Whose mill powers the mule?

“A current, proven 4-cylinder turbo engine will be used in the test car,” Bowlby said without committing a manufacturer’s name to the project. “It will have a smaller turbo, will be de-tuned, and will run on lower revs. All of these things get us our target power of 300-horsepower while extending the rebuilds to unheard of intervals – at least 6000 miles. If you stress an engine to make peak power, you spend hundreds of thousands on rebuilds. We see no need for that. We’ll also test our fuel flow control method, and believe this kind of reasonable engine plan will draw the interest of major and private manufacturers. We’d like as many engine suppliers as possible.”

An engine like AER's 2.0L turbo inline-4 would fit perfectly in the back of the Delta Wing test mule. Producing 500-horsepower in the ALMS, de-tuning it to 300-horsepower is not only easy, it means a longer life. (Martin Spetz)

I’ve confirmed that it won’t have a Mazda MZR-R sportscar engine, but that doesn’t preclude Delta Wing from working with England’s AER, makers of the MZR-R, from supplying their own private version of the unit that inspired Mazda’s motor. Audi is still at work on their ‘World Engine’ concept, something Bowlby is an admitted fan of. That engine happens to fit everything he mentions above, and could be ready in time for the Delta Wing’s maiden track test in August, but as it isn’t current or proven, it wouldn’t qualify under Bowlby’s criteria.

Or as Graham Rahal noted, Honda’s RDX engine could be used, but so far, and as Honda Performance Development’s Roger Griffiths noted in his blog last month, they have their eyes on something with a few more cylinders for 2012. “We will design a V-6 engine and horsepower is difficult to say, but we are targeting a 225 mph average lap speed at Indianapolis.”

The proof is in the sledding

What many drivers have told me, and all in private, is that before they’ll publicly support it, they want to see footage of it being crash tested on a sled, and of it lapping around an oval and a road course doing all of the things Bowlby says it can do.

Some of the IndyCar Series staff have said the same things.

The Delta Wing, I believe, won’t be accepted or embraced on words and testimonials alone. People’s need to see visual, not simulated proof, so give them what they want. Run it into a wall. Lap the Speedway at 225mph. Carve up a road course at or below the current lap record, and then big proverbial thorn will be removed from an awful lot of paws.

Oooh, oooh, ooh…Mr. Carter

Despite the silence from so many of his competitors, a fired up Graham Rahal wants to be in the car when the Delta Wing is ready to turn its first laps.

“The next step is for Delta Wing to build the car to test, and I’ll tell you right now that I’ll be first in line to test it. I want to see how it feels. People can say what they want to say, but I can’t wait to see someone like Suzuki put a 300-horsepower Hayabusa bike engine in the car, or Honda to put a 300-horsepower 4-cylinder turbo out of their RDX SUV into the car, or Nissan brings a naturally aspirated V6 for us to go racing. Then we have character back into the series. Then we have sound a differential so it doesn’t sound like a bunch of trucks running around the track. Just tell me where and when.”

Scott Dixon said he’ll fall in right behind Rahal. “I will love getting a chance to drive it, and I hope I’m one of the first that gets to do so.”

It’s your turn to pick up the tab

Rumors had the State of Indiana paying for the first Delta Wing to be produced, but that was dispelled on Wednesday. Delta Wing’s Bill Lafontaine answered on where the money will come from, and it shouldn’t be a surprise.

“There is no doubt it costs a lot of money to build a prototype, and the team owners made a commitment in this direction when we formed Delta Wing, LLC. I can’t tell you what’s in the bank account, but there will be over a million dollars invested into this project and the first car. Making no decision is itself a decision, so rather than wait for agreements and commitments first, we’ve gone ahead to build the first car. Randy Bernard will soon have some decisions to make [on the 2012 car] in a short amount of time. We have proposed and option, and the opportunity is theirs to take.”

Will they sell it in the discount aisle at Target?

As for what it would cost to buy, John Barnes was rather blunt about the much needed cost reduction the Delta Wing would offer. Provided the projections are accurate, and I haven’t had a chance to review the numbers yet, it would be a no-brainer. Even if they are off by 50 percent, the savings would be unreal.

“Two cars cost half of what one current IndyCar costs. We’re talking about doing two complete cars with engines for $1.1 million. Right now, the current Dallara is $680,000, and that doesn’t include electronics or the million-dollar engine bill. It isn’t hard, after putting it all together, painting it, and massaging all the little areas you have to these days, to spend almost $2 million per car. With how hard IndyCar teams are struggling right now, which would you prefer? Two ready Dallara-Hondas for $4 million, or two ready Delta Wings for $1.1 million. As an owner, that’s an easy one to answer.”

