2018 Indy 500: What will the new UAK18 IndyCar aero kit change?
Heading into 2018, IndyCar decided to go in a new direction with the Dallara IR12. Fans and drivers have appreciated the new direction, but what will that mean for the sport as it nears the biggest spectacle on wheels, the Indy 500?
Ask any IndyCar racing fan if they would rather watch the Indianapolis 500 with this year’s car or last year’s car. I think we all know the answer. The current car has done away with the out-of-place bumpers behind the rear wheels, as well as the winglet extravaganza that had Chevrolet and Honda adding on every bit of downforce possible.
The 2018 IndyCar looks better – most people agree on that. But what will these changes mean as the date for the most prestigious race on the IndyCar calendar approaches?
Compared to last year, the current car is producing less downforce due to the car having fewer aerodynamic appendages on the nose, sidepods, and rear areas. But that does not mean the downforce has gone away. More attention has been given to the bottom of the car, where the ground effects are producing a large amount of the aero grip that teams have to work with.
This means each individual car is producing less of an aerodynamic hole in the air as it speeds around. This may not have been as much of a factor at some of the tighter street circuits the series has visited this year, but the Indy 500 will show the biggest difference between this year’s car and last year’s car.
Here is what 2014 IndyCar champion Will Power had to say about the new UAK18 aero kit, according to USA Today.
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"“It was actually good racing at times, and you can get close to people…It is a good car to race…You don’t get a draft, but you can almost get right behind them. They did a good job of making the new (universal) kit with almost zero tow, so it makes the racing better I think.”"
While there is plenty new this year, teams are now on the same playing field as one another. Each race is new to each team again. Team Penske are trying to nail their set up just like Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Juncos Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Andretti Autosport and so on. Every driver is having to find the sweet spots again, which is why we are seeing such great competition between series veterans and rookie hot shots.
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Will the lack of downforce on top of the car eliminate an effective draft, or will it allow drivers to follow closely behind one another without losing significant airflow around the car? Up to this point, we have not had a track similar to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as there is no other track like it. The IndyCar Grand Prix later today will hopefully give teams and drivers some idea of what the Indy 500 might hold.