Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers may be despatched to mailbag@racer.com. We love listening to your feedback and opinions, however letters that embrace a query usually tend to be printed. Questions acquired after 3pm ET every Monday shall be saved for the next week.
Q: Will we ever see an IndyCar collection race on the Chicago Avenue Course at Grant Park? The identical avenue course that NASCAR races on in the summertime?
Chris Fiegler, Latham, NY
MARSHALL PRUETT: No, not except town ditches NASCAR or vice versa, and town chooses to interact IndyCar.
Q: I like the low, modern, missile-like look of the Lolas and Reynards from the late Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s. They only appeared quick, even when standing nonetheless. The present DW12 lacks a few of that look, as its facet profile seems taller within the heart. The tall heart visually shortens the automotive and takes away a lot of the sleekness.
A part of that’s as a result of aeroscreen, which I might by no means dream of suggesting eliminating. Nevertheless, for me, the most important a part of the tall heart look is as a result of digicam pod atop the roll hoop. From the facet profile, it seems somewhat like a snorkel and takes away any low, lengthy, modern automotive presence. The digicam within the pod is nice for the TV product and gives wonderful pictures of each the side-by-side racing motion and cockpit exercise, nonetheless, I might like to see that digicam pod eliminated in favor of cameras built-in into the automotive’s strains. Possibly within the heart of the roll hoop and/or throughout the high ring of the aeroscreen halo.
Have you ever heard any dialogue or suggestion about built-in digicam placement within the new automotive design?
Tim Hubbel, Gypsy, OK
MP: I haven’t, however I’ll ask.
Q: I learn the Mailbag each week and it appears I’m not the one one dissatisfied in regards to the lack of IndyCar’s presence in online game type. I, like lots of your readers, are informal avid gamers (been taking part in some form of console racing recreation since I used to be 6, taking part in the Al Unser Jr racing recreation on the unique NES). By means of the years I’ve performed many video games, most at the moment Forza Motorsport on Xbox X.
Presently, IndyCar isn’t a part of the Forza platform (or another) nevertheless it was, together with the Lengthy Seaside avenue circuit. Bi-monthly, Forza points a brand new monitor to go along with its present collection of tracks. How nice would it not be if we may get IndyCar and Forza Motorsport to get collectively and get again into the gaming world? LBGP might be launched simply previous to the April race with the crapwagon DW12 gen-whatever-we’re-on-now, however it will be an excellent begin. It might be an effective way to rejoice the fiftieth anniversary of the race and appears virtually too good an thought to move up.
They may also have a ‘beat the lap’-type problem the place avid gamers attempt to finest a present drivers lap. Moreover, Forza already has quite a lot of the present tracks (IMS, Street America, Laguna, Mid-Ohio) so you can have an IndyCar mini-series.
Tom, Blue Bell, PA
MP: Yep, all types of issues they might do. As Penske’s Mark Miles advised me in direction of the top of the season, there’s nothing imminent. Hopefully that modifications.
NASCAR’s going to be the one collection that races previous bars that serve Malort for the foreseeable future. Motorsport Photographs
Q: What’s the standing of Honda’s future in IndyCar? With Nissan and Honda becoming a member of collectively, will Honda go away Indy and have Nissan take its place?
David Tucker
MP: Honda’s provide contract runs by way of 2026. It’ll determine on whether or not it needs to remain throughout the subsequent yr. A deliberate merger with Nissan has been introduced, which is completely different from an precise merger having taken place. It’s obtained to occur earlier than they will make choices on such issues, if it’s even a consideration.
Q: Within the earlier Mailbag, you advised permitting producers to create styling choices in order that the automobiles have been visually distinct.
How would what you’re proposing be completely different from the aero kits from the mid 2010s? These introduced visible differentiation between producers. They have been supposed to draw Boeing and different aerospace firms, however failed to take action.
I feel the pitch sounds good now, however I additionally thought it sounded good then. Nobody appeared to love the aero kits then, and nobody was unhappy after they went away.
Kyle
MP: That’s not true. I used to be unhappy after they went away. The 2015-2017 aero kits did provide some visible differentiation, however the guidelines have been written to permit nice freedom with downforce, which led to loopy explosions of wings upon wings, and in speedway type, tremendous tiny wings. What didn’t occur was the creation of aero guidelines that have been targeted on styling selection, as I don’t consider loopy numbers of wings as being about styling.
Proper now, there are two producers, not 5 or 10, so it’s not an excessively advanced factor to create. Give you between three-four styling choices for producers to select from, however make these choices a set package deal with gadgets which can be distinctive.
For instance, if including a shark fin to the engine cowl is allowed, it may possibly solely be utilized by one producer. And if all of them need it, flip cons, or arm wrestle for it. However don’t let all of them use a shark fin as a result of then we’re again to the identical drawback of all of the automobiles trying alike.
The nostril of an open-wheel automotive units the tone for the remainder of its seems. Create three or 4 choices. Sidepods do the identical from the facet. Do the identical there. And so forth. This isn’t about efficiency. It’s about making a Chevy stand out from a Honda and a ??????? to face out from a Chevy and Honda.
And like IMSA does with its GTP automobiles, take them to a wind tunnel, benchmark their downforce and drag and heart of strain and journey top figures and sensitivities, and make changes to make them as equal as attainable.
