Sep
16
Written by:
The Commish
9/16/2010 8:57 PM
The Delta Wing IndyCar concept, conceived and designed by Ganassi Racing’s Ben Bowling and financed by the Chipster himself, is a radical departure from anything the Brickyard or any other race track has ever seen. With an unprecedented narrow front end, a huge, ground effects back end and no wings it looks like Craig Breedlove's first Spirit of America land speed machine, a jetfighter fuselage on wheels, the swoopiest barely-open-wheel racecar ever.
(SPEED and FOX should write a big check to Chip to help continue the project, with the Delta Wing rechristened as the SPEED race car. Pretty soon it would be known as the SpeedRacer to take advantage of that ages-old brand and ... and .... Oops. Never mind. Forgot about the lawyers.)
Gordon Kirby recently wrote a great article about what’s happening with the Delta Wing project, the team’s plans, goals, timelines and reasons for optimism. If you aren’t one of those Delta Deniers please take a look.
And if you really hate the Delta Wing, its looks and perceived drawbacks I thank you for reading this far and wish you a good day.
Because the Delta Wing needs to be built, tested, developed and then raced.
Somewhere. Somehow. And soon.
Designed for a turbo four-banger -- and adaptable for electric or hybrid power – and conceived as an open-source formula to encourage constant improvements in performance and costs, the Delta Wing is an emphatic, obvious advancement in both art and science at a time when visible, relevant progress is exactly what the sport needs.
The ‘Global Racing Engine’ wave is gaining strength with Chevy, BMW, Ford, Mazda and VW supposedly on board to produce 1.6 litre in-line, four-cylinder engines that will be available for sale. F1 has announced it will be running turbo 1.6 litre engines starting in 2013. IndyCar should be doing the same.
And the Delta Wing concept revives motorsports are a research and development tool that can realistically spawn improvements applicable to passenger cars.
Bowlby still plans to get the first prototype on track within the next six months in preparation for its debut two years later, in 2013, wherever the common sense gods land the inaugural Delta Wing series.
That could be in Europe or Asia or somewhere else outside the United States.
But wouldn’t that be a shame. IndyCar is the series that needs to lead instead of follow/stagnate.
The only way the Delta Wing races at Indy is if IndyCar sees the light and abandons the new-for-2012 Honda V6-powered Dallara ‘safety cell’ after three years. But that only happens if the Delta Wing aces a two year audition period, either across the pond or with IMSA or some other organization here in North America.
That’s two big ifs.
Still, Delta Wing LLC may very well have created a race car formula that's simply too good to fail. Especially if Firestone/Bridgestone throws some weight behind the concept and nearly half a dozen GRE manufacturers are involved. And if the prototypes prove the concept. And if 2013 rolls around and Honda remains the only engine provider for the series with zero prospects for more.
Once again, a lot of ifs.
And that’s the point. Think how long its been since an IndyCar team's engineers had the opportunity to ask themselves, "what if we tried this?"
The COT removed a large part of the 'creative' element that helped build NASCAR. The cars all look the same, differnentiated mainly by their wraps. Manufacturer brand identity is gone except for decals, there's a fraction of adjustability and room for improvement on the car and NASCAR's popularity is suffering from it.
Just like in IndyCar.
The Delta Wing can be the first 'new' race car since the Kennedy administration, pushing American open wheel racing forward and starting an era that will foster creativity, interest, real-world energy and efficiency improvements and most of all, excitement.
It really is about time.
Copyright ©2010 The Commish