In late November of 2016, I was commissioned by IndyCar to assist in the design of the 2018 Universal Aerokit. The base project was already well underway by this point but it needed an injection of creativity to make sure IndyCar and Dallara were maximising the opportunity they had to change the current IR-12 car into a product that would grab the fans imaginations and help re-engage them with these fabulous beasts. The brief was to take inspiration from the cars of late 80's and 90's but add a modern twist that would make these new cars iconic again. The catch was we had to use the original five-year-old DW-12/IR-15 Tub (the bit the driver sits in) and running gear seen below (images courtesy of Racer.com).

It was a fairly unique opportunity to work on the aesthetic aspect of a racing car as the appearance is usually heavily driven by aerodynamic and engineering function. However, on this project Indycar wanted to improve the overall appearance of their car whilst improving racing and safety elements as well. A large part of this was to de-clutter the car in terms of getting rid of a lot of the aerodynamic appendages the car has acquired over the years.

Additional driver protection has also been added by extending the side-pods forward and increasing the size of the crash structures in that vital area to the sides of the cockpit. The rear tyre "bumper guards" originally designed to stop cars getting airborne via wheel to wheel contact have also been removed as they have become more of an aero piece and proven to be ineffective and in some cases more dangerous as a large piece of crash debris.

My involvement was in a consultancy based, design advisory role, working with IndyCar Director of Aerodynamics and overall project leader Tino Belli. I was responsible for assisting him with the styling and creative direction of the 2018 Indycar Aerokit. This involved working in collaboration with the design, aerodynamic and engineering departments at both IndyCar and Dallara to help ensure the aesthetic appearance of the car hit Indycars highest expectations, whilst allowing the aero and engineering teams to ensure that the aerodynamic and safety targets were also hit. One of the main performance criteria was to attain more aerodynamic grip from the underside of the car (ground effect) thus reducing the reliance on "downforce" produced by the top side of the car (wings and winglets etc). The purpose of this is to increase racing spectacle and allow the cars to race closer together without downforce being lost by the following car due to running in the turbulence of the lead car in front of it. The design has had an overwhelmingly positive reception from both the IndyCar teams and the fans of the sport.

It's been an absolute privilege working with IndyCar and helping them to realise their 2018 car. Special thanks must go to Tino Belli, Bill Papas and Jay Frye for giving me the opportunity to assist them on such a prestigious project. Also congratulations to the team at Dallara, especially Andrea Toso and their in house stylist Andrea Guerri with whom we bounced many concept ideas back and forth. Andrea created the original concept sketches IndyCar released at the Detroit Motorshow back in January that gave the fans their first glance at a very early version of the rear tyre pods and lowered engine cover.

IndyCar differs from Formula One in that it runs on four types of circuits; Super Speedway (Most famously the Indianapolis 500), Short Ovals (tighter ovals typically 1 mile in length with step banking), Road Courses (similar to a typical F1 circuit) and Street Circuits such as Long Beach and Detroit. This means the Aerokit has to cover a wide spectrum of aerodynamic downforce configurations to cope with the widely varying requirements such a diversity of race track demands.

I've recently seen some shots of the two test cars (Honda and Chevrolet) under assembly in Indianapolis and can confirm it looks even more of a beast in the flesh. Track testing is scheduled to kick off on the 25th July with Juan Pablo Montoya and Oriol Servia taking up initial driving duties. My role in this project is now at an end but I wish my friends at both IndyCar and Dallara all the best in these initial runs.

I hope to add more images to this page as the car begins track testing over in the States and when I'm cleared to go into some of the design processes in more detail. In the mean time listen to my interview on the Push To Pass pod cast by clicking the image below.

Thanks for your interest, Chris

Chris Beatty, Design Consultant - 2018 Indycar Aerokit.

Concept Development, Creative Direction and 3D Animation

Email: chris@chrisbeatty.co.uk Mobile: +44(0)7595 278033 www.chrisbeatty.co.uk

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