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IndyCar
MILLER: It’s Still Open Wheel And It’s Still Dangerous
I’m not sure why it took two months to complete the investigation into Dan Wheldon’s fatal accident.
Of the many unforgettable images to come from the IndyCar season finale, the most telling could be Will Power's 315-foot flight over the Las Vegas oval. (LAT)
I’m not really sure why it took two months to complete the investigation into Dan Wheldon’s fatal accident and not really sure it was necessary, other than for peace of mind and public relations.
Nothing from Thursday’s press conference revealed anything we didn’t suspect: The two-time Indy 500 winner died from blunt force trauma when his head hit a post in Turn 2 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
And the 15-car accident was precipitated by the fact a big pack of Indy cars were able to run three and four abreast, easily, at full throttle on a high-banked track.
According to the telemetry, Wheldon had slowed from 224 mph to 165 mph when his car rode up and over Charlie Kimball’s before pirouetting into the fence.
The G load registered on Wheldon’s head at impact with the post was 250Gs.
But the numbers that really jumped out to me were these:
• Wheldon was airborne for 325 feet (further than from home plate to the right-field wall in old Yankee Stadium, which was 314 feet).
• Will Power was airborne for 315 feet.
• Pippa Mann was airborne for 240 feet (mostly upside down).
• J.R. Hildebrand was airborne for 125 feet.
Now, four flying Indy cars and one fatality in a 15-car crash is actually an amazing number because it could have been so much worse than Power’s compression fracture in his back and Mann’s burned little finger.
It doesn’t lessen the blow of losing Wheldon, naturally, but it does point out that Dallara builds a safe car and INDYCAR probably caught a break on Oct. 16, considering the speeds and carnage.
Still, the pressing question going forward with the new cars named in Wheldon’s memory is how can INDYCAR try and prevent cars from taking flight?
“We have to stop the cars from flying and taking off and the new car has several features to try and stop that,” replied Will Phillips, the vice president of technology whose acumen with aerodynamics, engineering and race cars has been a welcome and long overdue addition to the IZOD IndyCar Series.
“The pods behind the rear wheels are there to prevent contact between front and rear wheels. The effort is to try and stop a car from flying forwards or sideways.’’
The consequences are often rather ugly when one open-wheel car runs over another’s wheels, be it midgets, sprints or Indy cars, but it seems like the last version of the Dallara and the GForce before it had a propensity for aerobatics.
Nothing from Thursday’s press conference revealed anything we didn’t suspect: The two-time Indy 500 winner died from blunt force trauma when his head hit a post in Turn 2 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
And the 15-car accident was precipitated by the fact a big pack of Indy cars were able to run three and four abreast, easily, at full throttle on a high-banked track.
According to the telemetry, Wheldon had slowed from 224 mph to 165 mph when his car rode up and over Charlie Kimball’s before pirouetting into the fence.
The G load registered on Wheldon’s head at impact with the post was 250Gs.
But the numbers that really jumped out to me were these:
• Wheldon was airborne for 325 feet (further than from home plate to the right-field wall in old Yankee Stadium, which was 314 feet).
• Will Power was airborne for 315 feet.
• Pippa Mann was airborne for 240 feet (mostly upside down).
• J.R. Hildebrand was airborne for 125 feet.
Now, four flying Indy cars and one fatality in a 15-car crash is actually an amazing number because it could have been so much worse than Power’s compression fracture in his back and Mann’s burned little finger.
It doesn’t lessen the blow of losing Wheldon, naturally, but it does point out that Dallara builds a safe car and INDYCAR probably caught a break on Oct. 16, considering the speeds and carnage.
Still, the pressing question going forward with the new cars named in Wheldon’s memory is how can INDYCAR try and prevent cars from taking flight?
“We have to stop the cars from flying and taking off and the new car has several features to try and stop that,” replied Will Phillips, the vice president of technology whose acumen with aerodynamics, engineering and race cars has been a welcome and long overdue addition to the IZOD IndyCar Series.
“The pods behind the rear wheels are there to prevent contact between front and rear wheels. The effort is to try and stop a car from flying forwards or sideways.’’
The consequences are often rather ugly when one open-wheel car runs over another’s wheels, be it midgets, sprints or Indy cars, but it seems like the last version of the Dallara and the GForce before it had a propensity for aerobatics.
INDYCAR BRAZIL
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