When INDYCAR President Derrick Walker became more involved in the development of Aero Kits that will be used for the Verizon IndyCar Series beginning with the second race of the 2015 season he expected gains. What he didn’t expect was the increase in speed and downforce would be as high as it is. That is why steps have been made to take away some of the downforce the Aero Kits have provided during the homologation period that concluded on January 18.
Various pieces are being evaluated before Chevrolet and Honda begin supplying the kits that will be shipped to the teams on March 1. The Aero Kits will not be used in the season-opening race at Brasilia, Brazil on March 8 but once teams return from South America serious testing will begin with the kits on the car for the March 29 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
It’s a difficult balancing act for Walker, INDYCAR Vice President of Technology Will Phillips and INDYCAR Director of Aerodynamic Development Tino Belli as they manage the improvement in speed and performance with safety.
And, of course, there are the rules.
“When we come out with the Aero Kit the decision by the ICONIC Committee and the outline of the rules for the Aero Kits and our announcement at Detroit in 2013 that we were moving forward with the Aero Kits there wasn’t a complete rule book that specified what that meant,” Walker said. “Since we have been gearing up on this Aero Kit exercise the boys have been hard trying to quantify the rules because there is a whole new section in the rule book – how they play into it.
“It’s been quite interesting watching that unfold. You would like to think putting the rulebook down on the table that would be enough. But there are 100 ways to do anything and the rules have to limit anything unnecessary there.”
The story of the Aero Kits and how that will impact the series will be a major storyline of the season and continues to evolve. Walker and the competition department are also involved in a variety of other projects including designing a new race control trailer and a new position and numbering system on the car.
“The fans will be able to see where the car is positioned and also see when they are pushing push-to-pass,” Walker said. “It’s not new but it’s new for us and we have a slightly different way of putting it into the car than other series. We also have desires of installing a fiber-optic network all the way around the race track to add more cameras for Race Control to see because we rely totally on the feed from television. If the cameraman sees a nice girl in the stands we could lose a few vital frames while all that is happening. So getting a few more cameras for Race Control is important.”
And what about Race Director? Since Beaux Barfield’s departure at the end of last season, what are the plans for a Race Director?
“Of course we are going to have a Race Director but I was hoping you weren’t going to ask,” Walker quipped. “What people didn’t realize about 2014 and it’s not like we didn’t tell anybody because we explained it, but we had a Race Steward system. We didn’t have the all-mighty Race Director. When you talk about Race Director you are talking about somebody who knows when to throw yellow flags and dispatch safety vehicles.
“The driver penalties were done by the stewards; not the Race Director. Yes, the Race Director could be a steward but ultimately it is not required. Yes, we have a Race Director and as we get close to the season we will announce exactly what we are doing but it’s a misconception to say we need a Beaux replacement. He was part of the old system which we have migrated from at the end of 2013.”