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It’s All About The Aero

Marco Andretti shows off his new Honda aero kit during IndyCar Series pre-season testing. [Photo by Chris Owens]

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg marks the competition debut for aerodynamic bodywork kits (aero kits) designed, manufactured and supplied by INDYCAR series engine-builders Chevrolet and Honda. It also sees in a subtle but important change to the underside of the chassis to improve safety.

The aero kits are intended to improve performance, speed, innovation and safety. They provide a different aerodynamic specification for the Dallara IR-12 chassis on road and street courses, short ovals and super-speedways (the latter defined as oval tracks greater than 1.5 miles in length).

While the aero kits have grabbed all the publicity, another key safety advancement this season is the pair of holes on each side of the tub floor that were added to reduce the overall surface area of the bottom of the racecar. The openings act as baffles at speed and reduce the chance of lift and a dangerous airborne accident.

Derrick Walker, President of Competition and Operations at INDYCAR, said, ”Aero kits will add to the competition. We told our designers and engine manufacturers, ‘OK, go make some changes; go do what you can.’ We will get some different shapes and certainly get more performance. Records will be broken.”

Steve Eriksen, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Honda Performance Development added, “This has been an exciting yet challenging project for everyone involved. The amount of change permitted by INDYCAR is much broader than many fans may realize, and involved a lot of hours in search of performance prior to the first test pieces being created.”

The concept, which first took shape in 2010, lets each team mount its own proprietary front/rear wing endplates, side-pods, engine cover, rear-wheel guards, front/rear wing flaps (road/street configuration) and front wing main planes (super-speedway configuration only). The only constraint is they must be contained within the rule-book’s dimensional limits for the car.

Pre-race technical inspection using laser scanning technology to ensure teams are complying with restrictions regarding weight, size and shape to the components was introduced in 2014. The laser measurements will be augmented this season by physical measurements, load tests, and other inspection methods at the event venue.

The reception of the aero kits by drivers has so far been positive. Team Penske’s Will Power said, “As we are starting to understand the new Chevrolet aero kits, it’s clear that they have done a proper job in the design and development of them. The kits produce massive downforce, low drag and the cars are absolutely glued to the track.”

Indeed in some garages there is sentiment that the aero kits would have been welcomed if delivered much earlier. “We have had some good tests during the offseason and collected some valuable data,” said KV Racing Technology’s Sebastian Bourdais, “but you never know how you stack up until you are on the track when it counts. I wish we would have had more time with the new aero kits, but it is the same for everyone.”
Teams received their aero kits only about two weeks ago, on March 13, 2015, in order to make some initial tests on the new package for road and street courses. The oval aero kit arrives shortly.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal had this to add: “I’m excited and ready to go. St. Pete is going to be interesting because it will be our first hard run with the new aero kits.”

A single homologated aero kit costs $75,000 per car. That covers everything a team needs to compete on the entire schedule of road and street courses, short ovals and super-speedways.

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