INDYCAR vice president of technology Will Phillips said his intent is to have a draft of 2013 aero kit regulations prepared "very soon."
Bodywork open to development and for sale by any approved manufacturer will be introduced for the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season. Phillips said the three engine manufacturers – Chevrolet, Honda and Lotus – in addition to “a few other companies we’re talking to” have shown interest in designing, manufacturing and supplying the aero kits that will sell for $75,000 each.
For 2012, all IZOD IndyCar Series teams will utilize the oval and road/street course bodywork that is part of the Dallara package. The sidepods and engine cover will be universal for the diverse set of racetracks, while Dallara-designed and -produced front and rear wings will be different for the ovals and road/street circuits.
“The base principles are still in place,” Phillips said. “One would have to understand though that in 2013 the Dallara kit will have been around for a year – a year’s development. A delay in the aero kit has changed some of the philosophy of what you are and aren’t allowed to do. Those are the issues that remain to be sorted. In terms of what parts were and were not on an aero kit, there’s no intention to change what was there.”
Dallara won’t be one of the companies entering directly the 2013 aero kit market, according to head of research and development Andrea Toso. This week, Dallara will fulfill its fourth order of new chassis. In the near term, Dallara will concentrate on fulfilling the outstanding spare parts orders while continuing to assemble new cars in anticipation of future demand.
“We have a strong commitment to INDYCAR to support the entire 2012 season in terms of all the spare parts to support the entire field. This is our priority now,” Toso said. "We also have to provide spares for the current kit should any team decide to run the 2012 parts in 2013 and beyond. This commitment ensures that all the parts used in 2012 still retain values for the teams in the future race seasons.
“The development of a brand new aero kit is a large investment and Dallara would not be profitable if doing on its own. You have to be humble enough to provide the platform and let them play, though Dallara is interested to provide its engineering resources to develop the aero kit for a third party company that might be looking at this opportunity to promote and activate its own business.
"The 60 percent Dallara wind tunnel model is available, together with the wind tunnel and the CFD tools and studies already developed to design the 2012 chassis."
Last August, INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard told team owners of the decision to delay alternative aero kits primarily because of cost concerns they expressed. There are cost reductions associated with the new car -- the $385,800 for the complete chassis package is about 40 percent less than the previous Dallara monocoque and the maximum engine lease agreement of $690,000 is about 30 percent less.
INDYCAR announced plans for the car, which comes complete save for tires, the steering wheel and driver seat, in July 2010 after it reviewed multiple manufacturer concepts. It replaces the chassis that came on line in 2003 and was built solely for oval racing (the first INDYCAR road/street course race was in 2005 at St. Petersburg, Fla.).
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