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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Aero Kits Possible For 2014
IndyCar’s on-again, off-again relationship with aero kits, and the decision on whether to bring them to reality is headed towards a final conclusion.
While it's still possible to get them done in time, the clock is ticking on bringing aero kits to market by 2014, according to Chevy and Honda. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)
IndyCar’s on-again, off-again relationship with aero kits, and the decision on whether to bring them to reality is headed towards a final conclusion.
Ongoing talks between the IZOD IndyCar Series, potential aero kits manufacturers and the series’ upper management have been taking place throughout the winter, and as SPEED.com has learned, a specific plan has been proposed that could bring them to reality.
During the final months of his employment, former IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard privately expressed an interest in seeing the custom, manufacturer-specific bodywork introduced after the 2013 Indy 500. That plan would, in theory, have kept any aerodynamics advantages held by either Chevrolet or Honda at bay until the series’ most important race had been completed.
While Bernard was keen on protecting the 500 from a manufacturer using an aerodynamic edge to dominate the storied event, INDYCAR technical director Will Phillips held a different view, recommending a full-season implementation, rather than the partial-season scenario Bernard envisioned.
“I think the right thing to say is I was under a set of instructions that I’m now seeking clarification whether to continue on that path or whether there needs to be a change,” Phillips told me a few weeks after Bernard’s departure.
“So there was another specific direction from Randy but there’s clarification needed whether to carry on what I was doing or do otherwise.”
That clarification has since been shifted over to interim IndyCar CEO Jeff Belskus and Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles, and Phillips had maintained his full-season recommendation.
“I was working on getting the rules out relatively imminently and their introduction was going to be for a calendar year start,” Phillips told me recently. “I’m engaging Jeff Belskus and Mark Miles right now, and including the major stakeholders, and based on what they decide, I’ll do whatever they want me to do.”
No timeline for a final decision has been established, and IndyCar’s senior brass continues to debate the merits of aero kits.
“We continue to discuss internally the aero kit situation,” Belskus told SPEED.com. “We find ourselves in an interesting place because our teams, and this is the reason they got delayed, is that they were pretty united in not wanting the aero kits. I think a lot of that is a cost issue for them; the costs to implement them. The offset is what they get for performance. This chassis is very raceable and provides good racing, so the feedback we’ve gotten from teams is that we have a good thing so why mess with it.
“We’re balancing that with knowing some of our manufacturers are interested in it. It seems more important to some than others.”
Belskus also acknowledged the interest fans have expressed in seeing Indy cars with distinguishing bodywork, but says he isn’t clear what percentage are behind the concept.
Ongoing talks between the IZOD IndyCar Series, potential aero kits manufacturers and the series’ upper management have been taking place throughout the winter, and as SPEED.com has learned, a specific plan has been proposed that could bring them to reality.
During the final months of his employment, former IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard privately expressed an interest in seeing the custom, manufacturer-specific bodywork introduced after the 2013 Indy 500. That plan would, in theory, have kept any aerodynamics advantages held by either Chevrolet or Honda at bay until the series’ most important race had been completed.
While Bernard was keen on protecting the 500 from a manufacturer using an aerodynamic edge to dominate the storied event, INDYCAR technical director Will Phillips held a different view, recommending a full-season implementation, rather than the partial-season scenario Bernard envisioned.
“I think the right thing to say is I was under a set of instructions that I’m now seeking clarification whether to continue on that path or whether there needs to be a change,” Phillips told me a few weeks after Bernard’s departure.
“So there was another specific direction from Randy but there’s clarification needed whether to carry on what I was doing or do otherwise.”
That clarification has since been shifted over to interim IndyCar CEO Jeff Belskus and Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles, and Phillips had maintained his full-season recommendation.
“I was working on getting the rules out relatively imminently and their introduction was going to be for a calendar year start,” Phillips told me recently. “I’m engaging Jeff Belskus and Mark Miles right now, and including the major stakeholders, and based on what they decide, I’ll do whatever they want me to do.”
No timeline for a final decision has been established, and IndyCar’s senior brass continues to debate the merits of aero kits.
“We continue to discuss internally the aero kit situation,” Belskus told SPEED.com. “We find ourselves in an interesting place because our teams, and this is the reason they got delayed, is that they were pretty united in not wanting the aero kits. I think a lot of that is a cost issue for them; the costs to implement them. The offset is what they get for performance. This chassis is very raceable and provides good racing, so the feedback we’ve gotten from teams is that we have a good thing so why mess with it.
“We’re balancing that with knowing some of our manufacturers are interested in it. It seems more important to some than others.”
Belskus also acknowledged the interest fans have expressed in seeing Indy cars with distinguishing bodywork, but says he isn’t clear what percentage are behind the concept.
2013 INDY 500 Practice
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