The new sheriff seemed to like it

“They lost my luggage in Moline, but I got here despite the storm!,” new IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard shared. He was a surprise Delta Wing launch attendee, and despite his relative inexperience with the struggle for IndyCar’s future, he says the car appealed to his marketing side.

“I was watching everybody in the room just as much as the car. Everybody was really excited to see the innovation and design. I had one person tell me he saw people at the launch that hadn’t covered IndyCar in 30 years. I think it’s a car that looks awesome; if I’m a 12-year-old kid, I dream of driving that car. If I’m a sponsor, it’s the kind of car that brings people to my store or my showroom to take a look at it. From the marketability side, I think it’s fantastic.

“What does that mean for competition and safety? I’ll leave that to the experts. What I’m really excited to see is what the papers and the web have to say. Everybody has an opinion and wants to talk, and the one thing I take back with me from the event is the passion people have for the sport. It’s really fun to see how highly, highly competitive everyone is. That’s something we can work with.”

Parting shots

The Delta Wing isn’t a panacea that is meant to solve all of IndyCar’s ills. It can’t be. No single concept can be perfect; there will always be flaws. (Scratch that. I just thought of Rosario Dawson.)

I don’t see the Delta Wing as Pandora, the dream-like world depicted in Avatar, but the car is clearly the work of a man with a dream, and if nothing else comes from the design, it reminds us that since its inception, IndyCar racing was never about predictability.

IndyCars aren’t supposed to be the same demure, inspiration-less machines they’ve evolved into. Dallara’s 2012 drawings, and I can’t call them anything more than artist’s impressions, range from barely different to what we have now to something 10-year-olds would come up with after drinking too much Mountain Dew.

Swift’s proposed 2012 cars are stunning. They are polished, clean, and innovative, provided you use the current IndyCar as its basis. If you’re a fan of evolution, rather than revolution, the Swift would be hard to beat. Their concepts for adding visible electronic indicators – fuel level, brake usage, and throttle usage – should be mandated, no matter whose cars are used in 2012.

If you believe that IndyCar racing needs to get out of its evolutionary stance, and make a clean break, the Delta Wing is that car. We haven’t seen images of the Lola yet, so it could fall in either category, but what the Delta Wing does differently is propose an important new concept for the League.

I’ll be fine if Delta Wing sacrifices some aero efficiency in order to make the car more appealing. It needs a treatment of some sorts at the front – something. We don’t want fans quoting Wayne’s World every time is goes by, shouting “Schwing” when the member-mobile dives into the Keyhole. From jokes about seeking sponsorship from Viagra to a host of easy puns, the car that is meant to save Indy can’t afford to look like a rolling punch line.

Whether the car as a whole or only parts of it are utilized for 2012, either with a bespoke Delta Wing chassis or if only certain aspects of it are mandated for every constructor to use, I’m a big believer in the concept.

The League hasn’t demonstrated the leadership or the urgency to shape the discussion or the rules for 2012, and have instead chosen to work from Delta Wing’s copybook. I’d be happy to see the Delta Wing group as the official delegate that shepherds the 2012 process – until such time the League demonstrates they have a better concept and the expertise to manage it.

For years the League has asked racing car constructors to fill their void of design knowledge. They solicit designs and approve what they feel best fits their series. There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s standard practice almost everywhere. Now that we have a first in IndyCar racing – a paddock capable of providing its own design and its own technical oversight group – maybe it’s time to let the experts provide a service the League isn’t prepared to handle.

Ben Bowlby is just one of many former designers and engineers with backgrounds at Lola, Reynard, Swift, and other IndyCar constructors. As long as the paddock is filled with the men and women who’ve created the very cars they race, their knowledge is what should drive the 2012 design process.

In the sprit of John Cooper and open source technology, I’d challenge Delta Wing’s competitors to scrap their exiting 2012 designs, to go back to their virtual drawing boards, and return with something equally, if not more radical than what was unveiled in Chicago.

If they come up with something more pioneering, put their designs right alongside the Delta Wing. If they come back with more evolution rather than revolution, a re-tailored Delta Wing will be the only car worth considering. Maybe then the silver pill will go down a little bit easier.

Marshall Pruett is SPEEDtv.com’s Auto Racing Editor, and also covers IndyCar and sportscar racing for the site. Pruett grew up at ‘Pruett's Olde English Garage,’ his father's shelter for abused foreign cars, and spent his childhood being dragged across the West Coast to help with his dad's amateur racing exploits.

Pruett spent 20 years working in the IRL, CART, IMSA, and most of the known open-wheel feeder series before retiring from active duty in 2001. And in case you were wondering, no, he isn’t related to Scott Pruett.

Marshall lives in Northern California with his wife Shabral.





The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED