IndyCar’s efforts to improve the racing at the Indianapolis 500 by allowing teams to run more downforce haven’t worked, drivers have said following the first two days of practice for the race.
The introduction of IndyCar’s Aeroscreen three years ago had a significant impact on the cars’ aerodynamics. The extra turbulence caused by the safety device has made it more difficult for drivers to follow closely on high-speed ovals such as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.IndyCar has enjoyed some success in counteracting this by increasing the aerodynamic set-up options on the specification Dallara DW12 chassis used in the series. Drivers praised the changes following a competitive race at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year.
Some of the parts teams were allowed to use at that race have been made available for the series’ blue riband event. Drivers and teams have been allowed to run a steeper rear wing angle and use extra downforce-producing parts at the front and rear of their floors if they choose.
However McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, who finished the last three Indy 500s in the top six, said the changes haven’t made a significant difference. “We’re not quite there,” he told NBC. “The aero bits seem to have done nothing for racing.
“Obviously it’s not ideal for when you’re running 10th or 11th in a pack, you can’t do anything, even when you’re sixth, seventh you can’t do anything. Only the first two lead cars can be kind of overtaking each other, maybe a third car can join the party. But other than that it’s pretty much a follow-the-leader situation.”
O’Ward said the racing is unlikely to improve significant compared to what was seen in recent seasons.
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“If you pull out of the bubble, you’re going to get a freight-trained,” he explained. “And the guys in front of you are getting towed, so you’re not able to suck up to ’em like if you were sucking up to a lead car.
“Obviously I would have love to have seen just a step in that because I feel like even if you’ve got one of the best cars or a solid car, if you’re stuck in a train it doesn’t matter. If the two cars in front of you are lead cars but if there’s 10 lappers for instance in a race, you can’t do anything. So [there’s] no change from what ’21 and ’22 have been.”
Simon Pagenaud, who won the last Indy 500 before the Aeroscreen was introduced, is also concerned the changes have not had the desired effect.
“I feel like we have a good range of downforce level, parts that we can use to make the car behave a certain way,” he said.
“IndyCar allowed us to have a bigger [range] and I feel like it’s better for racing. But it doesn’t stop the fact that when you are fifth in line, it’s still very difficult. The car ahead of you is still drafting, going same speed as you. Even if you’re good there doesn’t mean you’re going to pass.
“It’s still going to be first, second trading every single lap, similar. But we have a better range to work with, and that’s enjoyable.”
Their concerns were shared by Conor Daly. “In traffic it still is a challenge I would say<" said the Ed Carpenter driver after practice yesterday. "If you're deep in the pack, it didn't matter what car it was, it was rare to see people making progress unless people were letting people by. "The first two cars, boy, it looked like they were having a heck of a race. So I don't know if that's the case. I don't think it brings us closer. I think the entire field is just closer because everyone is really good, and the teams are really good." [leaderboard3]
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Biskit Boy (@sean-p-newmanlive-co-uk)
19th May 2023, 10:36
Not an easy fix.
Surely Indycar and Dallara need to have a complete rethink on the next evolution of the car, in the same way F1 has.
But which way do they go?
Ideas anyone?
Asanator
19th May 2023, 10:53
Halo.
skydiverian (@skydiverian)
21st May 2023, 3:15
Asanator, Halo isn’t an option. On Ovals, drivers look up, rather than ahead, which was basically at the same level as the horizontal part of the halo. So the solution had to be something much bigger to not compromise where the drivers look.
Hence the aeroscreen.
S
19th May 2023, 11:10
Slower, of course.
Unless it’s not about racing quality and entertainment value. Merely going fast never satisfies in the long run.
PeterG
19th May 2023, 13:33
They went with slower cars in the irl era and it killed the spectacle and turned people away even though the racing itself was still relatively good at indy.
Indy is all about speed and the spectacle the speed creates. Thats why you used to have massive crowds on qualifying day, They were there to see high speeds and as soon as that went away the fans stopped turning up. And as speeds have gone back up your starting to see more people turning up throughout the event again.
S
19th May 2023, 16:15
I totally disagree.
IRL’s cars weren’t just slower, they were far less interesting and exciting than the previous cars generally – and were introduced at a time when the one series fractured into two, splitting the audience at the same time.
Indy isn’t ‘all’ about speed – spectacle occurs easily without such speeds, and qualifying is a challenge all of it’s own (car control, pushing the limits of the machinery and the driver, reading the track and conditions, etc) and rightfully draws a crowd – and still would if their top speed was well under 350kph. 320kph, even.
There’s more spectacle in a typical touring car or GT race than in any open wheel series, anyway. And at speeds nobody complains about…
You equate the rising crowds with rising speeds – I (and most sensible, thinking people) equate it to better competition within itself as a series, a rising profile internationally (along with F1’s relative decline) and general shift in audience preferences. Indycar is a quality, sporting racing series – it isn’t a surprise that people want to watch it when it puts on consistently good races via accessible media and with sensible ticket pricing.
Kids think faster is better – but most people grow out of that stage and look for deeper things that actually challenge their intellectuality a little more as they mature….
It’s interesting that you keep on campaigning for speed despite all the well-known and abundantly-proven tradeoffs – unless you truly can’t identify the link between that speed and all of negative effects.
I suspect that is the case. Perhaps do some reading on physics and aerodynamics/fluid dynamics and their relationship to cars going fast(er).
Top fuel drags are pretty quick – maybe that’s more your thing. Or that Red Bull air race thing – they go pretty fast too, and without all the negative effects on the competition.
asd
19th May 2023, 11:46
The next generation halo, which apparently has already been developed, is going to be lighter and smaller, so together with a whole new design should be much better integrated into the car’s aerodynamics.
Indycars with the aeroscreens are somewhat similar to LMP cars, so I don’t think they present a unique problem to solve.
MichaelN
19th May 2023, 11:54
How so? The sportscars have a huge advantage when it comes to dealing with the aerodynamics of race cars; they aren’t sticking their wheels out in the open like it’s 1890.
That doesn’t mean they don’t have to deal with the issues inherent to following in the wake of another car, which will always have an impact on close-following cars that depend on downforce for their performance. But it’s a much cleaner airflow and not as depended on generating it from the top of the vehicle.
Don
19th May 2023, 16:29
I’d love to see the pics of the new aeroscreen.
Mark Zastrow (@markzastrow)
19th May 2023, 16:40
@sean-p-newmanlive-co-uk What could change everything is the ERS system coming next year (hopefully). On ovals, the cars will be able to harvest energy quickly while running in the draft and then deploy it for overtakes. Honda officials are saying it could turn out to be far more powerful on ovals than anticipated.
Of course, I’d like to see an aerodynamic solution as well, but I like that this would be more organic than the current push-to-pass or DRS in that there would be no artificial limits on use. And it should still reward faster cars — a car that handles well in dirty air and carries more speed through the corners will be able to harvest faster than those around it.
Mark Zastrow (@markzastrow)
19th May 2023, 16:40
@sean-p-newmanlive-co-uk What could change everything is the ERS coming next year (hopefully). On ovals, the cars will be able to harvest energy quickly while running in the draft and then deploy it for overtakes. Honda officials have said recently that it could turn out to be far more powerful on ovals than anticipated.
Of course, I’d like to see an aerodynamic solution as well, but I like that this would be more organic than the current push-to-pass or DRS in that there would be no artificial limits on use. And it should still reward faster cars — a car that handles well in dirty air and carries more speed through the corners will be able to harvest faster than those around it.
Mark Tucker
20th May 2023, 8:30
All they have done is made the cars easier to drive in race trim