Autosport.com wrote:IRL changes aero to improve racing
By Matt Beer Wednesday, July 1st 2009, 09:32 GMT
The Indy Racing League has announced tweaks to its aerodynamic rules for oval races in a bid to improve the quality of racing in the IndyCar Series.
For the Kentucky event on 1 August, which is the next oval on the schedule after July's trio of road and street courses, the teams will have additional aero options with tyre ramps, sidepod extensions and brake backing plates.
The intention is that these modifications will give the option of adding up to 300 pounds in additional downforce, which the IRL hopes will encourage more overtaking.
Recent processional oval races have come in for increasing criticism, with the nadir being reached at Richmond last weekend when first and second place finishers Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti apologised to the crowd for the lack of entertainment.
The race saw most passes completed in the pits, and the leaders struggling to lap backmarkers whose times were a second slower around the 0.75-mile track. Although the Milwaukee and Iowa events saw more on-track passes, the Kansas, Indianapolis and Texas rounds had also featured very little of the wheel to wheel action for which the championship's superspeedway races used to be renowned.
IRL competition president Brian Barnhart said it was extremely important that the series restored its reputation for close racing.
"We have always prided ourselves on doing our best to create the most entertaining and compelling on-track product in motorsports, and I think in the last several years - especially with this version of race car - we've been very successful in achieving that," he said.
Last weekend at Richmond championship leader Franchitti refuted suggestions that the lack of passing was due to all the teams being so closely matched now that many had six years' experience of the Dallara-Honda package used by all competitors.
"I don't think it's because things have equalised because there were some people out there with horrible handling cars," he said.
"We couldn't get around them. At the start of the run, we'd run 16.8s, then dropped to 17.0s, as the things equalised. And you catch traffic and you'll be running 18.0s and 18.2s on a normal lap."
That's weird, they're adding even MORE downforce? As if there wasn't enough already. You'd think they'd take downforce away and put some drivability back into the cars. But what do I know.
Won't work.
They need to go back to a spec rear wing that don't push the air upwards off the following car.
IIRC when these cars first came out they had a spec rear wing that pushed air down onto the following car, allowing them to follow close, once you got close enough, you got a slingshot which you could use to get alongside.
I am very sorry if you find my posts long and boring, I like to type and often go off on a tangent.
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Robert Doornbos has parted company with Newman/Haas/Lanigan, which likely leaves one seat open for IndyCar's remaining five races and possibly pairs the Dutch driver with his former team in Champ Car for the rest of 2009.
"We had a 12-race deal with Robert, which we fulfilled, and we tried to get an extension but, evidently, he's decided to go somewhere else," said Mike Lanigan, who added that he and partner Carl Haas had not received any "official" notification from Doornbos.
Bourdais back???
Brian Redman: "Mr. Fangio, how do you come so fast?" "More throttle, less brakes...."
that is the reason why, KVM or whatever they're called are building a car for Doornbos.
I am very sorry if you find my posts long and boring, I like to type and often go off on a tangent.
If this is the case, you may click here to solve the problem, or alternatively here too.