Leading-Edge Motorsport Technology Since 1990

Racecar Engineering • IndyCar supplement • www.racecar-engineering.com

Indycar
1990-99

The cars, the technology, the best of the

Racecar Engineering Indycar archive
CONTENTS AND WELCOME

Contents
Managing expectations

at Indy
4 Buick takes the next step
Buick’s 1991 challenger was the first
all-out challenger from the
company, and lapped Indianapolis
at 224.468mph

10 Penske PC20 Chevrolet

1991 Indy 500 winner unclothed

The age-old problem of 12 Galmer G92

rising speeds and stepping Alan Mertens won the Louis
Schwitzer Award, and then Indy in
into the unknown is revisited 1992 leaving him top of the pile

By Andrew Cotton

M
otor racing continues to evolve - introduce technology for the right reason,
year on year, yet some things just but then watch as cars venture into new and
remain the same. We can all put untested territory and find a host of new
on our rose-tinted spectacles and problems to solve. That is the place in which
look at the days gone by, thinking that they IndyCar finds itself now.
were better. In this special edition of Racecar A suspension failure led to James
Engineering, we look back at our coverage Hinchcliffe’s accident and IndyCar responded
of the IndyCars of the 1990s and, given the by asking teams to check their parts for lifing.
dramas in testing and qualifying for this year’s Josef Newgarden crashed due to a rear tyre that
Indianapolis 500, it is interesting to note the lost pressure. Dramatic images of cars travelling
similarities between the two eras. In the 1990s backwards and taking off have been beamed
there was an all-out engine war between around the internet and television networks
Honda, Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota and Mercedes. and the uproar has been deafening. From within
The engine regulations worked and the value the IndyCar paddock, however, there is silence
of the series was at its peak at the time that and no one from the technical teams are talking
Racecar Engineering started its extensive on the record as the world demands answers,
coverage. Penske, Lola, Swift and Eagle were and surely there are answers to be had. Are the
also having at it in a chassis war so there was aero kits to blame for these big accidents? That’s
nothing wrong in terms of competition. Today’s certainly one that IndyCar cannot yet answer
IndyCar is a different world, with a spec chassis as there is no valid data or proper investigation
and for the first time in a long time, technical into each individual accident. Could the
innovation with the competing manufacturers accidents have been avoided? Again, who
Chevrolet and Honda allowed to produce new can answer that one without first conclusively
aero kits (see Racecar Engineering V25N5). The establishing the common factor between the
introduction of the new kits has not been a accidents? What IndyCar can do is release the
smooth process, with limits put on the amount details that they have. They know the speeds,
of development in order to avoid having to the conditions, the forces running through
redesign the entire car, but in practice for the the suspension, they know the basic details at
Indianapolis 500, four cars have crashed heavily. the start, during and post accident and
The fact that the race is going ahead no doubt will be poring over the data at length
suggests that IndyCar has a grip on the situation ahead of the big race. What it cannot afford
and is prepared to push ahead with the to do is to have large accidents on a global
competition, which in itself is an encouraging media platform, much less even if a driver or
sign. There are reasons for the crashes, but spectator is hurt or killed.
as one engineer here put it, you cannot rule It seems clear that there is some element or
out old-fashioned co-incidence. Back in 1998, elements that have led to the crashes, but what
ChampCar introduced the Handford Device, they are will take time to find. Is it the speed,
a new rear wing design that was supposed to the aero kits, the tyres, the cars, the part-lifing
slow the cars by 20mph following record speeds brought on by rising costs of competition?
the previous year. What happened was that the Racing is still about competition, and
drivers complained that they were running too competetition equals speed. Managing speed
close, and questioned whether nor not single is a complicated business, and the challenges
seat racing should be like that. It was a classic facing IndyCar are precisely the same as those
case of the law of unintended consequence facing the sport in the 1990s.

2 www.racecar-engineering.com INDYCAR SUPPLEMENT

18 Penske PC22 Chevrolet 58 Menard vs Honda vs Ford vs Mercedes 70 Royal with cheese
Roger’s new toy in 1992 The 1995 Indy 500 power struggle Honda’s Japanese-American race engine
featured all the big bangers became the prince of the power
revolution in 1996
30 Clash of titans
Cosworth vs Chevrolet at Indy 1993 64 Indy Infiniti
Nissan stepped into IRL against 79 Handford Device
Chevrolet’s Oldsmobile brand ChampCar’s solution to slowing cars led
42 Lola T94/00 Ford XB
to an unexpected result
Robby Gordon’s ride for 1993
67 Aurora powerplant
46 Penske P23 Mercedes-Benz
IRL takes its own route and Racecar 84 Class of 1999
covered the split, and the consequence All you need to know about the golden
Landmark partnership for the two
from a technology point of view year of ChampCar racing
companies as Mercedes stepped into the
fray for the first time

INDYCAR SUPPLEMENT www.racecar-engineering.com 3

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