Here’s an interesting article on safety improvements IndyCar have mandated with the DW12 chassis for its third year this season, and also their ambition to develop crash tests which go beyond the FIA’s standards:
“The FIA’s method of measuring side impacts today tends to be more of a computer-calculated squeeze of the chassis rather than what we did in the old days which was to smash them and see how they stand up,” Walker commented.
“I favor the old crash test,” he insists. “I think we need to take a concrete block and whack it and see how it stands up. So IndyCar is trying to find some more funding to get a chassis and go sledge test it. I think we need to do development of this kind. We’ve still got a few more years on this car and I think we need to look ahead.
http://gordonkirby.com/categories/columns/theway/2014/the_way_it_is_no426.html