http://www.tracksideonline.com A subscription news service that provides the latest news and information regarding the Indy Racing League. en-us Copyright © 2003-2005 TrackSide Online. All Rights Reserved 10-Mar-2010 joe@tracksideonline.com Patrick's in transit to Brazil and already running into some flight delays, but some quick news: - Alex Lloyd will be driving the Boy Scouts of America car for Dale Coyne in Brazil. - Curt Cavin is reporting that Graham Rahal will be driving Sarah Fisher's car at St. Pete and Barber Motorsports Park as he "prepares his program for the rest of the 2010 season". More at http://www.indystar.com/article/20100310/SPORTS0107/100310045/Graham-Rahal-to-drive-for-Sarah-Fisher http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16260 Lloyd joins Coyne in Brazil: Dale Coyne Racing announced that 2007 Firestone Indy Lights champion Alex Lloyd will drive the No. 19 Boy Scouts of America car in the season-opening Sao Paulo Indy 300 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Lloyd, a 25-year-old native of Manchester, England, will make his first IZOD IndyCar Series start on a road course after making three oval appearances over the past two seasons. Lloyd, who dominated the 2007 Firestone Indy Lights season and made his IZOD IndyCar Series debut in the 2008 Indianapolis 500, started two IZOD IndyCar Series in 2009, finishing a career-best eighth for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway. http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16259 TONY KANAAN, #11 TEAM 7-ELEVEN CAR * A native of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, he is one of four former IZOD IndyCar Series champions entered in Sunday's season-opener * Hoping to replicate last season's hot start when he stood as the only series driver to record three top-five finishes in first three events of the season "As a Brazilian getting ready to open the season in Brazil, it is hard to explain the excitement and the pressure that I'm feeling. Our fans in Brazil are so passionate for us and so supportive of us, but they will expect nothing less than a win on Sunday. It's going to be a challenging circuit, but I'm looking forward to getting in the Team 7-Eleven car and getting the season going." http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16258 ENGINEERING APPROACH TO A NEW VENUE Competing on a new track for the first time takes equal parts preparation and educated guesswork by a talented group of engineers. The most-talked about element of the 2.6-mile street course in Sao Paulo, Brazil is the length of the back straightaway which is just short of a mile which makes it the longest straightaway in IZOD IndyCar Series history. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) Senior Engineer Craig Hampson explains the preparation process: "The Sao Paulo track is definitely a street circuit. In it you can see elements of the Long Beach track, a bit of Australia, and even some of the Denver track. But the only other places we had such long straightaways were (CART/Champ Car events in) Mexico City and Elkhart Lake. We don't know how bumpy the pavement is going to be so that's an open question going into the event and will determine how stiff we will want to run the springs and dampers. http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16257 HVM Racing will participate in the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights season with a car driven by Junior Strous, with the intention of progressing the Dutch racer to the IZOD IndyCar Series. The 23-year-old driver won two races and led the FIL championship standings in 2009 before having to stop his season early. He will pilot the Shell/HVM Racing car, beginning with the series-opening Streets of St. Petersburg (Fla.) on March 28. HVM Racing team principal and owner Keith Wiggins recognizes the benefits of a ladder system to develop drivers for the premier-level IZOD IndyCar Series and welcomes the opportunity to work with the young driver. "Junior is a proven talent," Wiggins said. "He's won races, so we know he has good skills behind the wheel. We will start him in a (Firestone Indy) Lights car and plan to do some testing with him in the big car at some point this season also. I have no doubt that with continued development he will be in an IZOD IndyCar Series car in the future." http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16256 http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16255 TSO NOTE: Lola revealed some new drawings of their proposed 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series machine which have been loaded to the TSO Photo Gallery. They also have provided the following Q and A with Peter McCool - head of special projects. SOURCE: Lola Cars LOLA TECHNICAL TALK ON 2012 INDYCARS Lola today reveal fresh imagery of their 2012 IndyCars. Due to high interest and requests from the US open wheel racing fraternity, Lola, the worlds most prolific and successful race car constructor has released additional renders of its B12/00 and B12/01 IndyCars. Head of Special Projects, Peter McCool gives further detail on the proposed Lola IndyCars for 2012. LOLA INDYCAR Q and A WITH PETER McCOOL – HEAD OF LOLA SPECIAL PROJECTS How will the Lola IndyCars improve the race action? "After safety, improving the show is the next prime focus for our Special Projects team. The majority of the downforce will be generated by a large central underbody, this allows us to reduce the size of the front and rear wings creating downforce, which is less susceptible to variations when following another car closely. Lola are drawing upon their vast experience of open wheel design to ensure the cars look both spectacular and race in a close and exciting fashion. "The Lola aerodynamics team have utilised their experience in many areas, particularly the underbody design to find a minimum wake solution to promote more overtaking. In essence what happens in the air coming from the back of a race car at speed is, you tend to get two vortex rings falling off the back end of the car. The Lola IndyCar will almost eliminate these forces via the underbody design and rear wing endplates at the back of the car. This, as our CFD study already shows, will minimise the wake and make its effect more manageable. Above all though it promotes better racing all-round, particularly in terms of giving 'racing power' back to the driver." http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16254 http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16253 http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16252 http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16251 http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16250 http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16249 http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16248 http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16247 BAT Engineering Bids For IndyCar Business Three Indianapolis 500 winning designers join the race to build the next IndyCar Indianapolis, IN--Three of the most successful designers in recent IndyCar history have joined forces, and will look to return to the winners circle at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with an innovative new IndyCar design once again starting in 2012. Bruce Ashmore, Alan Mertens and Tim Wardrop announced on Friday the formation of BAT Engineering (Bruce, Alan, Tim) and will be submitting a comprehensive proposal to the Indy Racing League as the next chapter in IndyCar racing is being written. The BAT proposal focuses not only on creating a dynamic new competitive platform for the IndyCar Series, but it also brings an extensive plan for job creation in Indiana. The three designers, each of which have been part of milk-drinking outings at the Indianapolis 500, bring experience, innovation, and extensive research to the process. The opportunity to develop a clean-sheet design was one that all three principals found too exciting to pass up. http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16246 http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16245 http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16244 http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16243 http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16242 http://www.tracksideonline.com/news/story.php?id=16241