Force India to debut seamless shift gearbox at Valencia

In what is the teams final development for the 2008 season, Force India will debut their seamless shift gearbox at the upcoming grand prix at Valencia. The gearbox has been in the works for some time now, initially planned to debut as budapest, due to a lack of rig testing it was decided to debut it at Valencia instead. It is thought that a seamless shift gearbox could mean an advantage of three tenths of a second per lap on some tracks.

“We are very happy with the results,” said team owner Vijay Mallya. “We did not use it in Budapest, but we will introduce it at the European GP in Valencia – and as far as I am concerned that’s it for the development for 2008 and all the focus from now on will be to develop a really competitive car for 2009.

“What I have realized is that I am not only catching up from last season, but catching up from the last three seasons – so three years, not one. And we have caught up, even though Formula One has become so competitive, which is good,” Mallya said.