
By Dave Lewandowski - Indycar.com
Friday, February 5, 2010
~~~Officials of the Indy Racing League have been in ongoing discussions with Dallara Automobili, DeltaWing, Lola and Swift about designing, manufacturing and supplying the IZOD IndyCar Series chassis scheduled to hit the racetrack for the 2012 season.
Dallara, which has supplied the third generation of IZOD IndyCar Series chassis since 2003, DeltaWing and longtime Indy car chassis manufacturers Lola and Swift have provided design concepts based on the league's eight objectives. The DeltaWing project will be unveiled to the media Feb. 10 at the Chicago Auto Show.
Dallara's initial conceptual designs are above along with this statement from the company:
--Discussions with league officials have resulted in a much lighter, more efficient car with less drag and more downforce. The design requires less horsepower to achieve the desired level of performance than its predecessor with greater fuel efficiency.
--Safety has been improved with increased resistance to frontal lift and improved yaw stability. Improved raceability also has been addressed in the design with less sensitive aerodynamics in traffic for better overtaking and the reduced incidence of wheel-to-wheel contact.
--The cost of the complete package to compete on a variety of racetracks (superspeedway, speedway, short oval, road course and temporary circuits) has been reduced to 55 percent of the current car cost. Teams will carry much smaller quantities of spares because it requires less parts specific to individual types of tracks, which is another cost-saving measure.
--The car will be manufactured and assembled in the United States, potentially in the new technology center Dallara is planning to open as part of the Speedway, Ind., redevelopment program, in an effort increase local industry in the area to support the program. Dallara produces the current IndyCar Series chassis, which has been in use since 2003.
"The new Dallara IndyCar will be built in Indianapolis, and it will set new standards in terms of safety, fuel efficiency, raceability, technology performance and cost containment," Gian Paolo Dallara said. "We will achieve all of these objectives. Dallara as a company, a trusted, credible, stable and loyal partner for the Indy Racing League for the past 12 years, commits to support, service and develop this new car by locating a dedicated facility in Indianapolis."