After running a couple of days at the Indianapolis Speedway, the new Dallara DW12 showed an evident lack of speed and everyone involved in the project is trying to figure out a solution.
So far, short ovals and road courses haven’t been the problem and after the first manufacturers test at Mid-Ohio, the new car even showed it could be faster than the previous one.
Problems only arouse when the test started on a high speed oval like Indianapolis as both Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan took it around the track; the immediate concern being the lack of speed and the car’s handling.
Top speeds did not reach over 220 mph for both the Honda and Chevy-powered cars but engineers involved believe that it is more a result of poor weight distribution rather than a lack of power.
It seems that the car is too good on entry and suffers under-steer on [corner] exit, the same complaint being made by Franchitti, Kanaan and even the late Dan Wheldon.
In order to find a solution, Dallara has invited all the teams to send their drivers to conduct tests on the IndyCar simulator – free of charge.
They want to explore all the possibility by using the simulator to make changes on the weight distribution and see how it affects the car handling and speed.
Since the weather won’t allowed for any more testing at the Indianapolis Speedway, further tests will be conducted at Homestead and Fontana to validate solutions to that problem.
So far, short ovals and road courses haven’t been the problem and after the first manufacturers test at Mid-Ohio, the new car even showed it could be faster than the previous one.
Problems only arouse when the test started on a high speed oval like Indianapolis as both Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan took it around the track; the immediate concern being the lack of speed and the car’s handling.
Top speeds did not reach over 220 mph for both the Honda and Chevy-powered cars but engineers involved believe that it is more a result of poor weight distribution rather than a lack of power.
It seems that the car is too good on entry and suffers under-steer on [corner] exit, the same complaint being made by Franchitti, Kanaan and even the late Dan Wheldon.
In order to find a solution, Dallara has invited all the teams to send their drivers to conduct tests on the IndyCar simulator – free of charge.
They want to explore all the possibility by using the simulator to make changes on the weight distribution and see how it affects the car handling and speed.
Since the weather won’t allowed for any more testing at the Indianapolis Speedway, further tests will be conducted at Homestead and Fontana to validate solutions to that problem.