unattainable, suddenly becoming reality."

Colombian Montoya scored his seventh pole position of the season with a lap of 1:20.264, which was the fastest lap ever set in Formula One with an average speed of 259.379 km/h.

"During the race at Monza the rev counter won't yet hit the 19,000 rpm mark," Werner Laurenz, the man responsible for the development of the P82, added. "But in principle we don't develop special qualifying engines.

"Each development stage is ultimately destined for the race, following its successful deployment in qualifying and the completion of endurance testing."

19,000 revolutions a minute means 9,500 ignitions a minute per cylinder. That translates to 158 ignitions per second for each cylinder, or one ignition every six thousandth of a second. All this happens 158 times a second in each of the 10 cylinders.