This company from Thurgau makes Formula 1 safe

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Jochen Braunwarth is talking in the Bernina meeting room in Geobrugg. And talk. And talk. The 44-year-old is officially Director Motorsport Solutions. Unofficially he is the wren of Formula 1, as the company based in Romanshorn, Thurgau, makes the pinnacle of motorsport safe with its high-security fences.

Born in Germany, he has been working at Geobrugg for 15 years. If he can talk over fences, he’s hard to stop. If you listen to him, you would like to buy a fence yourself. The company used to specialize mainly in protection solutions against natural disasters such as landslides or avalanches, but it has now also made a name for itself in motorsport. Their products will be used at 15 of the 23 Grand Prix 2023.

In 2011, Geobrugg made its major entry into Formula 1 with the Circuit of the Americas in Austin (USA). For the GP in Las Vegas, which will be held for the first time in November, the company from Thurgau will supply about 13 high-tech fencing anchored in 3000 concrete elements. A lucrative business? Braunwarth falls silent for a moment. “We do not release figures, also because they can vary greatly from year to year.”

He prefers to talk about the way from the company to Formula 1. When Geobrugg started, there were no rules for fences. The world car association FIA only introduced this in 2018 with the standard standard “3502-2018 Debris Fences”, which must now be met when constructing all new Formula 1 circuits.

Driver protection is secondary

To get the certification, two tests must be passed. In the first, a steel ball of 780 kilograms (equivalent to the weight of a Formula 1 car) is shot head-on into a fence at a speed of 65 km/h. In the second, a car weighing 1,000 kilograms was sent against the fence at 120 km/h and a steering angle of 20 degrees. In both tests, the ball or the car must be stopped within three meters, because the so-called “no-go zone” is located in this three meters behind the fences, in which only track employees are allowed to stand. The intention is that the fences deform during this process, because this is the only way to dissipate the energy of the impact.

The high-tech fences are primarily intended to protect marshals and spectators against cars and flying parts. The fact that not too much happens to the driver is secondary. “It’s our job to make sure the car is stopped by the fences in all circumstances,” explained Braunwarth.

But what is the secret of the success of the fences “made in Romanshorn”? Braunwarth held his lips tight for the second time this morning. “Of course we don’t want to reveal too much,” explains the trained civil engineer, “what we can say: our Formula 1 fences are made of four millimeter thick steel wires that are woven into a mesh without welding seams. This is done with machines that we have developed ourselves and which are unique in the world.These fences are then anchored in the ground or concrete elements.”

“We can often be seen on TV”

Braunwarth and his team check the correct installation of the fences on site. The family man will be present at eight to ten Grand Prix this year. He watches the remaining races from home. With pleasure, but also with tension. “We can be seen on TV very often without anyone noticing. Yet there is always a certain tension. Especially in accidents. Our system must prove that it works. So far it has always done so confidently.”

Source : Blick