We have some new photos of the 2012 Dallara IndyCar chassis, IR12, in both the Honda and Chevrolet livery thanks to our photographic partner, Tom Turk, from Piratical Photography. One of the interesting things Tom ran into was a reluctance by Chevrolet to allow him a view of the rear diffuser. Odd since it should be the same exact underwing! Either they were just being overly protective, or something fishy is happening. I’m chalking it up to an overzealous engineer. We were able to get some shots of the rear diffuser from the Honda, and there were some interesting differences between what we could see at Las Vegas and what Pressdog saw at Iowa.
The diffusers that were run in the Honda/Chevrolet demonstration at the Las Vegas Motorspeedway, however, had no central strakes. This could either mean a decision to allow the rear diffuser to simply be “good-enough”, or it could mean that the airflow through the diffuser remain laminar enough that the strakes are unnecessary.
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Either way, in 2013, unless its prohibited by the regulation, this area will be prime for development and exploitation by the aerodynamicists of the various aero kit manufacturers. At first, looking at the 2012 car left disappointed that so much had been left on the table in regards to aerodynamic development. As I consider more carefully, perhaps this is a good thing. Instead of beginning with a platform that has been finely honed already, we will begin with a platform where there’s lots of room for development and innovation. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. I just hope that Mr. Phillips keeps the 2013 rulebook as open as possible and allows the designers and engineers to really demonstrate their innovative skills and creativity.You can view the rest of Tom’s images of the 2012 chassis from Las Vegas below.
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