OpEd – The Potential Future of the Delta Wing
I think most of us here at OpenPaddock share the same opinion regarding the Delta Wing concept that was proposed by a group of team owners lead by Chip Ganassi. Its a hideously ugly car, but the engineering philosophy behind it is brilliant. While I’m happy that it was not selected as the direction for the 2012 IndyCar chassis, not that I’m entirely please with the direction that was selected, I would be very interested in seeing this... [Read More...]
IndyCar – RM’s Article, Chicken Little, and Open Rebellion
Wednesday evening, Speed’s Robin Miller released an article hinting strongly that the team owners were on the verge of outright and open rebellion against the 2012 car. I read the article and had to pause to think about the veracity of the claims made within the article, or at the very least the commitment of the team owners mentioned to stick to their stated convictions. Here’s the meat of the allegations as told by Eric Bachelart. “The... [Read More...]
Episode 52 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
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IndyCar – Welcome Back, Mr. Cotman
This past weekend, the Indy Racing League officially hired Tony Cotman to be the league’s technical director in charge of developing all of the rules and regulations pertaining to the construction and operation of the new chassis and engine packages for 2012. It’s certainly not a new role for him. He was Vice-President of Operations of the Champ Car World Series where he oversaw the development and production of the extremely competitive... [Read More...]
OpEd – Selling 2012 IndyCar aero kits, can it really be profitable?
Ever since the Indy Racing League’s much anticipated announcement sketching out the strategy for the 2012 IndyCar chassis last Wednesday, the IndyCar community has been split. …again. …still. …whatever. There have been many that claim that the recipe of having a spec rolling chassis from Dallara and open development of the aerodynamic elements of the body work by teams and third-party manufacturers would lead to great innovation... [Read More...]
IndyCar – Facts and Opinion About the 2012 Chassis
Introduction Wednesday, Indy Racing League announced the decision by the ICONIC committee regarding the direction for the 2012 chassis. We posted an initial reaction to this announcement yesterday, and Shaun and I debated the pros and cons of the future chassis proposal in Podcast Episode 47. Today, I’d like to look at the proposal in a bit more detail and first I’ll present the facts and details that are clearly known and highlight... [Read More...]
Chassis Edition – Open Paddock Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download Join me this week as me and Doug hash the chassis decision. We know it is a Dallara rolling chassis but will it work? Doug and I present opposing view points on the topic as well as cover other news that came out of the press event. We cover some rally as our own John Cassidy prepares this week for the New England Forest Rally. We also cover Bulgaria and Ogier/Ford talks. A brief mention to Silverstone as we... [Read More...]
