Metalmoro MR18

Even with the (by then) recent success of the MRX, presented in 2009, Metalmoro soon began the development of a new closed-cockpit prototype, in line with the direction taken by the FIA for the Le Mans prototypes, and with 18-inch wheels, allowing the use of more durable tires similar to those of prototypes and GT cars instead of the 13-inch tires normally used in Formula 3. This also allowed the installation of larger brakes.

The chassis is made of 4130 tubular steel, equipped with a front crash box and push rod suspension at the front and rear, but without the presence of a third element, allowing the use of different engines and transmissions.

First MR18 under construction, in 2013. 📷Blog do Passatão.

Built for the trio Cláudio Ricci, Felipe Roso and Vinícius Roso, the first MR18 was equipped with an Audi 20V Turbo engine and Hewland FTR-200 transaxle, a powertrain originating from the Tango prototype with which the trio competed until 2013.

*Tango Prototype from Cláudio Ricci.* 📷Blog do Passatão.

The car was ready on the eve of the 12 Hours of Tarumã in 2013, where it made its debut with Davi Dal Pizzo completing a crew of four drivers. In the race, the prototype completed only four laps before retiring, which is not surprising given that it was the car’s first race.

*MR18 debuts at the 12 Hours of Tarumã in 2013.* 📷*Paulo Reis / Blog do Passatão.*

Next came the 2014 Gaucho Endurance season, which had the 3 Hours of Tarumã as its first race. In this stage, the MR18 scored its first pole position with Cláudio “Cacau” Ricci at the wheel. In the race, it achieved sixth place in the overall standings, and fourth among the prototypes in class I.

*Start of the 3 Hours of Tarumã in 2014. 📷Paulo Reis*

A second MR18 chassis was also built, equipped with a Hartley V8 3.0 engine (a V8 engine developed by Radical using cylinder heads and various components from the Hayabusa engine) and a Hewland TMT-200 transaxle, for a driver from Paraná. The car trained for the 500 Milhas de Londrina in 2016, and was announced for the 2017 edition of the Paraná race, but never officially competed. Ultimately, problems related to its owner’s business led to the car being seized by Receita Federal (Brazil’s equivalent to IRS).

Still in 2014, the trio would achieve two more pole positions in the 2 Hours of Santa Cruz do Sul and 3 Hours of Guaporé and two second positions on the grid in the 2 Hours of Rivera and 2 Hours of Guaporé, but the only significant result came with second place in the final classification of the 2 Hours of Rivera. Incidentally, the race on Uruguayan soil marked the debut of the first major update of the MR18 #04, which adopted a Le Mans-style dorsal fin.

*MR18 at the 2 Hours of Rivera in 2014.* 📷*Niltão Amaral / Blog do Passatão.*

Furthermore, the 2014 season saw the debut of the third MR18 chassis, built for the Motorcar team and driven by Jorge Machado and Rui Machado, which also marked the debut of the MR18 outside the Gaúcho de Endurance, with participation in the 500 Quilômetros de São Paulo, held at Velocittà, where the trio Sérgio Antunes, Jorge and Rui Machado won fourth place in the final classification, and first among nationally manufactured cars (behind only the race-winning Radical SR8 and the GT3 Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 and Aston Martin Vantage).

*MR18 #91 in the 500 Kilometers of São Paulo in 2015.* 📷*Rodrigo Ruiz.*

The 2015 season marked the beginning of Endurance Brazil, and the MR18 #4 and #91 continued to compete, although both suffered several retirements during the season, and did not score any pole positions. The best result came in the 3 Hours of Rivera, a race valid as the fourth stage of the Gaúcho de Endurance and marked by heavy rain, which had Franco Pasquale as the overall winner aboard the Tubarão VIII with an AP 8V engine. In this stage, the MR 18 #4 of Claúdio Ricci and Jansen Bueno won the GP1 class and second place overall.

