Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers could be despatched to mailbag@racer.com. We love listening to your feedback and opinions, however letters that embrace a query usually tend to be printed. Questions obtained after 3pm ET every Monday might be saved for the next week.
Q: Will we ever see an IndyCar collection race on the Chicago Avenue Course at Grant Park? The identical road course that NASCAR races on in the summertime?
Chris Fiegler, Latham, NY
MARSHALL PRUETT: No, not until the town ditches NASCAR or vice versa, and the town chooses to interact IndyCar.
Q: I really like the low, modern, missile-like look of the Lolas and Reynards from the late Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s. They only regarded quick, even when standing nonetheless. The present DW12 lacks a few of that look, as its facet profile seems to be taller within the middle. The tall middle visually shortens the automobile and takes away a lot of the sleekness.
A part of that’s because of the aeroscreen, which I might by no means dream of suggesting eliminating. Nevertheless, for me, the largest a part of the tall middle look is because of the digital camera pod atop the roll hoop. From the facet profile, it seems to be somewhat like a snorkel and takes away any low, lengthy, modern automobile presence. The digital camera within the pod is nice for the TV product and supplies glorious pictures of each the side-by-side racing motion and cockpit exercise, nevertheless, I might like to see that digital camera pod eliminated in favor of cameras built-in into the automobile’s strains. Possibly within the middle of the roll hoop and/or inside the high ring of the aeroscreen halo.
Have you ever heard any dialogue or suggestion about built-in digital camera placement within the new automobile design?
Tim Hubbel, Gypsy, OK
MP: I haven’t, however I’ll ask.
Q: I learn the Mailbag each week and it appears I’m not the one one disillusioned in regards to the lack of IndyCar’s presence in online game type. I, like lots of your readers, are informal players (been taking part in some type of console racing sport since I used to be 6, taking part in the Al Unser Jr racing sport on the unique NES). By means of the years I’ve performed many video games, most at present Forza Motorsport on Xbox X.
At the moment, IndyCar isn’t a part of the Forza platform (or some other) but it surely was, together with the Lengthy Seashore road circuit. Bi-monthly, Forza points a brand new observe to go together with its present collection of tracks. How nice wouldn’t it be if we might get IndyCar and Forza Motorsport to get collectively and get again into the gaming world? LBGP may very well be launched simply previous to the April race with the crapwagon DW12 gen-whatever-we’re-on-now, however it might be an awesome begin. It could be a good way to rejoice the fiftieth anniversary of the race and appears nearly too good an thought to move up.
They might also have a ‘beat the lap’-type problem the place players attempt to finest a present drivers lap. Moreover, Forza already has loads of the present tracks (IMS, Street America, Laguna, Mid-Ohio) so you may have an IndyCar mini-series.
Tom, Blue Bell, PA
MP: Yep, all types of issues they might do. As Penske’s Mark Miles advised me in the direction of the tip of the season, there’s nothing imminent. Hopefully that modifications.
NASCAR’s going to be the one collection that races previous bars that serve Malort for the foreseeable future. Motorsport Photographs
Q: What’s the standing of Honda’s future in IndyCar? With Nissan and Honda becoming a member of collectively, will Honda depart Indy and have Nissan take its place?
David Tucker
MP: Honda’s provide contract runs by means of 2026. It would determine on whether or not it needs to remain inside the subsequent yr. A deliberate merger with Nissan has been introduced, which is completely different from an precise merger having taken place. It’s received to occur earlier than they’ll make choices on such issues, if it’s even a consideration.
Q: Within the earlier Mailbag, you advised permitting producers to create styling choices in order that the automobiles have been visually distinct.
How would what you’re proposing be completely different from the aero kits from the mid 2010s? These introduced visible differentiation between producers. They have been supposed to draw Boeing and different aerospace firms, however failed to take action.
I feel the pitch sounds good now, however I additionally thought it sounded good then. Nobody appeared to love the aero kits then, and nobody was unhappy once they went away.
Kyle
MP: That’s not true. I used to be unhappy once they went away. The 2015-2017 aero kits did supply some visible differentiation, however the guidelines have been written to permit nice freedom with downforce, which led to loopy explosions of wings upon wings, and in speedway type, tremendous tiny wings. What didn’t occur was the creation of aero guidelines that have been centered on styling selection, as I don’t consider loopy numbers of wings as being about styling.
Proper now, there are two producers, not 5 or 10, so it’s not an excessively complicated factor to create. Provide you with between three-four styling choices for producers to select from, however make these choices a set bundle with gadgets which can be distinctive.
For instance, if including a shark fin to the engine cowl is allowed, it could solely be utilized by one producer. And if all of them need it, flip cons, or arm wrestle for it. However don’t let all of them use a shark fin as a result of then we’re again to the identical drawback of all of the automobiles trying alike.
The nostril of an open-wheel automobile units the tone for the remainder of its seems to be. Create three or 4 choices. Sidepods do the identical from the facet. Do the identical there. And so forth. This isn’t about efficiency. It’s about making a Chevy stand out from a Honda and a ??????? to face out from a Chevy and Honda.
And like IMSA does with its GTP automobiles, take them to a wind tunnel, benchmark their downforce and drag and middle of strain and journey top figures and sensitivities, and make changes to make them as equal as doable.
