Initially, there was a lot of speculation that Moore would be headed to DTM, but after closer inspection, the canny Queenslander realised that the German touring car series was merely offering more of the same in terms of room to experiment.
“DTM was on the cards. I was just looking around not knowing too much about other series as they weren’t really on my radar” says Moore. “I was happy in my current position, but you get a bit of tunnel-vision after fourteen years of doing the same thing. So I thought ‘what else is there to
do for a challenge?’
In DTM the cars are technically interesting, but after looking closer at the regulations and team politics, it detracted a bit from wanting to go there. Then the opportunity with Porsche came up. It’s really the top echelon of motor sport now and really competes against F1 in terms of freedoms and technology. It really was a no brainer to take this position.”
Although poles apart in terms of technology, Moore believes there’s no better breeding ground than V8 Supercars in terms of blooding new engineering talent. Despite being a unique series, there is more expected from team members, meaning they are exposed to more aspects of engineering which they can carry on throughout their careers.
“V8 Supercars is a great series because you can do everything”, raves Jeromy. “I was chief designer, which meant designing the suspension, working with the drivers and race engineer, damper development, tyre strategy – basically everything. It’s a really good school to learn in and a great training ground. Here is completely different of course, with aero being the most important factor.
While it’s the complete opposite to what V8 Supercars is, they still have four tyres touching the ground, so you have to maximise the grip over a lap. You quickly learn the things to look out for that will tweak performance. With V8 Supercars it’s all about compliance and riding the kerbs, whereas here it’s down-force, but not a peaky down-force. It’s a great challenge.”
After working within the tightly regulated world of Aussie V8’s, moving to a relatively blank canvass might have broadened Moore’s horizons, but cemented his ongoing philosophy to keep pushing the boundaries.
“In V8’s you always had to be perfect given there was so little difference between the cars, where in WEC there is a buffer with the overall philosophy from driver training to the layout of the car” Jeromy explains. “You never rest on your laurels though, you’re always pushing. You shouldn’t be in this game if you’re not. The drivers also keep you on your toes. They’re always asking what they’re doing wrong or why the other guy is faster! “
Adapting to new elements such as Energy Recovery, increased down-force has served up a steep learning curve for the Australian, but has used his solid foundations to hit the ground running and secure a World Constructors title with Porsche in his debut year with the German squad.
“I was thrown in at the deep-end, but that’s the best way to learn; as long as someone gives you enough freedom to learn by yourself, but also give you support if you’re struggling” he admits. “I certainly love the challenge of learning all these new toys. The technology here is amazing in terms of all the settings and switches to harvest energy. In V8’s all we had to worry about were roll-bars and brake-bias levers!”
Young engineers trying to get a foot into the door in top line motor sport often find themselves relegated into very segregated roles with very little opportunity to develop their own ideas. But Moore believes this doesn’t have to be the case, given that over-specializing can often lead even the best minds into the woods at times.
“Unfortunately with the level of complexity that the cars are at in WEC and F1 now you can’t know everything” Moore explains. “It’s great to have a basic knowledge of the concepts and design just so you know that something can be run a different way. You don’t have to know the full detail on how to optimise an upright, but as long as you know the processes involved its very to have in the background. It’s great to fall back on because I’ve seen a lot of people get pigeon-holed by just looking at their data."
In some ways V8 Supercars is the last bastion of the early era where you can design and develop things. Having said that, even that category is getting more controlled parts from outside suppliers in an effort to cut costs, but there’s still some freedom there. Here there’s a lot more freedom but it’s expensive. So long as the sponsors find the technology useful there will be a job for me.”