*MR18 #4 at the 3 Hours of Rivera in 2015.* 📷*André Kotomann.*

The season also marked the debut of the fourth MR18 chassis, the #110 car of the DTR Motorsport team, driven by Francesco Ventre and Eduardo Dieter. In relation to the existing cars, the #110 MR18 was the first to use the Honda K20 Turbo mechanics combined with a Hewland TMT transaxle, in addition to bringing several aerodynamic novelties in relation to its “older” brothers.

*MR18 from the DTR Motorsports Team.* 📷*Niltão Amaral / Passatão Blog.*

The 2016 season was marked by the evolution of the MR18 #110, which soon proved to be the fastest of the models built, winning two pole positions in the 3 Hours and 12 Hours of Tarumã, also marking the first time that an MR18 broke the 1m00s mark in Tarumã, with the mark of 0m59s542 established in the 12 Hours of Tarumã.

Pole of the MR18 #110 at the 12 Hours of Tarumã in 2016.

Furthermore, the season was marked by the double victory of #110 in the Santa Cruz do Sul stage, which counted as a stage of Endurance Brasil up to the three-hour mark, and as a stage of the Brazilian Endurance Championship at the four-hour mark (until then, despite the name, Endurance Brasil was only valid as a Rio Grande do Sul endurance championship, while the CBA organized the Copa Brasil de Endurance, a group of events across the country that made up the national championship of the sport).

*Vitory in the 4 Hours of Santa Cruz do Sul in 2016.*

The fifth MR18 chassis was also built in 2016, for driver Vitor Aneris. Equipped with a Mitsubishi 4G63 Turbo engine, the car debuted at the 500 Kilometers of Tarumã, with Aneris driving solo. With an engine prepared by Motorcar, the car participated in only two races during the season, and did not perform at the same level as cars #110 and #4..

*MR18 with Mitsubishi 4G63 Turbo engine by Vitor Aneris.* 📷*Niltão Amaral / Blog do Passatão.*

News reports from the time reported that a sixth chassis was built, and would be equipped with a 3.6L Chevrolet V6 engine, but this car never made its debut on the tracks (where is the beautiful prototype?).

Another move was the MR18 #91 of Jorge and Rui Machado, which was acquired by Emílio Padrón for the 2017 season. The car performed its shakedown during the tenth stage of the São Paulo Automobile Championship, securing pole position, but without taking part in the stage’s heats.

*Emilio Padrón with the Motorcar MR18 at the Paulista de Automobilismo in 2016.* 📷*Humberto da Silva.*

For the 2017 season, Endurance Brasil was elevated to the status of Brazilian Championship, and with that the competition in the GP1 class became more intense. In addition to the various MRX and MCR cars that traditionally competed in the Rio Grande do Sul championship, very fast cars joined the competition, such as the MCR Grand Am, GeeBee R1, Predator and those that would be the season’s stars: the Porsche 911 GT3 R from the 991 generation of the Stuttgart Porsche team and the AJR prototype, developed by JLM Racing and Metalmoro.

*MR18 #110 at the 3 Hours of Tarumã in 2017.* 📷*Endurance Brasil.*

This season, three cars competed: the #6 car of Claudio Ricci, Felipe Roso and Vinicíus Roso, the #110 of Eduardo Dieter and Francesco Ventre and the #117 of Emílio Padrón and Fernando Fortes, which replaced the Audi Turbo engine with the Honda K20 Turbo. In the first race of the season, the 3 Hours of Tarumã, the highlight was the #110 car, which took fourth place in the GP1 class, while the other cars retired.

*MR18 #117 nas 3 Horas de Tarumã em 2017.* 📷*Endurance Brasil.*

After this stage, the best results were achieved by car #117: a second place in the 500 Kilometers of Curitiba and two third places in the 3 Hours of Santa Cruz do Sul and the 3 Hours of Tarumã, the end of the 2017 Endurance Brasil season. The year 2017 also marked the farewell of the MR18s from the tracks: Emílio Padrón’s #117 car was retired, giving way to an AJR prototype equipped with the Honda K24 Turbo engine, car #110 gave way to the DTR01 that debuted in 2019 and Cláudio Ricci started sharing the cockpit of the MCR Grand Am with Fernando Poeta. As for what has happened to the cars, one has become a donor for an unfinished Bugatti Veyron replica, while one chassis has become the basis for the Tubarão MC40 (it is unclear as of now wether this was a raced chassis or a brand new one).

