January
26th, 2003 Australian technology in
Citroën championship rally win
TECHNOLOGY
developed in Western Australia helped French car giant Citroen to its
convincing win in the opening round of the 2003 World Rally
Championship, the Monte Carlo Rally. The
Citroen team dominated the grueling event from day one, finishing first,
second and third and making Sebastian Loeb the first Frenchman to win
the Monte Carlo Rally in a French car since 1981. Second
and third place fell to former World Rally Champions Colin McRae and
Carlos Sainz, but driver quality was not the only factor contributing to
Citroen’s walkover win – the French cars have exclusive use of an
advanced suspension system developed by Dunsborough, WA based technology
company Kinetic Pty Ltd. The
suspension system – technically a superimposition mode decoupling
system which separates roll stiffness from warp stiffness – improves
traction and handling by reducing tyre load variations. Citroen’s
clean sweep of its home rally has delighted Kinetic managing director
Andy van Kann. Speaking from France shortly after the conclusion of the
event he said Citroen’s win was a “clear indication of the value of
Australian expertise and the potential of Kinetic’s technology.” “Citroen
is arguably one of the world’s leading suspension developers, so we
were extremely pleased when they selected our technology for their World
Rally Championship team,” said Mr van Kann. “To
have the team take a one-two-three win on their first outing is like a
dream come true.” The Kinetic dream of creating world-leading automotive suspension systems started in 1989 with the fledgling R&D company developing prototype systems for off-road vehicles. Originally
funded by local Dunsborough investors, Kinetic received a $10 million
development commitment from the US in 1995 that eventually led to
Tenneco Automotive (US based manufacturer of Monroe and Rancho
suspension products) acquiring the company for $51 million. Described
by Mr van Kann as “truly a win/win situation”, the Tenneco deal
returned a substantial reward for Kinetic’s investors. It also
resulted in significant benefits to the local community when Tenneco
recognized Kinetic’s unique culture and decided to leave the company
and its employees based at Dunsborough in WA’s southwest. Kinetic
now holds over 120 worldwide patents and is engaged in production
development programs with major global vehicle manufacturers. “As
a small R&D technology company with a team of dedicated engineers
and technicians we put in the hard yards for many years,” said Mr van
Kann. “We’ve
seen the dot coms and telcos come and go, but now we’ve proved that a
good, solid Australian technology company can really deliver the goods. “Citroen’s
win is a clear indication of the value of Australian expertise and the
potential of Kinetic’s technology.”
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