Logan’s winning Bathurst team turns to making ventilators as part of war on coronavirus

A race car company, which won the 2017 Bathurst 1000, has turned its engineering skills to developing a life-saving ventilator.

The prototype ventilator being designed and developed at Banyo by the same company which raced the winning Holden in the 2017 Bathurst 1000.

THE team which was behind a Bathurst winning car, which sported the Logan City name, has now joined the war against the deadly coronavirus and turned its hand to making special ventilators.

Melbourne-based Erebus Racing team, which sported the Logan City name on its 2017 Bathurst 1000 winning Commodore, has joined the global fight against COVID-19 using the resources of its supercar’s team workshop to build lifesaving ventilator masks.

Likewise, Triple Eight Race Engineering, which is based at Banyo, has developed a low-cost ventilator prototype to help fight the pandemic.

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Team boss Roland Dane said after the Australian Grand Prix was cancelled on March 12 when a McLaren team member contracted the deadly disease, his team decided to turn its attention to engineering ventilators.

It was a natural progression for the company, which usually is trackside designing ways to make race cars go faster.

“We came back from the Australian Grand Prix that didn’t happen in Melbourne and we were aware of the imagery coming out of Europe,” he said.

“We wanted to challenge ourselves to see what we could do from an engineering company’s point of view which is what we are first and foremost.

“We started investigating and then I got a phone call from Cameron Dick, Minister State Development, and he really challenged me to come up with an ‘Apolo 13 fix’ for what we would do in an emergency.”

The winning team from Erebus with the words Logan City on the front bumper bar.

Mr Dick said the local race car company had worked around the clock for the past two weeks to develop the prototype.

“This is what Queensland manufacturing is all about. Hard work, ingenuity and solving problems,” he said.

“It’s so impressive that, within just a few weeks, this company has transitioned their capability, intellect and resources to a product that could ultimately save lives.

“It’s also fantastic to hear that Triple Eight has focused on using readily available, local materials.”

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The Erebus Racing team won the Bathurst 1000 in 2017, when David Reynolds and co-driver Luke Youlden’s Holden won the supercar race of the year.

The company was able to use in-house 3D printing services to build the ventilator which could be put into production at short notice.

With the help of the State Development Department it will continue development.

The end result is a ventilator which can regulate volume and breaths per minute and is able to run for at least two hours without power.

Ms Dale said it could be used in a small ICU unit.