Tech Analysis

Aerodinamics

The initial bodywork configuration of the MR18 presented stands out for its raised nose (1) with an air intake under the nose (2) and two air passages that also act as air intakes for the front brakes (3). In addition, two canards (4) were positioned at the front, helping to fine-tune the aerodynamic pressure, generated mainly by the front splitter (5), which has a raised central section..

Moving on to the side, there are air outlets on the sides after the wheel arches (6). The engine air intake was positioned on the roof (7), so as not to significantly impact the front area and the air intakes for radiators (8) and rear brakes (9) are positioned on the side fairing after the cockpit. The rear wing (11) has one element, with traditional supports at the bottom and endplates that connect to the rear bodywork.

Moving on to the rear section, there are two pairs of grilles for ventilation of the engine compartment and radiators, and two peculiar air outlets with a circular cover. Finally, the rear diffuser (13) has a small central expansion zone under the transmission separated by vertical strakes from the two main expansion zones. In addition, another pair of strakes divides the main diffuser from the small diffusers positioned just after the rear wheels.

The second car built, for the Motorcar team, featured some solutions that differed from this initial configuration, demonstrating the ongoing development work in the GP1 class at the time. At the front, the splitter (5b) projected much further forward than on the CRT team’s chassis #001, and the engine air intake (7b) was repositioned above the roof to make room for the dorsal fin (14) above the engine cover. At the sides, the bodywork in the radiator area was closed (8b).

Additionally, on the debut of the #91 car the air intake under the nose was closed (2b) and a larger canard was positioned just below the headlights (4b).

Also in 2014, car #04 also received the dorsal fin, new canards and repositioning of the engine air intake.

In 2015, the MR18 #110 of the DTR Motorsport team debuted, bringing improvements to the aerodynamic package, such as the Big Honking Holes with louvres in the front and rear wheel arches (15), the radiator grilles (16) and the scoop-type air intakes (17). In addition, air intakes were added to the front of the rear wheel arches (18) and a rear spoiler with a different profile and position from the other models (10b).

In some wet races, the model received a polycarbonate deflector in front of the windscreen to aid visibility, a solution that years later came to be adopted in some AJR prototypes. In addition, the nose had a particular design, with a closed lower air intake and a rounded leading edge (1b), a solution that was adopted during the 2016 season.

Another peculiarity is that several louvre solutions were tested on car #110, from a partial application to a total application over the wheel arches, and even completely closed with tape. The last MR18 to officially debut was car #55 of Vitor Aneris, with a relatively standard aerodynamic package, with the exception of the air intake on the engine cover (19) and the addition of a NACA duct on the side fairing (20).

Powertrain

As for the engine, the first MR18s built (#4 and #91) were equipped with Audi 20V Turbo engines, following the trend of the Class I MRXs that competed in the Gaúcho Endurance Championship. This engine configuration was one of the most suitable for the prototype, resulting in many of the main results in long races.

In 2014, a car equipped with a Hartley V8 engine was built, but it never competed.

Another engine that yielded great results was the Honda K20 Turbo used by the DTR team in car #110, which together with the model’s differentiated preparation resulted in possibly the fastest MR18 of the time.

Finally, pilot Vitor Aneris tested the Mitsubishi 4G63 Turbo engine, but without obtaining significant results.

The sixth MR18 would be equipped with a Chevrolet 3.6 V6 engine, a configuration similar to that used by NASCAR Brasil.

As for the transmission, some MR18s built received the traditional Hewland TMT, but in 2015 Metalmoro announced a partnership with Xtrac to use the P1152 transaxles developed for the LMP3 category in the MR18s. Not all cars received this option, and from what we can see from our research, 4 transmissions were imported by Metalmoro, one of them for the first AJR built and three more that came to equip cars number 4, 117 and 91.

Results:

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our friends Enzo Brocker, Fernando Leal and Evandro Flesh for their availability and information that helped to enrich this post.

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