For the truckies who also have the arduous task of looking after the tyres, comes the inevitable job of keeping the wheels clean. Does this help with the speed of the car? Does it stop the mechanics getting their hands even dirtier than they already are? Does it keep the inside of your very expensive tyre warming blankets clean? Or do they do it because they are bored and have no other jobs to do?
NO,NO,NO and NO !!!!!!!!!!
Appearance is everything at this level of motor sport. With television crews and photographers everywhere, a nice shiny car with dirty wheels is just not acceptable. So here is a short guide.
How do you get this wheel, clean?
The answer is plenty of paddock tap water, elbow grease and some strong cleaner. Some teams opt for the cleaning spray and a rag but this takes even more hard work and is used more as a quick fix. When multiple sets of wheels need attention, the first choice is water.
 |
| Water soluble cleaner |
 | |
| Spray on cleaner |
For those teams lucky enough to have silver or black wheels, the cleaning process is a bit easier as these colours will hide the dirt better if the cleaning process is not 100%. For all other colours of wheels, white being a very popular choice, you must clean,clean,clean.
Now that you have decided on how to clean your wheels properly, where are you going to wash them?
The floor is the obvious choice. But squatting down or bending down is hard on the legs you are forced to constantly shift position as each wheel is washed and then moved out of the way before you move on the next one.
 |
| Old skool washing |
 |
| Not good for the knees ! |
|
|
The second option is to use one of the wheels as a stand while you wash the others. This is a little bit easier but is still a flawed method as you may still have to squat or bend down. And when you get to that last wheel, you are back to washing on the floor again!
 |
| Better, but not perfect. |
The third and most practical and sensible way is to make yourself a wash stand. No more hard work for your legs and back. You can even fit your wash stand with rollers to help spin the wheel when you wash it. Your water is kept in the wash stand so you do not have big puddles of water for the rest of the team or passers by to step through. And the guy washing the wheels can keep a good eye on the ladies walking around and even pose for the odd photograph for the fans.
The only down side to the wash stand approach is that it is one more piece of equipment that has to be packed up and put on the trucks but your body will love you for doing it!!!
So the next time you happen to be walking around a race paddock and see the truckies washing wheels the hard way, you can tell them about Zen, and the art of wheel washing.
Due to current European Health and Safety guidelines. I must warn you of the dangers of exposing your hands to constant wheel washing as I would not want your hands to look like this.........
