Because what do we have to bid on today...A New Car!!!!
That's right friends, Dallara has released the first image of what could be the 2012 IndyCar design. Let's let Patrick of TrackSide Online describe the four-wheeled scrumptiousness.
It looks somewhat similar to a current IndyCar Series machine, though it has a roll hoop instead of an air scoop. Also the car has much smaller sidepots and very rounded edges petty much everywhere. The main visual difference is the large vertical fin running to the rear wing.But wait there's more, because this showcase also includes...another new car!
Looks a lot like the model we all saw at Indy with a very angular design. The sidepods run almost from the ground to the driver's helmet. The tub looks pretty traditional, it is everything that hangs off of it that looks far more futuristic with lots of angles and a smaller fin. Like #1 it is still a winged car though the rear wing looks very small.Now hold on before you bid, because this package from Dallara also features...you guessed it, another new car!
Kind of looks like a few of the cars that ran Indy in the 70's, but taken to a new level. The front wings actually have big aero ramps to move the air around the tires. The sidepods start at the driver but angle back a lot to the rear tires, which again are nearly shielded from the air. The rear wing is one element mounted at the outside to something that pretty much covers the entire rear of the car - including the tires. Tire to tire contact would be hard with this one, though I don't see much crush space right next to the driver's compartment. If viewed from above, it kind of looks like a triangle from the driver on back."OK, Bob, I'd like to bid...uh..."
(looking nervously at pressdog holding up all his fingers)
"...um..."
(trying to see how many fingers Declan is holding up)
"...OK, I'll...I'll say...uh..."
(notices Roy Hobbson passed out in his chair, clutching a pint of turpentine)
"...ONE MEEEEEEEEELLION DOLLARS!"
Seriously friends, why do we have to pick just one of these designs? To paraphrase Rodney King, "Can't we just get them all...along?" Forgive me for wondering aloud (or at least in print) why we can't we have all of them and have, you know, different looking cars at every race. Wouldn't that be just a little more interesting than watching Floyd and Roger out-tweak everyone else every year?
I know, I know, everyone within a 500-mile perimeter of Brian Barnhart SWEARS to me the cars would absolutely cost more if entries in the series used more than one design, but the current cars cost around a quarter of a million off the shelf already, so how much more is more? Is having competing chassises, chassi, or whatever the plural of "chassis" is, as impossible as getting an IndyCar race here in Phoenix? Really?
Well, fine. I'll go with Concept #2 then. What about you?
UPDATE: Changed my mind. Forget these concepts - I'm going with the "Gray Ghost" design from that Milka Duno movie.
I posted this to my blog and closed by saying that in an ideal world, you'd be looking at the front row for the 2012 Indy 500.
Since my last comment wasn't even close to clear, let me clarify. I think the IRL should approve all of these design, and let Dallara build what they want. They should also approve the Swift and Lola cars, and the Delta Wing, provided they all pass safety standards.
The most ridiculous and yet oft-repeated lines sanctioning bodies spew forth are, "We're going to make it cheaper," and, "We're going to make it slower." Because slow and cheap are words that get MY blood boiling. Jeez!
I'll take door #4 Monty.
Wait, what do you mean there isn't a door #4? Dang.
I'm with you, Jeff (and apparently everyone else who isn't Brian Barnhart). Why can't we have several different chassis? Everyone having the same equipment is boring and rings a little of T-Ball, where all kids get a trophy.
Even if all three chassis were approved this wouldn't be the front row of any race.
These concepts were mocked up around design goals that included 'extra space for sponsor decals' but not speed. Each one makes different compromised to the desired specs and would have totally different on track performance.
As an engineer I am sickened by this marketing garbage. If laptime is not one of your top two design goals you are not designing a race car.
Not great, I hope Delta Wing is better. Nothing I'm excited about, although better than current Generation Dallara. Option 1 is too much like the old indycar of 2000, Option two is a Champcar, and option three is if a crapwagon and Grand Sham car merged. Hoepfully Lola and Swift and Delta Wing put something better on the table.