IndyCar: Swift Response

With thanks to Mark Page of Swift Engineering, here is information on their new IndyCar chassis proposal under evaluation by the ICONIC panel:

 Has there been any discussion about limiting the ground effect component of total downforce, or of a downforce reduction in general, to increase the importance of car control on oval circuits?

For the answer, we turned to Mark Page, our Chief Scientist:

There has been a lot of discussion and debate about the downforce level and where it comes from. Here are the considerations that we are currently working with.

Roadcourse & Oval

1. 1. Most of the teams want to use the same wheels, and for cost savings, the tires should also stay unchanged.
   • So we can make modest reductions in tire load, but no increases.
2. The cars are too easy to drive.
   • Reduced DF helps this. Less DF reveals driver skill and adds excitement.
   • Narrower tire track helps this.
3. The cars lose too much front DF in close following. This makes it harder to pass in high g corners.
   • Reduced wing DF and increased underwing DF helps this.
   • Wake-sweeping with a mushroom-buster tosses the lead-car's wake above the trailing car where it's harmless.

We have found that slower lap-times disappoint the fans, the teams and the organizers. The series has given us some minimum performance targets that we are working in concert with Engine manufactures to meet - as it takes an engine and chassis combination to meet these targets. The new car must be faster to convey advancement. So better racing at the expense of lap-time doesn't satisfy the stakeholders. You must try to do both.

One approach we have developed for road course tracks is increasing down force generated by the underwing as a percentage of total downforce. This means large tunnels and small wings added to a narrower wheel track width, and mushroom-busters. But we're not eliminating the wings.

On Superspeedways the wake is your friend for passing. So we want a deep wake and we want the front and rear wings near zero lift. This works well since the DF needs to be much less on the Speedway. Unloading the wings is another great solution. In short, to answer your question, there are many considerations that need to be balanced and we are in the process of thoroughly examining many options to enhance the spectacle of oval (and road course) competition; this does include reducing the current car's downforce.