Despite the withdrawal of Highcroft, Nissan and Michelin, the innovative DeltaWing will be raced this season and will first contest the 12 Hours of Sebring later in March.
The DeltaWing, an idea of Don Panoz and the creation of Ben Bowlby, made its race debuts in June of last year at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The revolutionary race car ran well until it was hit by a Toyota LMP1.
Its next outing was at Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. After a nasty crash in testing, the DeltaWing ran well during the race and managed to keep up with the LMP2 machinery.
But after that, everything went wrong. Team Highcroft that ran the cars quit the project. Then Nissan, who supplied the engines also withdrew to focus on their new fully electric car for 2014, and Michelin did not want to continue its involvement since it had to produce specific, unusual tires for the DeltaWing.
Despite all this, the DeltaWing will be raced this season. DeltaWing Racing Cars, managed by David Price will contest the Sebring race, the opening round of the 2013 American Le Mans Series.
The car will be driven by Briton Andy Meyrick and Frencham Olivier Pla. Elan Motorsports Technologies, a parent company of Panoz Motor Sport Group will suppply the new engine derived from the Mazda MZR two-litre motor that powers the Van Diemen Elan Formula 2000 cars.
On a final note, Brisgestone will supply the tires to the DeltaWing which will compete in the LMP1 category this season.
The DeltaWing will not contest the entire season of ALMS. The team is expected to announce shortly the races it will compete in.
The DeltaWing, an idea of Don Panoz and the creation of Ben Bowlby, made its race debuts in June of last year at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The revolutionary race car ran well until it was hit by a Toyota LMP1.
Its next outing was at Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. After a nasty crash in testing, the DeltaWing ran well during the race and managed to keep up with the LMP2 machinery.
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| Photo: DeltaWing |
But after that, everything went wrong. Team Highcroft that ran the cars quit the project. Then Nissan, who supplied the engines also withdrew to focus on their new fully electric car for 2014, and Michelin did not want to continue its involvement since it had to produce specific, unusual tires for the DeltaWing.
Despite all this, the DeltaWing will be raced this season. DeltaWing Racing Cars, managed by David Price will contest the Sebring race, the opening round of the 2013 American Le Mans Series.
The car will be driven by Briton Andy Meyrick and Frencham Olivier Pla. Elan Motorsports Technologies, a parent company of Panoz Motor Sport Group will suppply the new engine derived from the Mazda MZR two-litre motor that powers the Van Diemen Elan Formula 2000 cars.
On a final note, Brisgestone will supply the tires to the DeltaWing which will compete in the LMP1 category this season.
The DeltaWing will not contest the entire season of ALMS. The team is expected to announce shortly the races it will compete in.