Artist's impression of new racing wheelchair
Following up on its success at the Sochi Winter Olympics--the U.S. two-man bobsled team took home a bronze medal in a bobsled designed by BMW North America --BMW has announced plans to develop a new racing wheelchair for use by athletes of the U.S. Paralympics Track and Field Team in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
BMW’s wholly-owned Designworks consultancy headquartered in California will collaborate with the U.S. Paralympics Track and Field team in identifying and addressing the need for potential improvements in the team’s racing wheelchair.
Although still under development, the new wheelchair’s improvements will include a complete redesign of its chassis, application of BMW-developed aerodynamic efficiencies, enhanced athlete restraint, carbon fiber durability and steering and braking advancements. The company reports it has been researching and learning know- how to develop these new machines for over a year. The racing wheelchair is slated to be delivered to U.S. Paralympics track and field elite racers in early 2016 to allow the athletes time to train and practice with their new BMW wheelchair before the September start of the games, which will follow the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.