IndyCar – Towards better differentiated single-seaters in 2015

The new DW12sIndyCar, arrived in 2012, are similar for all the teams. It is almost impossible to differentiate, apart from the pilot-specific liveries, a car powered by Honda or Chevrolet. The arrival of the famous aero kits (different for super-speedways and road races) specifically developed by the Japanese firm and by the Detroit brand should change the situation from the start of the 2015 season. the sentiment of Steve Eriksen, vice president of Honda Performance and Development.

“IndyCar has defined certain 'work zones', and you have to work with them. But beyond this limit, it remains very open. So, I think you're going to see real variations between cars, especially on small details. People will look for these little details, and it will generate a lot of interest. » says Eriksen.

2016, which could see the appearance of other engine manufacturers, and a possible return of Cosworth, and third-party manufacturers for aero kits, will make it possible to re-homologate three of these work areas. “If you look at the regulations, each “zone” includes a portion of the car: front wing, sidepods, engine cover, rear wing specific to the Indy 500? In 2016, we will be allowed to take three of these areas and improve them again. For a team, there will be the basic elements plus these three upgrades that will need to be purchased. » adds the vice-president of HPD. IndyCar had set the maximum cost of a kit at $75, and at $000 the amount of a kit updated to the 15.000 version.

Steve Eriksen is also confident about the level of performance seen in simulation. “After the digital development, there is a series of wind tunnel tests, which showed an excellent correlation with the first figures. We do the same as for engines, we set ourselves a performance objective that we seek to achieve. And in this case, I think that this will provide a real increase in performance. »

The “improved” IndyCar single-seaters should appear on track for testing between October and January 1, 2015. The teams will take delivery of the new road racing kits from March 1 before carrying out their own tests. The speedway version of the kits will arrive later, before the start of the season scheduled for March 29 in St. Petersburg, Florida.